Paint problem with '07 Avalon

[black07]

After hand washing my wife's avalon recently I found dozens and dozens of chips on the hood, sides ,and trunk. The car only has 20k on it and the highway miles are very low. I took it to the local dealer and was told that chips are from an external source and are not covered under warranty. There is also a spot on the hood that is etched and cracked and they said that is from bird poop baking into the paint. I had the car buffed last september at a very high end detail shop (they work on primarily Porsches, Ferarri's etc.). The paint (black) was as flawless as possible after that in sept and I have a hard time believing bird poop baked into the finish over the winter here in Wisconsin. We had a pretty rough winter with lots of salt on the roads but come on, that many chips! I have owned many cars in my life and know a thing or two about paint. This garage kept, babied new Avalon has twice as many chips as my old crappy, neglected lumina. Is toyota using an inferior paint or process? Has anyone had any problems like this? I can't believe it's normal to look like the car is used to follow gravel trucks around. I bought a Toyota because they were supposed to have about the highest quality but some of the things I have heard since I bought it makes me wonder if I will buy another one

[Timbits93]

Had a similar problem but on a different Toyota vehicle,

Apparently many with 01 to 06 Sienna owners had paint chips.

Our 02 Sienna had tons of paint chips on the hood but well due to an incident, the hood needed to be repainted.

So all i can say is that the paint is soft and that many people have this issue :/

[Tom in Tacoma]

I agree. My gray '07 is very pitted all over the front of the car. At this point I'll just keep on driving it and leave it that way.

Pretty disappointed in the durability of the factory paint.

[00avxls]

yeah, I have the same problem with my black avalon. A couple of chips but alot of pits from bug splatter getting baked in on the hood. My front bumper looks a little dull too. I plan on getting it repainted in the near future. I'm thinkiin black opal, it's a color available only on the lexus ls and gs hybrids.

[black07]

I do have to say I am kind of disappointed in the paint quality. It sounds like this has been a problem for Toyota for a while and not exclusive to the Avalons. After owning GM's forever and bringing myself to buying a "foreign" car with all the grief that comes with having union "buy American" friends and co-workers, it's aggravating to have them point out the shoddy paint. Especially when they tell me it looks worse than my old crappy car and their high mileage American cars.

[tex45233]

Toyota / Lexus Paint must be tested in a non reality environment. I had a 2004 Lexus and now a 2007 Avy that chips seem to just appear...hood / roof line...etc. I think Toyo's mgmt should review their quality control...and test in a real enviroment. It all comes down to the bottom line $$$$$$. So if they can save one gallon per "x" number of vehicles they are saving money.