Help! An Autopian nightmare. Need some expert advice regarding my tale of woe.

K

Kebmike

New member
I am not on the level of most of you guys on here, but I still take pride in the care and appearance of my vehicles.



I was the proud and excited owner of a new Toyota Tundra in Blue Streak Metallic, when I decided to take the vinyl pinstripe off after about the first week that I had the truck. The stripes came off easily, but much to my disappointment; whoever striped the truck had used a razor blade or exacto knife to cut the stripes at the end of every body panel. With 4 doors and the front fenders and rear bed, there were eight approximately ½ inch razor cuts deep into the clear coat on each side of the truck. I tried, but wasn’t able to polish them out.



Back to the dealer who seemed to take full responsibility and put me in a loaner while they had it evaluated. They ended up wet sanding the cuts out without damaging the color coat at all, and recleared the sides on all 4 panels. On first inspection, it looked very good, and I was breathing a little easier.



But, while cleaning it up, I started to notice some places, and ended up finding 6 or 8 places from the size of a hand to the size of a tennis ball where they had missed wiping down after wet sanding and left a dusty wipe mark or dusty fingerprints in areas on the doors and bed panels that were not even close to the original cut marks before spraying the clear, and cleared over those areas.



Back to the dealer. Back to the body shop. I assume they had to wet sand again to cut through the new clear, remove the contamination, and then cleared the panels again.



Just got it back this week, and it looks OK. No obvious defects, but I still see some swirl marks on the newly cleared panels, and lots of overspray on some of the other panels, window glass, and bumpers.



I had the truck a week or 10 days before I removed the stripes. After being gone for a whole week for the first repair, it took me a few days before I could clean it up and inspect it closely before I noticed the problem areas. Took about a week for me to get it back to the dealer the second time. Another week at the dealer for the second repair. By this time, it had been over a month since I bought the truck, and I had almost 2000 miles on the truck, I didn’t think I was going to be able to get them to give me a new one. Also, the truck was from the remaining 2008 models that included $4000 cash back to the customer. No more 2008s left in my area like my truck. No 2009 models in the color combo that I wanted, and the cash rebate dropped to $2000 cash back as well.



I am definitely disappointed, and I know that the truck is not going to ever be perfect. The dealer has been very responsive, and even gave me a free 3 yr/45K mile service and maintenance policy to cover all scheduled service and maintenance as some compensation for my time and trouble.



My real questions for you experts out there are



1) How soon until I can clean it up and polish and wax? I have heard that I need to wait 30 to 60 days after painting to wax or apply sealant, but how about polish or swirl mark remover to go over some swirls on the new areas?



2) I want to clay the entire vehicle to remove overspray from some of the untouched panels. Is there any problem with claying the newly cleared panels? Should I wait to clay them like I need to wait on waxing and polishing?



3) If there are no obvious visible defects, what is the potential for long term problems or paint failure with reclearing the side panels, twice?



Thanks in advance for any insight, advice, or recommendations. This has truly been an Autopians nightmare.
 
Sorry to hear about this.



Relax. Take a breath.



1. You can polish it up as soon as you want. No worries there. I wouldn't wax the vehicle but you can go ahead and apply a sealant if you want. I applied Zaino the day after my vehicle had part re painted over 2 years ago and there was zero ill effects.



2. Clay away! Polish up after you're done.



3. I don't think reclearing twice would increase the chance for failure but you can never really tell, in my opinion if something will hold up until you wait it out. I think if you take care of it, it should hang in there, pending everything went right on the painters end.
 
GregCavi said:
Sorry to hear about this.



Relax. Take a breath.



1. You can polish it up as soon as you want. No worries there. I wouldn't wax the vehicle but you can go ahead and apply a sealant if you want. I applied Zaino the day after my vehicle had part re painted over 2 years ago and there was zero ill effects.



2. Clay away! Polish up after you're done.



3. I don't think reclearing twice would increase the chance for failure but you can never really tell, in my opinion if something will hold up until you wait it out. I think if you take care of it, it should hang in there, pending everything went right on the painters end.
Click to expand...





Thanks for your reply. I will go ahead and polish.



I don't think I should have to clay the newly cleared areas, just polish.



I will keep my fingers crossed for the long term.
 
Time to get the truck corrected by a pro, then maintain it from there as there is no reason to accept "okay" you can have better you just need to pay for it and then give the dealership the bill.
 
So very frustrating!



Kebmike said:
My real questions for you experts out there are



1) How soon until I can clean it up and polish and wax? I have heard that I need to wait 30 to 60 days after painting to wax or apply sealant, but how about polish or swirl mark remover to go over some swirls on the new areas?
Click to expand...



Hopefully Accumulator will chime in and give some authoritative counsel. I just had the passenger door of my car re-painted (twice!). I was told that while I could polish the paint immediately, I should not apply a wax or sealant for 90 days, that to do so would void the warranty. So I think you need to speak to the body shop and ask them how long you must wait before waxing.



You might consider applying a thin coat of Meguiar's M80, which has a paintable polymer. This would provide a little protection. In a recent thread at MOL I was advised to apply a thin coat, let it dry for 10-15 minutes, perform the swipe test, and if ready, then remove it with a microfiber cloth. Using M80 in this way for this purpose was news to me.



2) I want to clay the entire vehicle to remove overspray from some of the untouched panels. Is there any problem with claying the newly cleared panels? Should I wait to clay them like I need to wait on waxing and polishing?
Click to expand...



Good question. I'm interested in the answer, too. I would think that one would want to allow the paint to harden first before claying.
 
akimel asked me to look in on this thread, so here goes with my $0.02.



Opinions vary as to the waxing/sealing of fresh paint. I wait ~90 days, using something made for fresh paint like Meg's #5 in the meantime. I've heard that OCW is OKed by Ford for use on post-production paintwork and the guy who makes Optimum stuff insists that it's OK for fresh paint. I've heard that Sal Zaino, who was a painter, says Z is OK too, but my painter, who uses Zaino, doesn't want it on *his* repaints for at least a few months. I'm not gonna get into the whole "can you wax it?" thing beyond the preceding as we've argued it to death a zillion times around here already.



Kebmike- I'd absolutely take it back to the shop and have them deal with the overspray. I'd also impress upon them that nothing is to be damaged in the process. Overspray is strictly amateur-hour [crap] and I wouldn't stand for it.



Reclearing can be problematic and/or it can turn out OK. Some clears "melt into" the existing paint better than others.



Before you clay/polish, consider that fresh paint can be pretty soft and will usually continue to harden over a period of time. Yeah, claying with mild clay is supposed to be nonabrasive but it doesn't always work out that way IRL.



Meg's #80 is good on fresh paint but note that it contains a (mild) abrasive. I've had fresh repaints where the #80 had too much initial cut; it caused micromarring that didn't go away as the #80 broke down and I simply had to use milder products until the paint hardened up (which took a few weeks).



Here's a comment that's probably neither here-not-there: in the big picture, a few thousand dollars probably wouldn't matter as much to me as cosmetic flaws that bugged me every time I saw (or thought of) the vehicle. I hate to say this, but I'd be figuring out how to replace the vehicle; let 'em sell it to somebody who doesn't know/care about such stuff. Every dealership is different, but I've had some surprisingly great experiences with vehicles getting replaced. Remember that no matter what they *say*, they can *do* whatever the owner wants to do. When I had an Audi that wasn't acceptable, I spoke directly to the owner of the dealership. We hit it off just great and *zap!* problem solved.
 
Thanks to all for your replies. I am feeling a little better about things.



Based on all your feedback, I think I will:



1) Hold off on wax or sealant for at least 60 to 90 days on the newly cleared panels and use one of the suggested new paint friendly polishes if needed.



2) Clay only the factory painted panels, glass and bumpers. That will take care of any light overspray and prep those panels for wax or sealant. Newly cleared panels should not need clay for contaminants anyway, and I just don't want to take a chance until it fully hardens.



3) Clean it up myself for light overspray and polish lightly with the PC as needed. Anything more requiring something more agressive like an orbital or wool pad and I will leave that to an expert. I agree completly about the amatuer crap, but I would rather take care of it than put it back in their hands.



4) Re-evaluate after I clean it up or consult a pro detailer if needed. If there any areas that need additional attention, I will again consult a experienced professional. Hopefully if any addtional wetsanding is required, there will be plenty of clear on it to allow that. Dealer gets the bill for any professional work required.



Accumulator, I agree with you completly about a new vehicle. Unfortunately, no more 2008's in my combo, and no 2009's yet. The 2009's get a short run with the 2010's out by the end of June I have heard.



If after cleanup and close inspection it looks good, I will live with it and hope for no long term durability issues. It will be my daily driver on a 75 mile round trip commute and has to be parked outside at home, so I know that I can not keep it perfect.



If I am not satisfied after cleanup or minor correction, I will talk to the dealer about some significant good will on a 2009 or 2010. You are right, the dealer can do anything he wants, and this is this owners 1st dealership after just having left Toyota corporate. They have been very accomading so far with the dealer provided rental and the free service/maintenance package.



Thanks again for all your input.
 
Man this was a painful thread to read. Buying a new car can be such a nightmare. I have learned the hard way that dealers can't *ever* pull off "oh, we can add that to your car, no problem!" without causing more heartache than anything else. If a car isn't *exactly* what I want as it is delivered from the factory, I won't buy it. Pinstriping, radio, nav, leather seats, etc. etc. you have a dealer install it, and chances are very good you're not going to be happy with *some* part of the outcome.



The next new car I purchase I will witness being pulled off the truck. At which time, *all* dealership personnel will be required to leave the area while *I* remove "the wrapper". No one at the dealership will be allowed to even kick a tire. If your dealer won't allow you to have this type of delivery, go to one that will.
 
It sounds like your dealer is being remarkably accommodating. IME you not only get lousy workmanship, but severe attitude and a lack of any type of concession to account for your trouble. In this case, at least you're batting .500. :D



I agree on the overspray - a lack of prepwork on their part does not constitute acceptance on yours. The question becomes whether they can accomplish the cleanup without causing more damage. Hopefully some frank communication can aid the process - with both of you understanding that this is the last time you'd like to have the truck back in their body/paint workers' hands. Good luck!
 
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