Why are Lexii in particular (and Toyotas in general) so prone to front-end paint chipping?
What is the deal with that? I run a couple carwashes and when I’m outside helping the guys out I always notice rock chips in the paint on Lexii and Toyotas, unless the vehicle is very new.
Now, I know that any car can get these, but Toyotas seem extremely prone to chip more easily.
I own a Scion (Toyota) and it’s a 2006, and the front end of my car is quite pitted.
I realize that more interstate driving will equate to more of this, but I can’t help but believe that there’s something up with Toyota’s paint formulations. Other cars I see (and I see thousands a month) just don’t have an equal amount of rock damage.
Anyone have any ideas?
Edit: If I plopped down $60k on a Lexus, I’d be pretty pissed if that happened to my car with that frequency.
Who makes paint for Toyota? PPG and BASF are the two big names in OEM paint (there’s probably others) and it would be interesting to see if other car makers who use the same supplier for paints as Toyota does have the same problem. Toyota has had some quality issues in general of late (they’ve been more interested in cranking cars out so they can steal the number 1 slot from GM than building quality cars).
Even if Lexus was first declension, the plural would be Lexi.
But I’ll bet we can prove, by arcane reasoning that this made-up name ought to be third declension irregular, luike octopus, and that the plural ought to be Lexodes or Lexera or something equally weird.
When the paint chips, does it chip down to the steel, or down to the ecoat? Does Toyota even use ecoat? Maybe it’s an ecoat (or ecoat process) problem.
Paint chips generally are more frequent on the bumper cover because it is plastic or some other non-metal substance that paint doesn’t seem to adhere to as well as the sheet metal of say, the hood directly above the bumper, although on Toyotas (including Lexus, Lexii AND Lexi) I swear it is just so much more prevalent, ie, it occurs with more frequency than on other models of cars that I see every single day, day after day, year after year.
I see… given that, I wonder (a) what type of plastic it is compared to others manufacturers’; (b) how thick (or otherwise flexible) it is compared to others; (c) how dimensionally stable it is compared to others. Hardened paint isn’t very plastic, so maybe that’s the issue. I have to imagine that Toyota uses the cheapest, lightest, thinnest stuff that they think they can get away with (just like everyone else), and perhaps this decision bit 'em in the butt?
Hmm. I’d never really considered the difference in plastic composition as much as I did differing paint formulations.
Kinda related, but our tire shine machine uses a spray-on product that makes Toyo tires look like glass and Michelins hardly shine at all. I always assumed a difference in rubber compunds.
I have to question the premise here - I’ve never noticed that Lexuses or Toyotas show any more paint chip damage then other cars, and probably less. Is it possible that people keep their L and Ts on the road longer then average and therefore appear to be more damaged?
I used to wonder this about the Dodge Caravan. More specifically the 91-95 model set. It seemed that every one of them you would see would have paint chipping away from it.
Well, and I can only speak from experience, I run a couple carwashes, I see every conceivable make and model of car made that can fit in my tunnel every day, I own a Toyota, the owner of my company owns two Lexi/Lexi/Lexuses…and I am pretty observant of the front ends of cars because I spray them down with a high pressure prep solution prior to sending them through the wash.
It’s especially more noticeable now because it’s bug season, and we have to be mindful to differentiate between bug remains and paint chips as the high pressure prep gun can enlarge existing paint chips from the size of a nick to the size of a quarter if you’re not careful.
I can assure you I have pondered this for a long time, for whatever reason, Toyotas have very brittle/fragile paint adherence on their front ends and suffer rock chips more rapidly and in a greater amount than other models of cars I see out there.
What I want to know is why. I’ve googled Lexus/rock chips and such and there are several instances on forums where pissed customers go back to Lexus dealerships to complain that their 60k one month old car has already suffered the pitting of road debris. I’d be pissed too if I bought a car that expensive and their was a quality issue with regards to the paint. And it isn’t just Lexuses, it’s all Toyotas. Mine too, and mine’s a 2006 bought in October of 2007.
I wonder if it’s a thickness issue…more or less coats of paint will make the paint coat thinner or thicker, right? Maybe Toyota uses a cheaper, less-protective clearcoat.
