To car wash... Or not to car wash - That is the question!

angrytoddler

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Anyone trusting their car to the car wash? We have a great car wash by me - I take the FJ and Explorer Sport there with no issues. But I don't think I can bring myself to take the Supra -

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

On another note - Went for a drive last night - ran into an area where there were paving new asphalt - I was not happy - But luckily no gue, tar or scratches. I thought they would stop paving once they saw my car and part the seas so there would be no harm but I was wrong.
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Dank Sinatra

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I researched this a little last night and the general consensus is hand wash if at all possible. Apparently even the touchless washes still aren’t great
 

Turbro

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I only home pressure wash any of my cars... but they are ceramic coated and soaps from those places can damage the coating... so I never take my cars anywhere. Takes time but it’s kind of nice to put down the phone and enjoy my hobby (playing with cars) a little.
 

Dooo

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Did anyone notice any imperfections on the paint from washing the car?? I noticed that the door garnish on both driver and passenger side looks weird compared to rest of the car. My car has not been detailed yet since I got the car. I made sure that the dealer kept everything on the car as it came off the truck. It almost looks like discoloration. I am not sure it could be corrected from polishing...

Do I take it in for service for it? What can I do about it?
 

CJ-

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Did anyone notice any imperfections on the paint from washing the car?? I noticed that the door garnish on both driver and passenger side looks weird compared to rest of the car. My car has not been detailed yet since I got the car. I made sure that the dealer kept everything on the car as it came off the truck. It almost looks like discoloration. I am not sure it could be corrected from polishing...

Do I take it in for service for it? What can I do about it?
Pics?
 

s219

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Those parts are painted separate from the car, in fact they are usually pre-painted by the supplier and delivered to the plant. It looks like a really bad paint job or poor color match, or maybe some type of fading. Are any of the other plastic parts showing this? (may not if these are unique and from a separate supplier).

It is typical to notice a slight color mismatch on plastic parts compared to metal panels with factory paint, but it should be very slight. As in, barely noticeable and tolerable on a white car and you'd have to look really hard on other colors. To see it on a black car is very abnormal.

I'd bring it up with the dealer and ask them to replace those parts. The good news is that they shouldn't have to disturb the factory paint on the metal panels. Normally replacements come unpainted, so make sure a good body shop is involved that can get a proper color match and do a good quality paint job on the parts. In rare cases replacement parts like this might be pre-painted which would make the fix even quicker, but then you'd have to hope the new pieces are better quality than the originals!
 

s219

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Also, I'd be curious to see a picture under ambient daylight, maybe from a distance where we can see the whole door.
 

Dooo

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Those parts are painted separate from the car, in fact they are usually pre-painted by the supplier and delivered to the plant. It looks like a really bad paint job or poor color match, or maybe some type of fading. Are any of the other plastic parts showing this? (may not if these are unique and from a separate supplier).

It is typical to notice a slight color mismatch on plastic parts compared to metal panels with factory paint, but it should be very slight. As in, barely noticeable and tolerable on a white car and you'd have to look really hard on other colors. To see it on a black car is very abnormal.

I'd bring it up with the dealer and ask them to replace those parts. The good news is that they shouldn't have to disturb the factory paint on the metal panels. Normally replacements come unpainted, so make sure a good body shop is involved that can get a proper color match and do a good quality paint job on the parts. In rare cases replacement parts like this might be pre-painted which would make the fix even quicker, but then you'd have to hope the new pieces are better quality than the originals!
Thank you for the explanation. Can I take it to any Toyota dealer? I bought my car out of state and it's 6hrs away...
 

Dooo

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Also, I'd be curious to see a picture under ambient daylight, maybe from a distance where we can see the whole door.
During the day, you can't tell anything. I noticed it when I was drying the car after the the wash at night
 

s219

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During the day, you can't tell anything. I noticed it when I was drying the car after the the wash at night
May be normal then. What type of lighting was used? Paint matches are usually calibrated for a certain natural daylight light spec (they can never be perfect under every condition, so the nominal daylight condition is the one that is used for calibration). If you're going over a car with a flashlight or LED cellphone flash in the dark then I would not be surprised if the mismatches become more apparent. Heck, when I am doing paint correction work there are details that are invisible during normal conditions and are only visible with a special light in the dark (can really sink your heart to see all this stuff that is otherwise invisible during daylight).
 

Dooo

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May be normal then. What type of lighting was used? Paint matches are usually calibrated for a certain natural daylight light spec (they can never be perfect under every condition, so the nominal daylight condition is the one that is used for calibration). If you're going over a car with a flashlight or LED cellphone flash in the dark then I would not be surprised if the mismatches become more apparent. Heck, when I am doing paint correction work there are details that are invisible during normal conditions and are only visible with a special light in the dark (can really sink your heart to see all this stuff that is otherwise invisible during daylight).
I guess the issue is that it looks fine during the day from the distance. On a bright sunny day, I am able to see the imperfection up close. You can see what you see in the above picture during the daylight. The picture above was taken at night under the LED and using the flashlight on the iphone. It almost looks like the base was sprayed wrong or just clear did not go on right. It could be from buffind from the factory since i do see some residue under the door handle. I expected better quality paint job than this on a 60k car...
 

XtremeMaC

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@Dooo It'd help everyone looking into this thread if you actually provide a shot of the door from distance.
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