Paint is peeling off my car, who should pay for it? Me or Toyota?

Jj13

So to give a bit of backstory, I bought my car second hand (from a private trader) back in 2018. 
My car is a Toyota IQ 09 plate. Unbeknownst to me (and the seller), there is a known fault with this particular make/model car with this paint colour.
The first time I had an issue rectified with peeling paint was a few years back because it had started peeling off the bonnet and on one of the doors (although the door was due to someone keying it- lovely people hey!). 



I messaged Toyota (after researching led me to the realisation that there was indeed a known fault- something to do with the paint not adhering properly, or no primer being used- something of that nature), to see if they would be willing to rectify the peeling paint as it was not due to the cars age/or anything I'd done.

They emailed back saying:
"Hi J, 

Thanks for getting in touch via our contact us page on our website. 

I am sorry to hear that the paint on your Toyota IQ has been peeling and understand that this has caused you an inconvenience. We did extend the cover period for this to 10 years. However, as the parameters for financial support have now been reached no support for this under goodwill applies as your vehicle is beyond that age range. 

We do apologise for the disappointment this may cause you."

I paid someone else to rectify the issue as it was getting worse, but then towards the end of last year, another part of my car started peeling.

I can't keep spending money on painting my car, it's ridiculous. The first time I paid about £300 and that was 'mates rates' (I was quoted over £1300 from other places). This time round, it's a bigger job, so I don't even want to think about how much that'd be. 

Any advice (should I keep pushing Toyota, is there another way to go about it, or is this something that I should be paying for)? I mentioned this issue on the Toyota forum and there were mixed opinions (some thought Toyota were in the right as they 'technically' didn't have to extend their 'goodwill offer', but then again, I had no idea about the fault until the goodwill offer had ended and no one expects their cars paint to peel off like this). 

Mr.Generous

On a 15 year old car I can't see the manufacturer paying. Pretty good that no rust is showing under the paint!

sheslookinhot

Have a weekend parked in your local Toyota dealers car lot.

Money_Grabber13579

Wonder if it might be cheaper to vinyl wrap the car rather than keep on patching up the paintwork? It is a pretty old car though so might not justify significant rectification work though.  

Aretnap

I think you're going to struggle to hold anyone to account for a fault with a 15 year old car. You're miles outside any rights under a manufacturers warranty or the Consumer Rights Act (not that you have many rights against a private seller anyway). And if the 10 year support from Toyota was a goodwill gesture then a goodwill gesture is just that - not something that they had to offer in the first place, let alone extend for an extra five years past it's original expiry date. 

Sadly I'm not sure that you have many options beyond patching it up as best you can, or accepting that a 15 year old car is basically one major fault away from the scrapheap and cutting your losses now.

Bigphil1474

OP, I'd get a rattle can and spray it myself. A car that age isn't going to lose any value from a botched touch up job. Many years ago I knew someone with a rusty orange Lada, she bought some sticky back black plastic, cut it into circles and stuck them all over the car like it was coming out in spots. Covered the rust for a while.  

Mildly_Miffed

They went above and beyond in extending coverage to 10 years.

You're now 50% beyond that extension, 15 year old car.

Remember, the average car in the UK is 13yo when it's scrapped.

Also, that front wing looks like it's started from a scratch, probably from pulling into a hedge on a country lane.

Mildly_Miffed

Money_Grabber13579 said:

Wonder if it might be cheaper to vinyl wrap the car rather than keep on patching up the paintwork? It is a pretty old car though so might not justify significant rectification work though.  

No. Any surface faults below the vinyl will stand out like a sore thumb.

The only solution to this is to sand back and repaint.

Personally, on a 15yo iQ? I'd be reaching for something like the brush enamels from https://paintman.co.uk/
That's exactly what I'm about to do with the peeling paint on my 22yo camper van. But that's a vivid hue (which I love) to start with, so I'm going with the original colour. On a boringly white car? I'd be having some fun with the colours...

chrisw

Mildly_Miffed said:

Money_Grabber13579 said:

Wonder if it might be cheaper to vinyl wrap the car rather than keep on patching up the paintwork? It is a pretty old car though so might not justify significant rectification work though.  

No. Any surface faults below the vinyl will stand out like a sore thumb.

The only solution to this is to sand back and repaint.

Personally, on a 15yo iQ? I'd be reaching for something like the brush enamels from https://paintman.co.uk/
That's exactly what I'm about to do with the peeling paint on my 22yo camper van. But that's a vivid hue (which I love) to start with, so I'm going with the original colour. On a boringly white car? I'd be having some fun with the colours...

I once hand painted a Mk3 Cortina with Hammerite Smoothrite. It came up really well and was tough as old boots.

Stubod

I would not waste my time  trying to get anything off Toyota on a car that is way beyond any reasonable warranty period, and that is already beyond its normal shelf life. 

As above, I would go for the DIY spray / hand paint option.

Stateofart

Not at 15 years old.  I think the Ford bodywork guarantee is 12 years max.