Hood scoop and rear garnish paint issues

My wife and I just picked up a 21’ Super White ORP. We were loving it until I found our hood scoop and rear garnish already have the notorious paint rubbing/cracking. We knew the SW was known for being soft/thin but I’m disappointed that with less than 10k miles we already have these issues. I went by my local dealer for some recon and looked at their used lot. All three of their 4R’s in the used lot had the same issues at those spots to some extent. This included a 22’ Pro with less than 1500 miles.

I’m waiting to hear back from the dealer on a repair but I’m anticipating redoing it myself, as I don’t see them actually fixing it properly. I plan to use either plastic or rubber spacers and do some slight trimming if I have to to properly space the pieces. I’m curious how many others have had theirs repaired under warranty?

EDIT: Issue resolved/repaired. I updated the last post.

 

Can you post a picture of these issues please? I have a paint defect on my 2022 I am not happy about at all and want to compare. Mine is on the hood. Dealer won’t warranty it and they want $1100 to repaint whole hood and blend and my trusted body shop in town wants $500-$550….big difference!

 

How can they not warranty it?
So on either side of the hood scoop there’s visible rub marks which I feel are caused by general vibrations. The rear garnish where it says “4Runner” fits extremely tight at both lower corners which causes the paint to rub through and crack.

 

I will look at my hatch now, my issue is completely different.

 

are you sure that the hood wasn't repainted at some point?

 

I discovered a spot on my driver's side door this weekend that looks a lot like your issue. It looks like a cigarette burn. Mine isn't from bird poop and I doubt it's from sap. I'm really good about getting that stuff off as soon as I see it and that's a place that I look at often as it's on the ridge near the window, above the door handle. Got mine in March fresh off the truck.

Kinda disappointing since I live in the rust belt. My husband's Murano new was a lot worse though (super black). The number of spots down to the metal on his hood was atrocious.

 

Yep I am not happy! Paying out of pocket to fix when the vehicle is clean which I keep it clean that’s all I see on the hood. I live in the rust belt, but this 4 runner doesn’t see the salt which made me more pissed. Picked it up on Christmas pretty much.

 

I drove it home with 3 miles on it, I doubt it was ever re painted.

 

I feel the same way. I plan on having this vehicle for at least 20 years. I own the marks I make, I bought it to use it, but this is something else. Unfortunately I have zero confidence that it'll be covered under warranty as I've been down that road before. I'm going keep an eye on it, which will be easy to do because that's all I see when I'm getting in it.

 

I spoke to my dealer and they’ve been good so far. They seem more than willing to fix it properly and find a solution so it’s not put back together the same way and have it happen again.

I’d try another dealer tmiesowicz….

 

We will hopefully be getting our 4R back this week. While having a new $44k plus vehicle with a now repainted hood and hatch isn't ideal, at least we'll have an additional layer of white being it's thin to begin with......

 

You would be shocked to know how many brand new vehicles have had paint repair work done to them due to transport damage. Unless the damage / repair reaches a certain percentage of the MSRP, the dealer is not required to mention it in most states. For that reason, I go over any new vehicle I buy with a fine-tooth comb before I sign anything.

 

Just a follow up. We got our 4R back yesterday. Overall I'm pretty impressed, and I'm fussy. They did a great job fixing/repainting the hood and hatch. They added spacers/3m tape behind the garnish and scoop to allow proper spacing/gaps. The service manager had to have the Toyota regional technical rep look at ours to approve the repair and he said the garnish is a known issue. He believed our hood scoop was the result of a bad detail job and them trying to remove wax from that crevice/edge or just a paint flaw. I'm not sure I buy the wax removal theory, but it's fixed now and that's all I care. I suggest everyone who still has warranty check these spots on your 4R's.

 

How is the repair holding up? I have the same issue on my 2022 Lunar Rock hood scoop and I’m debating if I should just remove the hood scoop and touch up the paint myself or if I should take it to my dealer. I don’t have much faith in my local dealers but I am also concerned with getting enough clearance on the hood scoop when I reinstall it so it doesn’t rub again.

 

Regarding the hood scoop, so far so good. They painted the scoop as well as the hood so it matched when reassembled. They did re-space the scoop with something but it still is tighter than I wish it was. My dealer openly told me who they use body shop shop wise as the repair wasn’t done in house. I researched them and was happy they had great reviews. I’d talk to your dealer to find out how/where they plan to fix it.

 

Is there any way to prevent rubbing of the rear hatch garnish against paint without removing the panel covering the speakers in the rear hatch? I’m thinking there are bolts attaching the rear garnish that must be removed from inside the panel? Or is the garnish held on with push-pin type plastic connectors, so you can just pry it off? I don’t even have my ORP yet and I don’t want to tear into that back panel right away. Also I have read where guys let the dealership do it and did more damage mis-handling the vehicle. I would like a practical way to prevent this without getting more damage handing off the vehicle to people that don’t care about my vehicle as much as me. Does every 4 Runner have these issues? Sounds like part of the design so that all would?

 

From my understanding it’s held on with plastic push clips. I hear you’re almost guaranteed to break them. The only flaw on my repair is that they dented the edge of our garnish at one spot when I believe they were prying it off.

Sadly, I’ve seen brand new PRO’s that already show rubbing marks. Yeah, there’s an entire thread on this issue. Toyota is well aware, don’t let them tell you otherwise.

 

I wonder if filling the gap between the hood scoop-hood joint and the top side of rear garnish (on hatch) with clear silicone caulk, would remedy this. It could fill the gap, pad any flexing vibration, stay flexible and keep water out. Even if the rubbing still occurred under (or thru) the silicone, the flexible seal would keep out water, debris and or salt spray. So if paint still rubbed no moisture or salt could get to exposed metal.

 

Personally, I’d never put silicone on a $45k+ vehicle as a “fix”.

 

I’m just saying if the design of the vehicle must have inadequate space between the panels. So an effective fix will involve removing the hood scoop, and/or rear garnish, installing shims, painting and re-assembly. Unless the factory comes out with a design change like in a TSB (with specified shim thicknesses and attachment method) we will all wind up a different solution, which may or may not be temporary. If silicone eliminated the problem, and you couldn’t see it, I would do it. There is no risk-free solution once you go the “make them fix it” route. But a TSB is the best solution because the factory has to acknowledge the problem and provide procedure to fix it without damage. Has there been a TSB on this issue?

 

Well I gave it a shot this weekend. Was able to get the hood scoop off and touched up the paint on the hood. Still not 100% happy with it but at least the spots where the paint was worn through are filled and I don’t have to worry about rust.

I applied new gaskets to the bottom side of the hood scoop and moved them closer to the edge in hopes of increasing the gap between the hood scoop and hood but it’s still tight and I’m sure it will rub through again.

Oh well, if it gives me issues in the future for whatever reason maybe I’ll use it as an excuse to swap hoods with one without a scoop. Kind of gets in the way of my visibility and is a little annoying at times.

I know it’s an off-road vehicle that will get scratches and scuffs from using it as intended but it’s hard to swallow that pill when you’re on the hook for a 40k+ car loan. Wish someone would have told me that when I bought it lol.

 

I noticed the rear garnish on my 22 pro has the same issue.

During a rain storm, I opened the hood and notice water pouring into the engine bay soaking the sound dampening fabric and was planning on adding some sort of gasket seal. I had no idea that fake scoop could cause rust!!! WTF

Do we have any idea how widespread these two issues are?