Under Door Paint Finish

[Deano68]

Is it common practice for Toyota not to finish the paint job under the doors, Just noticed all 4 doors lowers edges have the base primer showing through. I know you don't see it but it looks naf and not sure about how well protected it will be long term ?? ( Corrolla gr sport my 22)

[Roy124]

Friday's? 

Go to the show room, check other cars then get your dealer to fix yours if it needs doing. 

[flash22]

Toyota have been doing it for years, boot and engine bays are common places, it's not primer but base coat, the steel is coated with corrosion inhibitors

[forkingabout]

A lot of unseen areas are left unpainted now - some vehicle manufacturers don't bother painting the underside of the bonnet in colour.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Common to a lot of manufacturers - saves weight and cost.

[Hybrid21]

 

2 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Common to a lot of manufacturers - saves weight and cost.

Doesn't sound right to me, especially if clearly visible.

Dean, any chance of a picture.

 

[TonyHSD]

Common practice since 2009 on many car manufacturers, premium brands and models though still paint their cars properly. 

[Bernard Foy]

Just because it’s common practice doesn’t mean that it’s best practice, especially on the underside of doors which are liable to have a lot of contact with water. Not good enough, I must check mine out tomorrow.

[Deano68]

14 hours ago, Hybrid21 said:

 

Doesn't sound right to me, especially if clearly visible.

Dean, any chance of a picture.

 

Scarlet flare, without the Scarlet

[Hybrid21]

Certainly doesn't look right Dean. I've had many different vehicles over the years including Toyota and never seen this.

Looks like it's been missed during final paint coat ? As another post I would check at dealer and look at new ones in the showroom.

I always wash under the doors when washing the car and would notice it, but will check my RAV4 anyway.

 

[TonyHSD]

Perhaps other Corolla owners can take a pic and share for comparison, with the red colour ones will be perfect 👍 

[FROSTYBALLS]

As an example, our 2015 i20 (metallic silver) had the drainage channels around the tailgate opening finished in a similar fashion. No issues with rust or corrosion in the 4.75 years we had it.  

[Hornet3D]

If it is the norm it is easily dealt with with a regular coating of way or sealant which can be done after a normal car wash.  This coating is particularly important on the rest of of the car if it is painted red as otherwise it can suffer from the white cloudy effect often seen on red cars.

[TonyHSD]

From the pictures of the doors I can see less red paint but otherwise we’ll covered with clear lacquer which actually is the harder top coat. Perhaps it is for savings to the manufacturer from less paint used per car, weight wise like nothing in reality, or maybe 500gr total per unit. 
We will need pictures from other members who has red, blue or black colour, any other might not be visible like white or silver for example., to determine if this case is one off or it’s just how these cars are made. 

[Jiff]

Mine 2019 Corolla 1.8 TS looks the same. No problems yet, now 3 years old. Doesn't feel smooth like the rest of the paint though. A bit difficult to photo as the suns out so sorry for the quality. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

Perhaps it is for savings to the manufacturer from less paint used per car, weight wise like nothing in reality, or maybe 500gr total per unit. 

The following is an article re Mazda's weight reduction programme that was applied to the 2007 second generation Mazda 2 (15 years ago), which saved 100kg in vehicle weight compared to the first generation:

https://medium.com/@sakshibose1/weight-reduction-technology-819306c0a7e5

Yes perhaps not having the underside of doors fully sprayed in top coat saves perhaps 500 grams, but when the saving for the whole bodyshell is taken into account, the weight reduction would be quite a bit higher.

Less weight usually means better efficiency, including fuel consumption.

[Frosted]

My 2019 1.8 HB is the same. Tricky to photograph in the sun however the grey areas are the same as previous posts.

[Obsidian Estate]

My 2021 isn't painted under the doors either.

I'll admit it doesn't upset me. I can't see it unless I lay on the floor.

 

[Tomv]

 I am surprised to see this money/weight saving thing on "visible" areas I thought it was used only on areas that are covered by trim or carpets.

Wonder If my car has it, will check in the evening.

[Hybrid21]

28 minutes ago, Tomv said:

 I am surprised to see this money/weight saving thing on "visible" areas I thought it was used only on areas that are covered by trim or carpets.

Wonder If my car has it, will check in the evening.

Yes I'm surprised too, I checked my RAV4 and it is painted ok under the doors.

[FROSTYBALLS]

23 minutes ago, Tomv said:

 I am surprised to see this money/weight saving thing on "visible" areas I thought it was used only on areas that are covered by trim or carpets.

Commonly it is on areas which aren't apparent from external view - including areas under the bonnet, tailgate drainage areas (see my earlier post), boot areas beneath coverings, spare wheel well, etc. Not only Toyota, but across a range of manufacturers. Not a new thing - has been going on for several years.

[forkingabout]

Is there an official Toyota TSB / document explaining this that could be posted here?

Might stop a lot of comments / wasted visits to Toyota dealers.

[TonyHSD]

Haha, rav4 is made in Japan, anyone with saloon or ch-r that are made in Turkey can have a look and share pictures for comparison. 🙂👍

[Deano68]

Thanks all for confirming it's not just mine, I've worked in the trade forever and it's new to me apart from the under bonnet and tailgate areas, Tailgate on mine is fine bye the way. I think we all know the weight thing is a red Herring all things considered and it's obviously a money saving exercise,  that said I am perfectly happy now I know this is the norm. 

Not quite 2 weeks into ownership and we really love the car, it has its faults but so do most but the positives are very pleasing and Toyota obviously know there stuff when it comes to Hybrid tech. So really looking forward to enjoying the car.

[Tomv]

I  checked my saloon and it looks ok. The surface under the doors has some dots like orange peel  not so smooth like on the rest of the car but pearl white seems to be covering all the area.