Pinstriping Woes

Did the same exact thing a while back... just compound / polish.... easy work

 

this is very good advice

 

Toyota paint is as soft as a newborn’s finger nails. It’s ridiculous.

I’ve scratched the shit out of my truck, then polished them out and waxed, then scratched it, polished it out a dozen or more times. It’s 8 years old now and I don’t care anymore.

 

Don't know if it will make you feel any better but I had some solid pinstriping on my new taco before the odometer turned over 300 miles. Just gotta accept it and carry on!

 

You might try this. It's been around for decades - was one of the first infomercial products. As a wax, it's just OK. But it is awesome for buffing out scratches and for taking off bugs, tar and even paint marks when some a**hole tags you in a parking lot. I've used it on my '96 black BMW Z3 since I bought it and always have a few bottles around. Be careful with it on plastic - especially on edges; you can buff the paint off if you rub too hard. But, I've never had an issue on metal painted parts.



http://stores.liquidlustre.com/

 

If used regularly, it will protect the enamel on your trucks paint. Nine out of ten paint shops recommended this. Just kidding. Nice tip though.

 

Nice truck, don’t sweat the little stuff! After the first oil change at the dealer are you considering doing them yourself from then on? Lots of help with advice on here if you need it..

 

I too have a black (Midnight black metallic) tacoma. I've got a few scratches too . To prevent/reduce future ones, I've been saving up for these!!!!

https://www.goat-truckarmor.com/default.asp

https://www.goat-truckarmor.com/category-s/148.htm

 

If you want to hide the fine scratches and swirls in your black paint, use a paint glaze (i.e. Meguiars Mirror Glaze Professional) Glazes are most often used to add shine a step above a wash and wax but how glazes do that is what will help you.

Glazes fill in light to medium imperfections (not the really deep scratches) and do a decent job of hiding swirls and fine scratches, the lighter the paint color the more effective the masking effect. It's a temporary solution, the next car wash removes the glaze, however it's a simple wipe on wipe off operation.

Never buy black painted vehicles unless it's going to be a garage queen or you give absolutely zero f***s

 

Meguire's Scratch X. Buff till scratches are gone and then slap a good coat of wax on it! Some of the gnarly scratches will take a few buffing sessions to get out.

 

Toyota (most Japanese cars) use extremely extremely and again extremely thin paint. Dose not matter if your truck is a light or dark color one little stick and its going to show (even with a wax). You can wax it out but it will be back once its dirty again. Frustrating especially with my pretty blue color

EDIT: I do wheel from time to time and I always come back with some sort of surface scratch

 

Once you get it squared away you should look into GOAT truck armor if you want to avoid future markings like this.

 

Hand washing your truck with a bit more care and application of appropriate products does wonders. I’m a huge fan of Meguiar’s hybrid ceramic spray wax after a clay bar. Beads water for weeks and dust just comes right off at 65mph lol. Note that the hybrid ceramic spray wax needs to be applied in a certain way to be fully affective

 

This stuff works WONDERS

 

You guys all rock. I'll definitely look into all of these suggestions! I guess at the end of the day I'd rather have fun with my truck and not worry about keeping it perfect so I'm not gonna stress about it too much. I mean...it's not like it's never gonna happen again

 

Easy fix. I do a yearly pin striping removal in the fall after I'm done with wheeling for the year. See my write up in my sig.

 

Sweet, I'll check it out! Kinda funny, my wheeling schedule is opposite yours. The season is just starting!

 

The "fade/burn marks" are from the microfiber towel itself, causing micromarring. You can use that rubbing compound by hand, but it doesn't really do much compared to a proper DA buffer and pad.

 

Whats terrible about that is there have been people who have had claims denied because there was mud on the truck, with the dealer saying that taking it offroad is what caused the issue and its not covered.

 

Until you take a drivetrain issue to Toyota Service and they deny it because "the truck was used as it was designed for"