Brand new Tundra with major paint bubbles under clear coat

Makes me wonder if when dealer lot porter peeled the fallout protection film they inadvertently separated the white backing from the adhesive liner…

take a close up shot of the edges of the the body line where the passenger fender meets the hood

 

My Fiat 124 had strange markings on the paint. A few days in the sun cured it. I think what happens is the white protective film is applied before the paint is done curing/drying. Or water seeps under the film and is held there for an extended period.

So, give it a few days in the warm sun, if there is any and see if the spots go away.

 

Either way,

I would have your Toyota dealership figure it out for you. You paid a lot of money for the truck. Let them work for it.

 

Asking the real questions. This should have never been cleared for customer delivery in the first place. I don't care what bull$hit line the dealer feeds you...there's no excuse for this.

I'm not saying it'll do much good, but after this is all resolved I would contact Toyota's Brand Engagement Dept about it. Link: https://support.toyota.com/s/article/How-do-I-contact-Toyo-7636?language=en_US

 

Take it to the dealer and let them make it right. Don't start messing with it like I would and screw it up more before they have a chance to identify the issue. You don't want them blaming anything on you which they may very well try since their apparently so incompetent to let this truck out the door as is anyway.

 

a blow dryer/heat gun will likely take care of it like others have said. This is actually pretty common with new vehicles after the protective shipping film is removed. Most people never know it because dealers take care of hit ahead of time. My 3rd gen had the same thing when I went to the dealer to pick it up but they were already in the process of taking care of it before I got there.

 

In my 30+ years as a self employed auto detailer I have see this exact thing more times than i can count. Unfortunately your Tundra is a victim of production manufacturing.

Factory automotive paint takes a minimum of 30 days and can take up to 90 days to fully cure depending on the paint manufacturer and the thickness of its application. Many times the white protective vinyl sheating they use for transport has been applied well before the paint has had time to cure. Your vehicle shows up at the dealership and when they remove the protective film it actually lifts the clear coat from the sub level paint causing separation between the clearcoat layer and paint. As I have told my many clients that have had this issue and like others here have said I would open a case with Toyota and have the affected areas repainted.

 

What do you mean after the pandemic ? They never gave a shit, before or after pandemic. Very few people actually care enough to do it right the first time, always time to do it again the right way. I will never understand lazy people.

 

Yes a heat gun will take care of that all vehicles can come with it. It’s moisture under the wrap they remove.

Here is my old ladies hood of her 2023 Highlander, we used a heat gun light heat and boom instantly gone!

 

Update: went back to the dealer, definitely no clear film, they tried to buff it out and it didn't do anything. General opinion was that clear coat has separated from the paint when vinyl factory protection panels were removed. They offered to repaint the hood and right fender, I refused, so they offered to buy it back and get me into the only 4x4 Limited w/6.5 ft bed they had in stock. Ended up paying about $3k more in options I didn't want or care about (sunroof, air suspension, Qi charging) but this one doesn't have any paint issues that I can see. On the minus side, air suspension makes for a bumpy ride compared with standard suspension and there seems to be no way to soften it.

 

geez, thats kinda shitty that got delivered to the customer like that.

I keep second guessing buying one of these things, it seems like there is more and more BS.

very unlike toyota, just a rough new model launch so far

 

Why did you not use a heat gun?! Like me and another person said.

A heat gun takes that off….. ‍♂️‍♂️‍♂️‍♂️‍♂️

 

You can’t buff off that stuff.. that’s why a heat gun fixes it. Ugh! I woulda kept what you had and done the heat gun trick it removes it like magic just like how it removed it on my old ladies car that I posted the same issue about.

 

With the air suspension being bumpy make sure and search the forum on the process to adjust the rear ride height. If the dealer didn't do the initial adjustment for you the rear is hitting the bump stops and causing the terrible ride.

 

there is an official fix TSB from toyota for this now

 

Yeah, not sure why a heat gun/hot hair blow dryer was not attempted. Takes no time at all and costs nothing. Forums are only as good as the advice given AND the advice taken. Heat gun/blow dryer, or paint work or $3K more for a different vehicle? Oh well.

 

Right!!! I even showed him my old ladies brand new highlander that had the exact same thing haha!!! Whatever though lol

 

You shouldn't have to use a heat gun to remove bubbles under a clear coat of a brand-new car. Who knows if the integrity of the paint has been compromised or whatever. Also, no one needs to take a random person's opinion online. "lol haha!!!"

 

People deal with issues differently. I'm with OP on this one. I shouldn't have to use a heat gun to repair an issue out of the factory and I wouldn't do a paint job on it either. It is never the same as factory paint. Personally, I would have taken them up on their offer to buy the truck back and gone somewhere else. But if you're satisfied with the solution, that's all that matters. Got a pic of the new truck?

 

Usually when I take ownership of a new car I will spend the first Saturday doing a clay/seal/wax on it. Just what I do. I have had the leftover crap from the transport film and gotten rid of it. Now from another Toyota owner I know, not a Tundra, he had paint issues and after a fight Toyota bought his car back. Hope yours is an easy fix.

 

Took Delivery of my 23 TRD Pro last Saturday. I completed a thorough walk around checking it. Washed and waxed it last week and all looked good. Now today, I checked it in early morning light and my hood looks exactly like this. It is almost an exact duplicate of the pictures you posted. Direct Sunlight and it's very hard to see.

Took it over to Local Professional Detail shop. It's clear-Coat Separation. We also found a few other spots on the Passenger side Front Fender along the top. Went directly to the local Toyota Collision Center-Have appointment next week for them to review. Hmm.

 

Please share the results. I saw this post before taking delivery of a 2023 1794. It has this issue on the hood, part of the fender, and parts of the roof. I've taken pictures and emailed a detailer I've used in the past and some locally respected body shops. Trying to decide what I should do. I can still walk away from the deal as I haven't signed the final paperwork yet. I don't want problems and I feel if I take it I'm stuck with it and Toyota's "fix" will be a respray, which I really don't want.

 

Boom ! Nailed it with the correct diagnosis. Would there be any downside to a repaint, besides another 30 day cure time ?

 

And here's the advice from a local trusted body shop owner:
Don't walk away-run! If it is truly delamination of the clear from the base color that is a major issue. To repair the panels affected each would need to be stripped to the primer sealer then re-base coated and cleared, this would include major disasembly of body panels and more. Honda is having a similar issue with some colors.
Cause maybe the rap to protect it was allowed to bake in the sun on fresh paint or an issue with the time span between application of the color and clear coat. Finally, a poor chemical mix of the color or clear.

Looks like I'm passing on this one.

BTW, no other Tundras or new cars on their lot have this issue.

 

Tell them to hit it with a heat gun. Ffs, why is no one taking this advice or asking the dealer to? Neither party has anything to lose if it is indeed trapped moisture. Myself and many others in this forum and every other car forum have seen this and used a heat gun/blow dryer and it worked. My truck had it, a guy on this thread posted photos of his with exact same thing and it was fixed with a heat gun. I mean, holy shit man. Why not try it? Takes no time and costs nothing. Why is the immediate reaction to do the most complicated, expensive thing first?

 

Do we know for sure that the heat gun method will be a permanent fix? As in 10+ years down the road there won't be a problem in these locations.

 

My white pro had some missing spots and chipped easily, so o sold it. I hope there’s nothing wrong with the production line right now and a batch rolled it like this because my 23 platinum was built last week and in transit.

 

10+ years down the road, you're going to have issues with all the paint unless you've filmed, sealed, or coated your vehicle as much as necessary over that time period. Mine had zero distortions or blemishes afterwards. Then I filmed every part of my truck forward of the rear fenders. This isn't something new or specific to tundras. This is more common than people think across all brands and dealerships. Like I said in a post above, good dealerships typically have it taken care of before you get there. I would bet my Tundra that some of you guys had this happen to your trucks but you are completely unaware because they put it under heat lamps before you picked it up. If I hadn't asked why my truck was under the lamps, I would never have known.