WARNING - Interior Trim Paint Melts From Sun Screen

Wow, this is very interesting. I had no idea that sunscreen could cause such damage to the painted surfaces.

The damaged piece is called "front armrest base panel upper" and is mounted to the front door trim board subassembly with two clips and four claws. The Toyota repair manual suggests using a screwdriver to gently pry up that part, taping the screwdriver tip to reduce the possibility of damage to the trim board.

Once the front armrest base panel upper is removed, then you can remove the power window switch assembly from that part. Three screws hold the switch assembly to the armrest base panel upper.

 

This was one of the first things I noticed after I got mine. I have a nice "melted"/rough spot where my left leg would normally sit. I put a piece of clear contact paper over the area. I'm just too lazy (& cheap) to replace the piece. Besides, I'm not going to stop driving like that.

If you replace the piece, I suggest some kind of coating to protect it or don't rest your leg there.

 

Yes, the painted plastic surfaces in the Prius (at least the 2005s) are crap. I used to rest my elbow on the trim by the window glass. The paint there got soft and bubbled up in the heat, and came off, leaving the black plastic exposed.

I'm surprised you've only now noticed this on your 2005. The next thing you can expect is for the paint on glove box latch buttons to start coming off. At least with those, you can rub off all the paint on the buttons, leaving just the black plastic, and make it almost look like it's supposed to be that way.

 

Holy CRAP!!, Thanks for warning us about that, I always let my leg rest up against that area when I am driving, I'll have to make sure I don't have any sunscreen on when I do that. That is very odd, I wonder if the dealer would fix that under warranty,, just don't tell them your sunscreen might have been the culprit...

 

I've had this happen a couple times in the hot sun...

my 04 has the thinner plastic like coating on the drivers door.. instead of the newer thicker coating.

between heat and sweat and sunblock. the surface turned soft.. unfortunately i was curious and poked at it.. which then the top layer started flaking/peeling off. I tried not to mess with it any further... when it cooled it remained flaky. so i scratched off the excess and moved on. no problems since.

 

The 2004 & 2005 Prius have some painted trim. That's the part damaged by the sunscreen and the sun.

But I'm not sure what part of Proco's 2006, which doesn't have painted trim, melted.

 

I know that hand applications of bug spray (like OFF) can remove paint on items like the steering wheel buttons. Always wash hands well after sunscreen or bug spray before touching any buttons in the car.

 

My wife uses a lot of sunscreen, and her Outback has a lot of white residue on the vinyl surfaces and steering wheel, but I've never seen paint damage on either of our cars' interiors. She never drives the Prius, though she does ride in it. Never seen damage so far though. Wierd.

 

I saw a warning in another thread about sunblock deteriorating the paint on trim coating a few months back. Unfortunately, I started applying sunblock in December. Got plenty of white residue but thankfully nothing has gone melty yet.

 

I think on all Gen II Prius the interior "silver" parts are painted plastic, such as around the vents and the door-switch panels, as the OP mentioned. Also the front "silver" parts of the center console. Shiny plastic, such as the radio face and front cup holders, can be affected too.

On 2006+ cars the upper parts of the doors and the dash are textured plastic, rather than the painted plastic of 2004-2005. Plastic and paint and solvents (yes, that's what makes the stuff Dry-Touch) don't mix well.

 

DEET eats away at plastic. It will ruin a plastic faced watch in a heartbeat.