Anyone Else's 3rd Gen Clear Coat Flaking Off?

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of how it started. This is what the spot looks like now *after an attempt to remove the "flaking" / etching like marks*

(edited to avoid confusion)

@jboudreaux1965 - Since this started to happen, I have taken a closer look and also noticed very small rock chip type marks on this side of the bed. The imperfections look similar to the white-ish rock chip marks on your paint where it appears the clear coat might be starting to flake.

 

For what it's worth, I've since found 3 other instances (online) of clear coat issues related to 2022 and 2023 Lunar Rock Tacomas. I expect we may begin to see more owners reporting paint issues with their 2022 and 2023 Tacomas.

I'm wondering if these issues are in some way related to shortages or painting process changes made during the pandemic.

Additionally, one of the body shops I visited said they had just finished repainting 2 doors on a brand new 2023 Blue Crush Tacoma because the primer was showing through the paint. They confirmed the paint was applied too thin from the factory.

 

Ill have to watch for issues with my paint. Thanks for the heads up!

 

I have a few small spots on my hood that are starting to look like that, but my truck is black so the spots look like lighter spots under the clear coat, Then I of course have all the small chips and the clear coat and that one spot where its peeling up. well so far anyways...

I also have tons those little rock chips on the front fenders and a few on the sides as well.

Also, if I don't wipe any dirt, debris, sap, whatever off right away it like leeches through the clear coat. The spots are completely smooth with clear coat in tact and no matter how much I clean it, polish it or clay bar it, the stains stay.

 

This is where someone removed the bed decal, and used an aggressive solvent to remove the adhesive residue, and or polished with way too of an aggressive polishing compound, wheel, to remove the fine scratches left from removing the decal. That is not a paint imperfection, that is self inflicted. The clear on the newer vehicles is waterborne, micro thin, and does not like to be corrected or polished aggressively. Ski

 

wow didnt even think about that.

 

Please don't misinform or "explain" to others how and why clear coat is coming off someone else's truck without any prior knowledge of that specific vehicle. This same issue is occurring in multiple other locations on the bed side.

Three body shops, a detail shop, and now Toyota's corporate rep are in agreement the paint and/or clear coat is too thin. Both the detail shop and Toyota's regional rep measured the paint and confirmed it was roughly half as thick as the front of the bed and the cab. A quick search online will also return similar stories of owners stating their paint and/or clear coat is flaking, rubbing away, or too thin in general on 2022 and 2023 Tacomas.

 

With 7" lift and 35's I don't spend a lot of time climbing up in the bed and examining the roof. After everyone's comments about their roof I climbed up their tonight to take look. The clear coat is pealing up on the roof in spots also! I put coins next to the bigger spots for size reference. I'll get better pics tomorrow.

 

On mine, on the hood a bunch of these cloudy spots are popping up under the clear coat. They completely smooth, no dirt or bugs were stuck to those spots are anything

 

For the sake of documentation, purchased 12/29/23 brand new with 10 miles on it. Now it has 4,405 miles on it and the clear coat is toast.

 

Thanks for posting pics. That's definitely concerning. I'm sorry to hear those spots have popped up in more places on your new truck

I hope Toyota does something about it, because we're starting to see more of these issues with 2022 and 2023 trucks.

 

With 30 years in the collision industry, and the one pic you posted, I stand by my statement, for that pic. Re-read it, It says the same thing you are saying body shops, detailer, and Toyota said... "The clear on the newer vehicles is waterborne, micro thin". The location of the pic, shows the bed decal was removed. Sorry you dont like what was typed but, to say it was or is disinformation or misinformation, is disingenuous at best. Especially with the pic you posted, and my experience level on the subject.

I do wish you and the OP good luck, on getting both of your situations resolved. We need to hold the Mfgr's to a higher standard to keep substandard finishes off our vehicles. Ski

 

I'm not looking to argue. I only posted to help the OP get their paint issues covered under warranty.

I stated in my first post in this thread that I used polish on the existing marks and it made the spots larger. I shared that picture because I don’t have a picture of what this spot looked like originally. I see now that this only caused further confusion, especially for those who haven’t read the previous posts in this thread. It might be best to delete that comment at this point.

No solvents were used, no aggressive compounds were used (unless Griot's Correcting Cream is considered aggressive), and I don't know what a "wheel" is in the context of your comment. The spots in the clear coat / paint were already there, albeit smaller, before anything was touched, and a Toyota rep confirmed there were pre-existing issues with my paint on this panel.

Based on the experience with my truck and what I’ve seen online, I would caution anyone attempting to "correct" this or similar clear coat issues. There are several other posts online regarding this same scenario (owners attempted to correct factory clear coat imperfections on their 2022 and 2023 trucks and the clear coat came off).

 

I also have a 23 Lunar Rock. Manufactured 1/2023 and purchased 2/2023. I had to wait about 9 months to get it. During the wait, the sales person did tell me that part of the reason (among many others) that it was taking so long was due to a shortage of Lunar Rock paint. They did not mention if there was shortage of other colors.

So far my paint seems to be holding up. I did have PPF installed on the hood, front grill/fenders within a few weeks of purchase. While my truck was in for PPF and window tint, the installer offered a really good deal on ceramic coat. I decided to go for it, the installer did mention that he may need to paint correct a few areas as part of the process. When I picked the truck up, he did show me a spot on the roof where he said the clear coat was a “little weird”. There is a white spot about the size of a pin head on the passenger side. It’s been about a year and a half and so far it hasn’t gotten any bigger.

Coincidently, I was reading a thread yesterday about a 23 Solar Octane that has what they described as bubbling near the front rocker. Pictures looked like there was definitely some fish eyes in that area. Then today I saw this thread.

I decided to wash my truck today and pay very close attention to the condition of the paint. After the wash, I gave it a very close inspection in good lighting. Other than the previously mentioned spot on the roof, I didn’t see anything distressing.

The paint does seem to be a little soft as I picked up a few rock chips on the passenger door last year. I put some touch up paint on chips and they also do not seem to have gotten any worse.

I will definitely be paying close attention to the paint going forward. For those experiencing premature paint failure, I hope you find satisfactory solutions with Toyota and your dealerships.

 

After reading these posts I went out and walked around my truck and saw no issues with the paint fading, chipping or pealing. My truck is 3 1/2 years old at 60,000 Km up here in the salt country.

 

You can see the defective clear coat MUCH easier in the dark! In the sun, the reflection makes it hard to see any of the spots. These are pics during the day, the spots are harder to pick out, when I go back to the dealership I'm for sure going to insist we bring the truck inside somewhere to look at it. Also before I go back I want to get a few paint shops to give me their opinion first.

 

With your 30 years experience do the pictures of the clear coat on my truck look normal or is there for sure something wrong here?

 

I put a digital microscope on a few of the spots after cleaning of course... The second from the top picture in this post is the spot as the 3rd to last picture in the daytime of previous post