Anyone have any suggestions on my paint bubbling?

Yea when you search for Tacoma hood rust, you can find many examples of either the left or right side of the hood along that edge across quite a few years. Doesn't look like a bad batch, but looks like maybe the processing for the hood itself doesn't get it sealed or painted well inside. Given how slow rust is to progress, its probably hard to diagnose if your hood would be affected before it bubbles from the inside out.

Going to get my eyes on the inside of the hood in those areas to see if its a spot that one could spray some cosmoline or something into at all.

 

Right after I got mine replaced, I sprayed a bunch of The PB Blaster Surface Shield in the holes near those areas It flows a little better but Cosmoline flows too if you spray enough.

 

I may do that to mine. I wasn't sure what to do once they replaced my hood but thats a good idea. I actually have a case of that stuff since I stocked up to do the underside of the truck every year.

 

That makes sense. I'd do it right now, but being 30F outside it going to clog up way too fast as it cools down lol. Going to need to wait until spring as it warms up.

 

Yeah wait until it warms up so it "runs" immediately. When I first did my old hood before I found out on this forum, that this was a problem, I sprayed too much when it was colder and when it got warmer it was running out all over. Not a big deal but was a little messy.

 

You want it to run as you want it thin enough to get into the seam and seal it off from air and moisture. No air, no rust.

 

I’m dealing with the same issue on my 2020 tacoma. I went to the closest dealership and they told me it would most likely get denied by Toyota since I have almost 40k miles now.

I mentioned how there were other people that have had the same issue and have gotten it covered. They said they could send it in but I would have a better chance going through the dealership I bought it from. So that’s going to be my next step.

 

They're just being lazy. 60 months unlimited miles so they didn't even know the policy. Mine didn't either and when I was armed with knowledge he couldn't deny it. Also, shouldn't matter where you bought the truck. Didn't matter for me.

 

I wouldn’t think the dealership would matter either. I may just go to a different dealer and make sure I mention the rust warranty if they tell me anything similar.

 

Take nice close up pictures that show bubbling and hopefully the rust brown coloring coming through. Immediately show them to the service guy or gal, when you walk up.

 

Will do. As of right now it’s just bubbling and no rust color showing through yet. The dealer was able to notice it right away though.

 

I didn't notice mine rusting through until I took a close up picture of the underside of the hood, where the seem is. If yours is bubbling on the edge or the outside, I guarantee you it's rusting on that seem. My truck is black and was hard to see until the pictures.

 

Toyota is well aware of this issue. I do most of my maintenance and I sprayed surface shield in the seams where I could reach when I got the truck right after my first reply to this message. Anyway I got a couple letters from the dealer to bring it in for the one year free maintenance so I did even though I didn't have a single issue. They changed my oil and filter with just 4500 miles on it.
When I got home I opened the hood to make sure the oil cap was secure etc new globs of rust inhibitants ran out of the seams. Thank you Toyota!
Paint bubbles in this area is rust starting from the inside and should be addressed by a Toyota dealer if still under warranty.

 

Another update.

So the dealer I purchased the vehicle from called me back and they told me their hands are tied and can’t help me. They said paint issues are covered for 36k and that it most likely wouldn’t fall under the rust warranty either.

They said it’s up to Toyota to make the decision and gave me the number to call them directly.

 

Double-check the manual, I think rust perforation is 5yr warranty. If paint is bubbling there it will eventually perforate. OP got his covered and he was second owner.

 

I feel you. Dealers are useless. I was told that my paint mottling is a "product of the process employed by a plant in Mexico."

 

That would've been my next step was to call Toyota directly, also.
Just as a summary on mine, the Service Manager really didn't want to help me. But the key was he said to let the guy/company that they outsource their bodywork to, make the call. So when I took it there, he literally looked at it for 30 seconds and knew that the hood wasn't repainted or it was nothing that I had done, it was on Toyota. So he wrote up a work order and said to take it back to the Service Manager and tell him that my claim was legit. He said that technically the dealer could go back and forth and play the game and not cover it by rust warranty if they wanted to. So they were calling the job done in "good faith." And Toyota corporate would go along with it. So really the dealer was just the middle man. They just needed the body place to confirm it was nothing I did. After that they sent the work order and the pictures straight to Toyota and they got right back to me and approved it.

Ya it was brutal listening to the Service Manager talk around how it would never be covered under the rust warranty, for me. So like I mentioned above mine was covered by Toyota (not the dealer making the call) as a "customer good faith." That's what they kept saying lol.

Hopefully that gives you some clarity. Good luck.

 

Well after talking to Toyota, they sent me back to the first dealer. They took pictures and submitted it to Toyota and it was denied. They said it started rusting due to the paint chip. Which is not true at all. The paint chip happened after I touched it and the paint fell off.

My next step is to call Toyota back and appeal it. I am going to request and appointment with a body shop of some sort and hopefully they can prove it is not anything I did.

After that, I think I’m out of options.

 

Bummer. But that is exactly how mine looked too. A close look you can tell that it started rusting from moisture that was inside the seam of the hood. Hopefully you can get some sort of help. Maybe even ask for a discount on a new hood. Better than nothing. Good luck.