Paint quality

[SPMC]

Hi all, as an owner of a 2023 Corolla GR Sport, the mechanics and technology are superb, but let down by the paint quality and finish. My car I've had since new but the paintwork has a look of orange peel in daylight and is so soft it scratches when handwashing. I only ever handwash with a wash and wax, but it still creates noticeable scratches. My wifes 2 yr old fiat 500 has far better paintwork.  Has anybody else noticed the same, thanks in advance.

[W1P30UT]

My new Corolla arrived a few weeks ago with three scratches. Now with the garage trying to get resolution. 

[JasonM]

I haven’t noticed orange peel but agree paint seemed softer than older cars but then I understand car paint continues to harden as it gets older.  I did notice a couple of fairly deep scratches in the clearcoat on the bonnet and lightly rubbed them down with wet and dry (2000, 2500, 3000 grit) then machine polished and they completely disappeared.  I also handwash my car and lately been using Optimum No Rinse (ONR) instead of shampoo as it’s supposed to prevent scratches and to be fair I think it works really well and haven’t notice any more scratches.   My car is white and I do notice a slight difference in colour between the bumpers and body.

[nielshm]

My 2019 Corolla is silver, more difficult to see. I also hamd wash the car, and it has only been machine washed 2 times in total.

But the front bumber get chips like crazy, totally ruined in the paint work. My wifes 10 year old Aygo has much better or stronger paint. 

[SPMC]

I wish you well getting sorted, I am not negative with my Corolla as I love it. But I feel paintwork quality has gone downhill versus technology. Would i buy another Toyota.... No. I buy and not rent! To me visual effect and shine is a big plus and passion. Toyota for me is well below kia, Hyundai and Skoda. Paintwork quality is 3rd world.

[SPMC]

Thanks to all comments,  I think Toyota have cut back on quality of paintwork,  thinking people will lease rather  than buy. As an owner, I will look elsewhere. They are sacrificing owners for profit.

 

[Cyker]

Alas this is not a new thing; Many people noticed a decline in paint quality when they had to switch to water-based paint due to environmental concerns with solvent-based paints. They have also reduced the number of layers I think, and the lacquer does seem softer these days.

If it's a big concern, pay for a good ceramic coating to be applied - The better ones last 5+ years and will give it a high scratch resistance - or just regularly wax the car; The wax will also protect the lacquer and paint work, but won't have the same level of scratch resistance.

PPF is also another option, but it's expensive and you have to declare it to insurance which may raise the premium. Quite a few people just get the front of the car done which reduces the cost somewhat.

 

[J2024IE]

1 hour ago, SPMC said:

Hi all, as an owner of a 2023 Corolla GR Sport, the mechanics and technology are superb, but let down by the paint quality and finish. My car I've had since new but the paintwork has a look of orange peel in daylight and is so soft it scratches when handwashing. I only ever handwash with a wash and wax, but it still creates noticeable scratches. My wifes 2 yr old fiat 500 has far better paintwork.  Has anybody else noticed the same, thanks in advance.

my 2023 Corolla TS  I think the finish and quality is not as good as previous Toyota's I had.  I hand wash my car,   I can sometimes notice very light scratches on the paintwork.  I had a proace city before, and the paintwork, quality and finish, was better than the corolla.

 

[Roker]

3 hours ago, SPMC said:

Hi all, as an owner of a 2023 Corolla GR Sport, the mechanics and technology are superb, but let down by the paint quality and finish. My car I've had since new but the paintwork has a look of orange peel in daylight and is so soft it scratches when handwashing. I only ever handwash with a wash and wax, but it still creates noticeable scratches. My wifes 2 yr old fiat 500 has far better paintwork.  Has anybody else noticed the same, thanks in advance.

I thought Toyota paint quality was lacking when I noticed the plastici rear  bumper panel was a slightly different black to the matching side panel, it's also missing the sparkle sand effect, this is more noticeable in sunlight. The car is only 4yr old and has not had any damage 

[Corolly Poly]

My paintwork seems generally good but there is a strange effect on both sides of the bonnet in certain lights. It almost looks like the paint has run and there is a very mild 'rippling' appearance. 

[TonyHSD]

Good to have some pictures shared so we all can see. Definitely quality of the new cars has gone down but I think it’s not just Toyota but all. 

[AndrueC]

The moral of the story seems to be 'don't wash your car more than necessary'. That's my strategy. I have it washed once a year..when it gets serviced 😁

[coreye9090]

12 minutes ago, AndrueC said:

The moral of the story seems to be 'don't wash your car more than necessary'. That's my strategy. I have it washed once a year..when it gets serviced 😁

Hah! If only! I barely had my car for a week and it so dirty already! ( tanks to some single track roads I can't avoid!) 😂

[Cyker]

4 hours ago, AndrueC said:

The moral of the story seems to be 'don't wash your car more than necessary'. That's my strategy. I have it washed once a year..when it gets serviced 😁

That's all the justification I need!  

Also I'm hoping it's a less attractive target to thieves and vandals if it's covered in guck.  

Also every time it has been cleaned and is all glistening and shiny, the poor thing becomes a target of seemingly every damned bird in London for the next few weeks, and it's always ones that are apparently very sick judging by the disgusting tar-like mess they somehow bulls-eye the car with!  

It wasn't so bad when the Supagard was fresh as that made removing it a lot easier, but it's noticeably harder now the layer of protection is wearing off

[Roker]

My son is a car detailer and tells me never use a brush either hand brush or by machine

[Roker]

My son is a car detailer and tells me never use a brush either hand brush or by machine

[Roker]

23 hours ago, W1P30UT said:

My new Corolla arrived a few weeks ago with three scratches. Now with the garage trying to get resolution. 

It's ironic that we have a car that we leave out in the weather, drive through mud, and subject it to unknown abuse when we leave it in car parks that leaves very little room to get out of the car and then want it to have no marks and a deep shine

[TrackLink]

Car paint has certainly become softer since the introduction of waterborne paints forced by VOC regulations. My four-month-old Corolla has several light scratches (most of them caused by sloppy SupaGuard application at the dealership) but no noticeable stone chips as yet. My car is Scarlet Flare, which is one of the pearlescent paint options. I wonder if pearlescent paints might be a little thicker than the non-pearlescent colours, which is why stone chips haven’t reared their ugly base coat heads yet. My tip for minimising the risk of light scratches introduced during hand washing is using deionised water to rinse the car after shampooing with a quality microfibre mitt. Deionised water (I buy reverse osmosis water from a local aquatics shop - 3 pounds for 25 litres) removes all water marks without the need for a drying with a towel. It’s a time saver too.

[Roker]

6 minutes ago, TrackLink said:

Car paint has certainly become softer since the introduction of waterborne paints forced by VOC regulations. My four-month-old Corolla has several light scratches (most of them caused by sloppy SupaGuard application at the dealership) but no noticeable stone chips as yet. My car is Scarlet Flare, which is one of the pearlescent paint options. I wonder if pearlescent paints might be a little thicker than the non-pearlescent colours, which is why stone chips haven’t reared their ugly undercoated heads yet. My tip for minimising the risk of light scratches introduced during hand washing is using deionised water to rinse the car after shampooing with a quality microfibre mitt. Deionised water (I buy reverse osmosis water from a local aquatics shop - 3 pounds for 25 litres) removes all water marks without the need for a drying with a towel.

I find that my car dries much cleaner when I use rainwater from my but

[Dylanfan]

I live in a “hard water area”, and I mean HARD. If you didn’t leather (remember  that) the car after cleaning it was covered in white spots. We now have a water softener resulting in silky smooth skin and just a towel dragged over the rinsed car for and excellent finish.

[Swanthecat]

It has been mentioned on this and other similar threads that these issues are caused by using waterborne paint. This is not correct as there is no major car producer using waterborne paint for the final top or clear coat. Waterborne is simply not durable enough and does not have the clarity and/or gloss of solvent borne. Yes waterborne is used for base coats but actually many paint lines are reverting back to solvent since when the carbon footprint of the paint process is calculated solvent is advantaged as it uses less energy to dry/cure than a waterborne system. Paint producers tread a fine line between scratch resistance and stone chip resistance. A hard scratch resistant clear coat will often be brittle and could give rise to chipping issues. Other causes why people perceive that stone chipping is worse could include factors such as the state of the roads, the actual design of the car - many new cars - particularly EVs look like a 3 year old has designed it to resemble a motorised Lego block. The colour of a car also has a massive effect on the perception of scratching. My Eclipse black car shows up every scratch and swirl from incorrect washing and I take a lot of care to ensure it is washed gently with as little contact washing as possible and never ever let the dealers wash it with a bucket of suspended grit and sand.

[yossarian247]

I used to be annoyed be the orange peel effect of the paint on my Corolla, but found the secret is to park it next to an Audi. The paint quality seems pretty shocking on some recent model Audis and Toyota paint looks fantastic in comparison 😉

[sportse]

Paint does seem bit thin on the plastic bumpers - I already have a few nicks/chips on them from stones.

Bonnet so far is ok from stone chips, I had a 2021 Honda and that chipped quite badly. The Corolla is much better.

Paint quality is definitely lower than in the past, but seems ok to last a good few years. Even my Auris suffered from stone chips on the bonnet.

FYI if you want shine on the bodywork, I picked up a tip from old valeters and use Johnsons baby wash to wash my car now. (Plus microfibre wash mits, a bucket with grit guard and a giant microfibre drying towel.)

Seems funny, but you get a really good shine on the panels that you can see yourself in. Plus it's not going to damage you or the environment - the chemical warning messages on the back of some car care products are quite extreme.

[TonyHSD]

The best colour for me has always been the pearlcent white although I think in recent years and degradation of everything including poor road surfaces which are a major reason for stone chips and other paint issues the best car colour is pure white. It’s often the free one plus it’s easiest to repair with touch up. Can cover with wraps if necessary and keep the car interior few degrees cooler than darker colours. Small scratches or imperfections are barely visible on white colour cars. 👍

[olddriver]

Do you use a leather to dry off, if so try using a Turtle Wax Ultimate Hybrid microfibre Drying Towel, it’s really soft and quicker than using a leather?