They forgot to Paint my Fender???

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by bighouse, Dec 1, 2009.

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  1. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    I noticed something odd yesterday while drying my car, after washing it with Zaion car wash, when the passenger side door was open for drying jambs. Some odd color caught my eye. So, I looked closer. It seems that when they sprayed the front fender on the passenger side, they missed an area. If I look between the front of the passenger door and the fender, while the door is fully open, there's a part of the fender that dips towards the cabin and attaches to the chasis in some way. That part of the car is still a creamish grey color with a bit of Barcelona Red feathering out to the "exterior" side of the fender. I compared it to the driver's side and that corresponding part of the fender is Barcelona Red. Looks to me when someone painted it they just forgot to hit part of the "exterior" side of the sheet metal with paint.

    Anyone else seen this lack of quality control on their painted areas and have similar non-painted areas?

    Is it something I should have the dealer fix?

    I'm assuming the creamish-grey color is primer and the lack of paint won't damage the car in the long run...or might it?
     
    #1 bighouse, Dec 1, 2009
  2. cairo94507

    cairo94507 Active Member

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    Picture of both doors please (to compare). Thank you. Hard to imagine this happened because they are sprayed by robot-right?
     
    #2 cairo94507, Dec 1, 2009
  3. paprius4030

    paprius4030 My first Prius

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    If it's anything like how they make the Camry at Georgetown, which I'm sure it is, Robots paint the door while they are on the car then they are taken off the car for the rest of the assembly process and reinstalled at the end. I would think that somebody would see if there was a problem and stop the line, but maybe not. I would think the factory would keep a log of such problems if you really want to dig into things. Since the doors are off the car most of the time it should have been easily seen if there was a problem with the paint when just the shell of the car was moving down the line...weird that it happened.
     
    #3 paprius4030, Dec 1, 2009
  4. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    I'll take comparison pictures at lunch today and post them later this afternoon. I'm assuming that the fenders are metal, now I'm wondering if this might cause some kind of rust or oxidation problem down the road?
     
    #4 bighouse, Dec 1, 2009
  5. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    Do you know for sure that the fender wasn't damaged and repaired before you bought the car?
     
    #5 dogfriend, Dec 1, 2009
  6. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    Oh, don't go putting ideas in my head for me to obsess over!!!
     
    #6 bighouse, Dec 1, 2009
  7. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    Sorry, it is the type of thing that they are unlikely to miss at the factory level, but is probably common practice for a body shop repair.
     
    #7 dogfriend, Dec 1, 2009
  8. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    Do dealers have to supply that information if they're asked about it?
     
    #8 bighouse, Dec 1, 2009
  9. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    I don't really know. I haven't found dealership people to be the most honest group of individuals in my experience.
     
    #9 dogfriend, Dec 1, 2009
  10. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    OK, here are three photos. The first two are of the passenger side and you can see the red paint fade to grey/white.

    The third photo is of the driver's side and you can also see that the paint is pretty thin in some areas there as well..not as bad as the passenger side, but still a little noticeable around the indents.

    Anyone else have this kind of "lack of paint" on the inside of their fenders in the same location???
     

    Attached Files:

    #10 bighouse, Dec 1, 2009
  11. PriusLewis

    PriusLewis Management Scientist

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    Uh Oh. Have you parked close to a new GM lately? That looks like GM-itis - all of my GM cars have had areas like that where the bodywork is "hidden." I didn't know it was contageous!
     
    #11 PriusLewis, Dec 1, 2009
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  12. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    I think it came this way from the factory. I don't think it's likely that the dealer repainted it after bodywork- seems to me that it would be unlikely that damage/repair would occur on BOTH sides and my car only had 3 miles on it when I took delivery. I suspect Toyota's robot sprayers are trying to save paint...

    My hunch is that if other G3 owners looked carefully at this location they would also discover a shortage of paint...
     
    #12 bighouse, Dec 1, 2009
  13. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    After looking at the photos, I'm not sure. Maybe it is the factory paint. I think you will need to get other Gen3 owners to look. My 2007 doesn't look like that on the inside of the fender.
     
    #13 dogfriend, Dec 1, 2009
  14. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    Have you tried entering the VIN number in the Toyota Owner's web site and see if any service reports are listed? I remember reading where one owner did this and found out that his car had been damaged in shipment and the dealer had done the repairs without telling him.
     
    #14 jdcollins5, Dec 1, 2009
  15. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    Good tip, I just went there and didn't find anything suspicious:

    Vehicle Info: 2010 Toyota PriusRepair Date: 09/24/2009 VIN: JTDKN3DUXA00XXXXX Mileage: 3 JobDateOperationOperation DetailsPay Type1 09/24/2009 PRE-DELIVERY INSPECTION, (AFTER COMPLETEING PARK VEHICLE IN ANY OPEN SPOT ON NEW

    WARRANTY PAY 2 09/24/2009 PRE-DELIVERY INSPECTION, (AFTER COMPLETEING PARK VEHICLE IN ANY OPEN SPOT ON NEW

    WARRANTY PAY
     
    #15 bighouse, Dec 1, 2009
  16. Sneezy

    Sneezy Member

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    My 2008 Chevy HHR SS's paint is flawless. My wifes 2010 Prius is orange peeled badly as were most Toyotas at the NYIAS earlier this year. I think GM does a great job at painting. Also my 200 Trans am is flawless.

    and before you paint me as a GM lover, I'm a ford guy still waiting on the right Mustang.
     
    #16 Sneezy, Dec 1, 2009
  17. Jim Calvert

    Jim Calvert New Member

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    It is almost certain to be the result of a poor repair job. No new vehicle would leave the factory like that. Just way too many inspection processes to get through.

    Jim
     
    #17 Jim Calvert, Dec 2, 2009
  18. DeanFL

    DeanFL 2010 owner - 1st Prius

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    After reading your post and looking at my car with a flashlight - fear not. Mine appears to be very close to yours.

    Mine was built in Plant 0, in May, and is also Barcelona Red. Although in general I'm satisfied with the paint - it certainly is not stellar. Not perfectly smooth across the vertical side surfaces - a bit orange-peel appearance. All areas ARE painted and shiny. Except for that small area inside the frontal area of the fenders where the front of each door sits.

    Very tough to see as the door pivots, but very apparent it's not shiny and the paint does not completely cover that small area, and the primer coat (grayish) comes through. Appears the robot / finish spray cannot reach into that crevice while the door's mounted. And appears that's the only area noticeable across the car.

    Not a big deal in my opinion, but I can see how you became concerned.
     
    #18 DeanFL, Dec 2, 2009
  19. RadioZero

    RadioZero Member

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    i agree with DeanFL, that looks normal to me.
     
    #19 RadioZero, Dec 2, 2009
  20. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    Dean, Thanks! Our cars were made at the same plant and mine was made in July...so I'm guessing that there's probably a bunch of cars out there with the same paint issue- which is likely a non-issue.

    I'm going to tell myself that the Toyota spray robots did this on PURPOSE to keep the vehicle weight down- those robots are smart... ;)
     
    #20 bighouse, Dec 2, 2009
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