What are these shiny spots on the door panel top? Defect?

They are Manufacturing Mold Release spots. Some are worse than others. I thought initially it was a dealer un wiped Armor All spot when I bought my truck. Ultimately I took a Magic Eraser and ended up removing the spots but then the magic eraser spots were slightly duller than the rest of the panel. So I ordered a new door panel all together and it was worse than the one in the truck. Ultimately I sent the new panel back and used the Magic eraser on the entire upper portion of the panel on both front doors to even the dullness out and remove the spots. Then I took plastic polish by hand and polished it back to a nice mellow luster. No more spots and now all even. Wait till your front cloth seats start to fray and wear and in many cases sag and bunch up. I'm now installing Katzkin leather after having seat fabric replaced twice on two different seats in under 5000 miles

 

That is quite a string there. I'm seeing a trend.

Oh and the OP called himself OCD before anyone else did.

 

Ack... get rid of the Armor All. Use something like 303 Protectant instead. Best UV protectant out there in my opinion. Much better for plastics/vinyls. Doesn't get greasy and attract dust. This is what I have my customer use on vinyl hot tub covers. Armor All eats vinyl over time - dries it out, cracks it. It actually impacts the molecular structure of synthetics over time as I understand.

I need to get 303 all over my Tacoma still. Used it on my old 2005 Camry when I had it. Awesome. Didn't rub off the door panel when I rested my elbow there either. No gunk on my arm that way.

 

Thanks OP. I can't stop staring at the spot above my front passenger door handle every time I hop in my truck!

 

so you guys wanna Clean my truck it's full of twigs and rocks and there's a solid layer of dust on everything and some sand in there too. Any takers??

I'd be miffed if I bought a new truck and there was weird shit on it. But honestly once you really start to use it and abuse it. You won't notice half the little things

Ps I've had my leafs snap and my seats are freying and there's dull spots on my drivers side panel from my arm.

 

**** UPDATE ****

So the dealer sales manager just called me. They received another door panel and IT WAS IN EVEN WORSE CONDITION. The regional sales rep just happened to be there and she saw it for herself. She said that a case needs to be opened with Toyota because this is too wide spread. The sales manager informed her that there were many people on this particular thread who had the same issues. I think it was funny they took a new one right out of the box and it looked like shit. So now its a wait and see game. I told the sales manager that this is piss poor for Toyota considering they are making the most reliable cars in the world, i told him my last GM vehicle had better interior quality than this crap. So he said they will have to keep on ordering till a good panel comes in. Or eventually take one off of a new truck and swap mine with it (hopefully that owner wont notice!) ` so that's where we are at gentlemen

 

What dealer? Huntersville?

 

CHARLOTTE

 

HERES SOME I NOTICED ON THE TOP PART OF THE DOOR...WTF

 

That sucks but really, based on some of the others, its very mild. I'm telling you, break out the Magic Eraser and use a firm even all over pressure moving in one direction. It will disappear but will be a bit dull. If you want you then polish with something like McGuires Plastic polish. Mine look acceptable now. Not perfect, but acceptable and the best they can be without perfect replacements

 

I'm going to eventually, some time this summer, have that portion of doors covered in perforated leather that matches the plastic. I bought Katzkin leather seat replacements for the crappy low quality cloth being used now. All that's left inside that looks like junk is the door panels. covering just those upper door pieces will take it to the quality level. Then I'm done

 

Wow, this thread made me laugh a bit. That being said OP has the right to complain if he isn't happy with his purchase. I have the spots too but I've never cared. It's a truck to me and trucks quickly have far worse things then blemishes that look like a fingerprint on the door panel. I have a feeling OP will be waiting a while to get a good door panel.

Please keep us updated OP. I want to see you go to court or something interesting like that over this. I have a feeling you would take something like this that far, and I would enjoy reading about it.

I'm sure when you come into the Toyota dealership for another vehicle the manager will off himself. That's a joke BTW.

 

Everyone's different. To some its just a truck to beat over the trails or work out of and to others, its an extension of themselves. I personally take pride and exceptional care of my House, vacation cottage truck and bike. They are the big ticket items in life and I enjoy them. To each his or her own. I have to agree though OP although I sympathize, if I were a sales person I'd be running the other way next time around! Lol

 

I'll take a minor interior blemish (as it seems "characteristic") on top of the fact that a Toyota is a reliable vehicle.

 

I have those on mine, they wipe off.

 

That's the way I look at it. I want the reliability and the truck overall is sharp looking. The issues that I cant resolve or don't want to bother taking up with the dealer, I find a way to fix and enhance the truck myself.

 

I don't know what your using to wipe them off? I and others have found nothing that just wipes off those permanent mold release marks

 

Imagine if the OP took this truck to court for a lemon law buy back for all its flaws I wonder if Toyota would just do it given how things have gone so far with this customer.

 

I've had the same spots on my 2014 since I first got it. I never noticed anything like them on my 2007, though. I thought it was just some Armor All crap that needed to be properly cleaned off, but if it's an actual issue, I might stop by the dealership and have them do something about it.

 

FIFY

Seriously though, do you need to be interrogated?... or will you simply share your secret cleaning solution?