Nice Paint, But…
One typically has to pay extra for white pearl paint. It’s understandable, though, as it requires a unique mix that varies from one manufacturer to another. It costs a little more to produce, and that cost is, well, transferred to us if we really want that color.
White pearl easily adds several hundred dollars to a car’s total price, so one expects it to at least stay shiny for a couple of years. However, that color is giving headaches to Nissan and Toyota owners in Japan.
Peeling Problems
According to the Japanese website Creative311, owners of Toyota and Nissan vehicles have reported that their white pearl-finished cars are peeling paint. It’s become relatively widespread and often affects vehicles built from 2010 to 2015. Granted, many years have passed since the cars rolled off the line, but one would expect the paint to fade, not fall off in chunks.
So far, there have been about 150 reported cases on Nissan’s end at the time of writing. Several Toyota owners have also come forward, though the exact number of reports was not provided. Some have noticed paint bubbling before the coat flaked off the car. The likely reason is that the batch of paint used was unable to truly stick to the primer.
Common Models Affected
It’s hard to determine the scope of the paint issues or the number of vehicles affected. That said, the paint issue could affect millions of customers, particularly in Toyota’s case.
For Nissan, some commonly affected models include the Cima, Fuga (Infiniti M), Teana (Altima), Sylphy (Sentra), Note, and X-Trail (Rogue), to name a few. In other words, most of its volume sellers in Japan have cases of white pearl paint peeling. As for Toyota, it affects a great deal of its popular models, including the Prius, Corolla (they have a different version), Alphard, Vellfire, and Land Cruiser Prado (Lexus GX).
Some are Lucky
Repainting a car isn’t cheap, but some Nissan dealers in Japan are willing to do it for free for affected owners. Mind you, not all were that generous, but the fact that some have been fixing up customer cars with no cash out is worthy of mention. The Nissan dealers have also reported these cases straight to their headquarters, although it’s unknown if the company has taken official action. As far as we know, there is no recall in place, but several Nissan dealers are repainting vehicles for free at their own volition.
However, Toyota owners in Japan are facing an uphill battle at the moment. While there was a recall for select models, even those not part of it have been experiencing paint peeling as well. Because of that, many dealers are treating this as a paid repair. That has left owners with a dilemma: shell out big bucks to repaint the whole car or just, well, live with it. If it’s any consolation, there are a few dealers giving out free repairs.
Â
