Altering Factory Paint Finish-venting, need opinions

Shortly after I bought my Taco, I discovered that it had blemishes on the horizontal paint surfaces (hood and top of cab). I found these after applying a coat of Liquid Glass. Most of the blemishes were as a result of rail dust, but a couple that were on the hood were apparantly factory defects. After I alerted the dealer, their body shop attempted to remove the defects by wetsanding, which only made them worse. The sanding thinned the clear coat. These weren't blemishes that were easily seen, but any meticulous vehicle owner who takes pride in keeping a nice looking vehicle would notice them. I assume most of us in this forum fall into this category.

I advised the service manager I was not happy with the results and he scheduled a meeting with the Toyota Factory Regional Rep to review the issue. When we met, the Factory Rep acknowledged the defects/rail dust and authorized repairs to be covered by warranty. He said the hood needed to be refinished and that the rail dust on top of the cab could be removed by other means.

I took it in the past Monday for the paint work to be done. While it was there they also completed the suspension TSB. The body shop manager called me yesterday and told me that the job was completed. Specifically, that they had used a clay bar on all surfaces and corrected the issues. I asked about the refinishing of the hood, and the he said that he was unaware that it needeed refinishing and that the use of the clay bar made all look great. I then called the head of the service department and he got on this rant about how breaking the factory finish would be bad, and that the job the body shop did turned out beautifully. I asked why I wasn't informed that they had decided to change course without my approval after the Toyota rep had approved the refinish and he reverted back to the issues with breaking the finish. He tehn said, if I wanted to go that route, they would do the refinish and I told him to please do it as that was my inderstanding in the first place.

This really pisses me off because I have taken days off work to drive the 20 plus miles, back and forth dealing with this issue. Now, I'm wondering what crap they will pull next and if they will actually repaint the hood. It also makes me question the TSB issue-which I will inspect before taking the truck back. Am I being unreasonable here?

Anyone have a professional opinion in this breaking of the factory finish business? Am I screwing things up by going this route?

FWIW, I have a record of e-mails between me and the service manager corroborating the work that was supposed to be performed.

Thanks for letting me vent...

 

Maybe you agreeing to the repaint and them emphasizing the breaking factory paint thing means they don't want any diminished value claim?

I had a new 95 Toyota pickup that had a horrible factory paint defect that my regional rep took back and had re-painted. I mean toyota sent a car carrier and gave me a car to use while it was gone. How cost effective that was is beyond me but hey I owned the truck for 10 years without any paint issues.

I have had my 06's bumper painted and blended due to my own doing , I think the cover looks better than the factory job ever was.

Sounds like you just want what you paid for right, nothing more or less.

Are they giving you a loaner while you are going thru this?

 

Yes, thankfully they gave me a '09 Camry to drive while this is being addressed. Thing is, with my work schedule, today would have been a good day to retrieve the truck; now that they've dicked around, I may not be able to get it until next week. Keeps me in the rental vehicle longer and costs them more. They should have called me when they initially made the decision not to refinish; its like they wanted to pull a fast one without me taking notice.

 

Yes agree they should call you, but don't get me started on dealers, too many stories I do not want to re-live.
Good call getting it in writing!