Stone Chips On Brand New Auris

[sevenup]

I bought a brand new Auris Hybrid and took delivery a week ago. After driving home I decided to wax it and found two chips in the paintwork on the bonnet, both about 2mm across and down to the metal. I rang the dealer and he told me to bring it back in this week and they would repair it. When I took it back they said it was too deep for a smart repair but they put some touch up paint on it. I talked to the sales manager but his view was that it had probably happened on my way home and it was bad luck. As we were talking he was looking at the bonnet and found another chip, again about 2mm across and down to the metal. This one wasn't there last week. He pointed to this as evidence that the original chips must have happened after the car left the dealer. My point is that such small chips shouldn't remove the paintwork right down to the metal. I was not aware of any stone strikes so they can't have been big. Any suggestions from anyone. At this rate there will be no paint left after about 3 months! Incidentally the car is Ixis blue.

[mountain_mania]

I bought a brand new Auris Hybrid and took delivery a week ago. After driving home I decided to wax it and found two chips in the paintwork on the bonnet, both about 2mm across and down to the metal. I rang the dealer and he told me to bring it back in this week and they would repair it. When I took it back they said it was too deep for a smart repair but they put some touch up paint on it. I talked to the sales manager but his view was that it had probably happened on my way home and it was bad luck. As we were talking he was looking at the bonnet and found another chip, again about 2mm across and down to the metal. This one wasn't there last week. He pointed to this as evidence that the original chips must have happened after the car left the dealer. My point is that such small chips shouldn't remove the paintwork right down to the metal. I was not aware of any stone strikes so they can't have been big. Any suggestions from anyone. At this rate there will be no paint left after about 3 months! Incidentally the car is Ixis blue.

The paint of the Auris is extremely sensitive :( This made me so disappointed at the beginning. After the first one million chips you won't care about it. Believe me ;)

[acetip]

I bought a brand new Auris Hybrid and took delivery a week ago. After driving home I decided to wax it and found two chips in the paintwork on the bonnet, both about 2mm across and down to the metal. I rang the dealer and he told me to bring it back in this week and they would repair it. When I took it back they said it was too deep for a smart repair but they put some touch up paint on it. I talked to the sales manager but his view was that it had probably happened on my way home and it was bad luck. As we were talking he was looking at the bonnet and found another chip, again about 2mm across and down to the metal. This one wasn't there last week. He pointed to this as evidence that the original chips must have happened after the car left the dealer. My point is that such small chips shouldn't remove the paintwork right down to the metal. I was not aware of any stone strikes so they can't have been big. Any suggestions from anyone. At this rate there will be no paint left after about 3 months! Incidentally the car is Ixis blue.

that must make you very disappointed with the car,and i kmow how you feel.

thats why i hate driving along rosds freshly repaired with stone chips and hold my breath when cars come the othes way.

i am not faulting your driving, but do you drive close to cars in front of you.cos thats sure to get peppered with debri. leaving a decent gap will not stop stones etc but will reduce chances.

[dervdave]

Not only affecting the Auris, I noticed a couple on the front of the Verso within a couple of hundred miles.

Theres been no new ones since funnily enough

[sevenup]

I bought a brand new Auris Hybrid and took delivery a week ago. After driving home I decided to wax it and found two chips in the paintwork on the bonnet, both about 2mm across and down to the metal. I rang the dealer and he told me to bring it back in this week and they would repair it. When I took it back they said it was too deep for a smart repair but they put some touch up paint on it. I talked to the sales manager but his view was that it had probably happened on my way home and it was bad luck. As we were talking he was looking at the bonnet and found another chip, again about 2mm across and down to the metal. This one wasn't there last week. He pointed to this as evidence that the original chips must have happened after the car left the dealer. My point is that such small chips shouldn't remove the paintwork right down to the metal. I was not aware of any stone strikes so they can't have been big. Any suggestions from anyone. At this rate there will be no paint left after about 3 months! Incidentally the car is Ixis blue.

that must make you very disappointed with the car,and i kmow how you feel.

thats why i hate driving along rosds freshly repaired with stone chips and hold my breath when cars come the othes way.

i am not faulting your driving, but do you drive close to cars in front of you.cos thats sure to get peppered with debri. leaving a decent gap will not stop stones etc but will reduce chances.

[sevenup]

Always try and keep a good distance. I had no problem with my previous cars. The issue isn't the stone chip per se, but the fact that the paint has come off down to the metal. Chips Away and similar can't repair it. Dealer has referred it to Toyota now.

[T Sport 1978]

Part of owning and driving a modern car I am afraid, water based paint is your culprit and the only advice would be to try not to drive too close to cars infront on the motorway and to use the best paint care products you can on your car as part of your normal maintenance.

I cannot even begin to tell you how many chips i have on the front of my car, and recently had to touch up a rather big chip just on the front edge of the near side wing panel, a large flake of paint was gone and down to the primer. No doubt if i had left it for long it would have led to rust eventually.

Keep a good eye open for these.

Good luck

[acetip]

Part of owning and driving a modern car I am afraid, water based paint is your culprit and the only advice would be to try not to drive too close to cars infront on the motorway and to use the best paint care products you can on your car as part of your normal maintenance.

I cannot even begin to tell you how many chips i have on the front of my car, and recently had to touch up a rather big chip just on the front edge of the near side wing panel, a large flake of paint was gone and down to the primer. No doubt if i had left it for long it would have led to rust eventually.

Keep a good eye open for these.

Good luck

what ever treatment you give your paintwork it will not stop stones etc damaging your paint.

in canada where a lot of roads are just loose chippings some people fit a cover over the front of the bonnet,and they look terrible.

[daveybee]

I bought a brand new Auris Hybrid and took delivery a week ago. After driving home I decided to wax it and found two chips in the paintwork on the bonnet, both about 2mm across and down to the metal. I rang the dealer and he told me to bring it back in this week and they would repair it. When I took it back they said it was too deep for a smart repair but they put some touch up paint on it. I talked to the sales manager but his view was that it had probably happened on my way home and it was bad luck. As we were talking he was looking at the bonnet and found another chip, again about 2mm across and down to the metal. This one wasn't there last week. He pointed to this as evidence that the original chips must have happened after the car left the dealer. My point is that such small chips shouldn't remove the paintwork right down to the metal. I was not aware of any stone strikes so they can't have been big. Any suggestions from anyone. At this rate there will be no paint left after about 3 months! Incidentally the car is Ixis blue.

Interesting. When I took delivery of my HSD, there were 4 chips in the front bumper, but I noticed them while it was on the forecourt before driving off. It was brought from Derby on the back of a transporter so the chips could only have happened either at the factory or the dealership. Anyway, the dealer promised to put it right, and after two attempts, a new bumper (the original was screwed up when the dealer's third party fixer made a real hash of it - Toyota's local depot painted and fitted the new one and made an absolutely stunning job), a new splitter (the original was lose on the new bumper) and two months later (the car was off the road for about 10 days, including August Bank Holiday - Grrr) all fixed and I'm a happy camper with the final result, if not the journey.

It is disturbing though, that this sounds like it may be more than the isolated event that I thought it was. I would suggest (to all new owners) to inspect the car around the bumper and bonnet area very closely before accepting the car. I was lucky (eventually) although it sounds like you weren't (sorry about that) - push for the fix though, just watch out for your dealer giving it to a bunch of cowboys to fix like mine did! D.

[monya]

I'm disappointed to read how poor the quality of the paint seems to be. I've had my HSD for 2 weeks now and haven't had a close inspection but my previous mercedes A class's paint was as tough as old boots. Is Toyota just using poor paint?

[acetip]

I'm disappointed to read how poor the quality of the paint seems to be. I've had my HSD for 2 weeks now and haven't had a close inspection but my previous mercedes A class's paint was as tough as old boots. Is Toyota just using poor paint?

hi

i have very few chips on my auris,just one on the bonnet,a few very small on front under number plate,which being plastic,will not rust.

what ive noticed is things under the bonnet,such as engine mountings,hose clips and bits that seem to be bare metal on parts of the engine that have rust on them,plus parts of the suspension seem to have signs of rust.

i am surprised how rusty the silencer is,never seen one as rusty as this.dont toyota galvanise them.someone else

commented on this.its possible the previous owner used it near the coast (salt).but he lived in bury st edmunds

which is a fair way inland.

i had my old passat 15 years,and had far less rust on it.still on same silence on it.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Depends what age your A-series was as to whether it had oil-based paint or water-based. Water-based paint is used on cars now due to being more environmentally friendly. I have also seen numerous complaints about stone chipping on the latest Honda Civic. A colleague at work who has a 58 plate Mercedes CLS has numerous stone chips on the front bumper and one or two on the bonnet, whereas her husbands mid-90's SL has hardly got any (again an example of water based paint against the more hardy oil-based).

[acetip]

Depends what age your A-series was as to whether it had oil-based paint or water-based. Water-based paint is used on cars now due to being more environmentally friendly. I have also seen numerous complaints about stone chipping on the latest Honda Civic. A colleague at work who has a 58 plate Mercedes CLS has numerous stone chips on the front bumper and one or two on the bonnet, whereas her husbands mid-90's SL has hardly got any (again an example of water based paint against the more hardy oil-based).

hi frostyballs (like the name)

i was not comparing body paint work of the passat to auris,but things under bonnet,and suspension also the silencer.i am not expecting the quality of the paint on these to be as high as we would hope the body paint would be,but things could be given at least durable finish.

[FROSTYBALLS]

I suppose it is all down to the manufacturer deciding what finish to produce components with to give a pre-determined product life. We've also got the old model Mazda 2 which appears fairly well built. With the current Mazda 2, Mazda decided to save weight where it could - for example some areas of the car are not given the clearcoat lacquer top coat(eg. under the boot floor mat, inside the boot opening, etc). This saves both money and weight.

VW found the last model Golf (mark 5?) was too expensive to build (so they made less profit per car), so they designed the facelifted mark 6 to be cheaper to build - again they have cut costs somewhere, and undoubtedly this has got to include the finish of hidden components.

[acetip]

I suppose it is all down to the manufacturer deciding what finish to produce components with to give a pre-determined product life. We've also got the old model Mazda 2 which appears fairly well built. With the current Mazda 2, Mazda decided to save weight where it could - for example some areas of the car are not given the clearcoat lacquer top coat(eg. under the boot floor mat, inside the boot opening, etc). This saves both money and weight.

VW found the last model Golf (mark 5?) was too expensive to build (so they made less profit per car), so they designed the facelifted mark 6 to be cheaper to build - again they have cut costs somewhere, and undoubtedly this has got to include the finish of hidden components.

hi frostyballs

i am sure you are right.a shame realy,cos i like things under my bonnet to look clean an neat.

[monya]

Makes one wonder if protection products like Supaguard would be worth the outlay after all, given the relatively poor durability of water based paints?

[acetip]

Makes one wonder if protection products like Supaguard would be worth the outlay after all, given the relatively poor durability of water based paints?

hi monya

would not give protection against stone chips.

[FROSTYBALLS]

I am sure you are right.a shame realy,cos i like things under my bonnet to look clean an neat.

My previous car was a Corolla Colour Collection, which had soft touch plastics on the dash, a felt lined compartment by the radio (that prevented things inside the compartment from rattling) and removable rubber mats in the base of each of the door pockets which helped stop things sliding about.

The Auris went the way of cars like the Mazda 3, with harder plastics and also lost some of these other little touches.

Although I have not noticed any deterioration of things like the finish of under-bonnet items, etc.

Paint finish is similar to the Corolla - again water based paint - but as durable as any similar car.

However I have noticed that compared to Astras and Focuses at work, the paint on the Corolla and Auris doesn't show scratches around the door handles, etc as much.

Lease cars in the Government Department I work for include Auris's, Avensis's, Focus's and Mondeo's. The paint finish on the Toyotas seems to stand up better to everyday use than the Fords.

[cviclark]

Mine is Island Blue and I also have a couple of chips. My silver Prius's were also prone to chips and I found the best remedy was Chipsticks and coloured polish. Unfortunately you can not buy chipstick on their own (a kiddies crayon would probably do the same job)and Colour Magic Blue is too dark for my car. I bought Sonax Blue (Amazon) and the crayon is a bit light however it darkens with the polish. The results are much better than I could get with touch up paint. Wear gloves when you use the polish as it stains bad. I nearly bought a "C" class Merc after seeing how good the bonnets were at resisting stone chips but my local paint shop says now they use water based paints and lacquer they are all the same, "crap". I also had a small lump on the front edge of the bonnet under the paint but I thought the remedy would make it worse. I have resigned myself to getting the bonnet resprayed every few years. Colour matching is so good now and if you can find a good paint shop the results are excellent.

[ihearttoyota]

Hi Ian,

My Auris is a 63 plate and also Island blue... 2 chips on the bonnet in 4000 miles! I'm absolutely gutted. Both chips appear to be down to primer.

What kind of prep did you do to the car before using the Sonax blue? I'm using Neutral pH snowfoam followed by Autoglym shampoo+body conditioner at the moment.

Cheers

[cviclark]

No prep its just,was & dry, the wax crayon first (comes with it) to fill the pit then polish. Wear gloves apply with a sponge, leave to dry and polish off. Cotton hard first to get any excess polish off the microfibre. The Turtle chip sticks are better but I could not get a light blue and the Dark blue is a bit dark, the Sonex polish is much better than the Turtle. I used the silver Turtle chip sticks on my Prius and it was very good but I did not like the Turtle polish and covered with Autoglym Resin polish. The fills lasted about six months of normal wash. I found it less noticeable than touch up paint and the lacquer is not destroyed.

It would be nice if someone made a coloured paint paste the filled the hole, but until then its the best I have found.

[Miseryguts]

The bottom line is that paint on ALL modern cars is rubbish.

I don't know when this environmently friendly nonsense started but my old 98 Jeep never had stone chips and any scratches could be compounded out.

My Auris is covered in "swirls" caused my some "valeter" not doing the job properly.

You only have to breathe on the paint and you get a mark/scratch.

If you get stone chips just dab a bit of paint on them and forget it because you WILL get them again,the clear coat is hard and it chip and marks very easily.

Wait until you get a lot of chips then have the bonnet resprayed,job done.

[Truthseeker]

Got my first bonnet chip today.

[4raver]

Its the nasty water based paints they just are not up to the job....bring back celulouse paint and all will be well....just remember that when touching up that you use the lacquer or the spots will rust through. It wont detract from the fabulous car you have so enjoy it and don't worry.

[Guest]

Hi there , I too have been discovering paint chips on my May 2015 Auris Hybrid Touring Estate . As now retired I spend a lot more time cleaning my Auris ( which I love ) . They are appearing in random areas . Will take it back to the dealership ., they are very good but not sure how hard to push ?

It was coated inside and out with the ceramic process .