Toyota Service Bulletin: Body Panel Fitting Issues

[Zach]

Originally Posted by project.sth

Next week my windshield will be replace.

Please try and be there when they do this. Most likely the dealership will outsource this job to a third party company so you can probably sit outside and watch. I have had a few botched window jobs and on modern cars its very easy to get wrong and also destroy the clips and plastic that is in the way.

[frsnky]

Originally Posted by shawn

I have the body panels not being flush issue and the condensation issue. I admit both are very minor and very annoying. I called Scion customer service and they gave me a case number. I have to bring the car to my dealer to have it checked out.

It's not a big deal and Toyota seems like they want to help get it fixed which is nice!

I do to my trunk looks a little off and my passenger tail light has condensation in it that is still there after 5 days. I'm sure that Toyota will take care of it under warranty.

[motofan]

My friend got an FR-S. I noticed when we picked the car up at the dealership that the gap between the door and rear fender is relatively large on the top (where the door window glass is). The gap becomes smaller at lower corner. I checked the other (passengers) side and it did look symmetric though.

Not sure if this is related...

[trueno86power]

Originally Posted by Zach

Please try and be there when they do this. Most likely the dealership will outsource this job to a third party company so you can probably sit outside and watch. I have had a few botched window jobs and on modern cars its very easy to get wrong and also destroy the clips and plastic that is in the way.

Unfortunately I can't be there, I'm a car mecanic too. But it's not a third party compagny their a guy who do windshield at this place.

[Sigh-on-Rice]

I noticed the gap between the fender and the trunk on the driver side is about twice as large as the one on the passenger side. I haven't seen the condensation yet because the car didn't get wet yet.

[Re~Mix]

Is the body panel issue only supposed to concern the rear fender / trunk region?

I have check all fits around the front and side of my car, and everything seems to be symmetric. Problem is, this is the first car I have paid that much attention to and I don't know what would be considered an 'excessive' gap.

[Sigh-on-Rice]

Originally Posted by Re~Mix

Is the body panel issue only supposed to concern the rear fender / trunk region?

I have check all fits around the front and side of my car, and everything seems to be symmetric. Problem is, this is the first car I have paid that much attention to and I don't know what would be considered an 'excessive' gap.

I'm wondering the same thing as you now. I don't know what would be considered an excessive gap. This is the first time I have paid attention to the gap as well. I thought I found my trunk and fender gap uneven. But when I checked the other Toyota cars, their trunk and fender gap was as uneven as my FR-S. So, mine must be acceptable.

[Ro_Ja]

I'm a victim. I was just looking at my FR-S and I noticed a pretty serious body panel misalignment on my passenger front fender. I know there's a tech tip (S-TT-0043-12) out there, but it shows no fix. Has anyone dealt with Scion regarding this issue?

[EK_Golfer]

Originally Posted by Ro_Ja

I'm a victim. I was just looking at my FR-S and I noticed a pretty serious body panel misalignment on my passenger front fender. I know there's a tech tip (S-TT-0043-12) out there, but it shows no fix. Has anyone dealt with Scion regarding this issue?

Any pics? I'm just curious how out of line the body panels are that people are reporting

[russv]

Originally Posted by Ro_Ja

I'm a victim. I was just looking at my FR-S and I noticed a pretty serious body panel misalignment on my passenger front fender. I know there's a tech tip (S-TT-0043-12) out there, but it shows no fix. Has anyone dealt with Scion regarding this issue?

This seems to be a common compaint. First thing I noticed.

[Ro_Ja]

I'll have better pictures tomorrow. I'll be calling Scion tomorrow as well to see what options are available for me.

Here's a quick comparison for now. Driver's side on left and passenger on right (duh, lol).



As you can see, the driver's side gap remains consistent from top to bottom. The bottom running boards line up as well. Different story on the passenger. Large gap up top that narrows as you go down. Notice the lines along the bottom of the door and fender don't match up.



Perfectly flush driver's side whereas the passenger fender is bowed out approx. 0.25 inch up top and bows inward at the bottom.

I suppose it's not a HUGE deal since the car still drives fine unlike the CEL issue people have been dealing with, but it bothers me, and now that I know it's there, I'm going to notice it all the time.

[Asphalt~86]

[Jwong]

did you ever noticed how some of the color on body panels are off? (pearl white)

[finch1750]

Originally Posted by Jwong

did you ever noticed how some of the color on body panels are off? (pearl white)

This is due to the different materials, aluminum vs plastic. The paint sets different. Nothing can really be done about it unfortunately

[Tt3Sheppard]

Hmm now I kind of want to see if my car has this

[russv]

Here are photos of the difference in panel gaps on my fenders. Not sure what Scion can do about it. Not pleased.

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by Ro_Ja

I'll have better pictures tomorrow. I'll be calling Scion tomorrow as well to see what options are available for me.

Here's a quick comparison for now. Driver's side on left and passenger on right (duh, lol).



As you can see, the driver's side gap remains consistent from top to bottom. The bottom running boards line up as well. Different story on the passenger. Large gap up top that narrows as you go down. Notice the lines along the bottom of the door and fender don't match up.



Perfectly flush driver's side whereas the passenger fender is bowed out approx. 0.25 inch up top and bows inward at the bottom.

I have this exact same issue. Dealer was unwilling to do anything about and buying a brand new car where the body panels don't sit flush is really souring my opinion of Toyota/Subaru/Scion.

Every time I visit that god-forsaken dealership I leave there saying the same thing to myself: "I should have just bought a used S2000".

Ro Ja: Who did you contact to get this addressed?

[Ro_Ja]

Originally Posted by russv

Here are photos of the difference in panel gaps on my fenders. Not sure what Scion can do about it. Not pleased.

Yup. Same here.

Originally Posted by rice_classic

I have this exact same issue. Dealer was unwilling to do anything about and buying a brand new car where the body panels don't sit flush is really souring my opinion of Toyota/Subaru/Scion.

Every time I visit that god-forsaken dealership I leave there saying the same thing to myself: "I should have just bought a used S2000".

Ro Ja: Who did you contact to get this addressed?

I haven't called Scion yet (will do that a little later), but I went onto live chat on Scion.com and the representative gave me this phone number: 866-707-2466

If it comes down to it, I know some people who know Jack Hollis (Toyota VP) and Craig Taguchi (Scion PR) personally. I'd rather not have to go that far, but I'll do it if it must be done. I'll be sure to mention you guys as well.

I'm also going to be in the LA area in 2 weeks, so if need be, they can see the car in person.

[Ro_Ja]

I called and spoke with Brett (who I just happened to be talking to on Scion.com live chat yesterday). He set me up with a local dealership and opened a case number. I did mention other owners have this problem as well. I encourage you guys to call. I will also post up my experiences at each step of the process.

[Employee]

Originally Posted by russv

Here are photos of the difference in panel gaps on my fenders. Not sure what Scion can do about it. Not pleased.

When the fenders are put on they are done with a human and a jig. Not everyone does the exact same thing. I can't tell from the picture however it does not look like something out of spec. The specs are there to control outflow of repeatability as every car will be slightly different. As a first model year it sometimes takes a little bit to find out what customers complain about. If you want the fender to look perfect the fender would have to be reset which means the bolts would have to be touched up by paint, front mask off etc... Again there is a lot of high expectations on this forum things most people would not even see. I will tell you right now the gap at the "A" pillar x fender will never change. If the hood by fender looks good I would just leave it as if you move it it may cause deviations else where door x fender, fender x hood etc...

[Employee]

Originally Posted by Ro_Ja

I'll have better pictures tomorrow. I'll be calling Scion tomorrow as well to see what options are available for me.

Here's a quick comparison for now. Driver's side on left and passenger on right (duh, lol).



As you can see, the driver's side gap remains consistent from top to bottom. The bottom running boards line up as well. Different story on the passenger. Large gap up top that narrows as you go down. Notice the lines along the bottom of the door and fender don't match up.



Perfectly flush driver's side whereas the passenger fender is bowed out approx. 0.25 inch up top and bows inward at the bottom.

I suppose it's not a HUGE deal since the car still drives fine unlike the CEL issue people have been dealing with, but it bothers me, and now that I know it's there, I'm going to notice it all the time.

It's actually better to have the fender outboard as opposed to flush the reason for this is stone chips. Why it does not look the same on each side is again likely because it is within Scion's tolerance specs and there are 2 different people fitting each side

As for the door x fender gaps it's normal deviation the spec is likely 1.2-1.0mm top to bottom.

I'm not trying to be an a$$ but these are 25k not $250k cars. I joined this forum to see issues people are having and try to help you deal with the pain. I have yet to buy one as I wanted to research them first. I admit I am surprised to see the number of things people are having trouble with the car not being perfect. Again it is a new model and as time goes by bugs will get worked out. Realistically I could walk on to ANY dealership and point out flaws, repair work etc...it comes with the job. I clearly remember looking at a 75k Viper in racing blue with white stripes talking to the dealer and asking "if the paint drip on the C pillar right beside the fuel lid" was included in the price.

[Ro_Ja]

You have a point and I agree with you. It's not a Lambroghini, Bugatti, or LFA. In fact, it actually reminds me of the days when cars were made by hand (in this case, they are if two different techs are installing the fenders on each side by hand) and the tolerances varied from car to car. Plus, it gives the car a little distinct character.

However, this isn't just an issue of a few errors in manufacturing tolerance that slipped by. There's an actual TSB out for the issue which means Toyota has acknowledged that panels may be noticeably out of tolerance on more than just a few cars, and mine happens to be one of those. I'm not asking for a whole new car or any ridiculous compensation. I'm only going through this because I'm curious if there are any options for a little finessing or tweaking so that the panels sit correctly on the car.