Door panel sagging.
 

I have a 2016 FRS. I purchased it used. The car is still under the factory warranty. The arm rest in the door panel is sagging through in the middle where a larger guy would rest his elbow I suppose. It feels like the thin layer of padding or foam is gone and the plastic dips in.
I stopped by a local Toyota dealer last night and a service advisor informed me that the issue would be considered a wear item and would not be covered under warranty.
Has anyone else encountered a sagging arm rest on the door panel?
Does anyone else disagree as strongly as I do about this being a warrantable item?
Thanks!
-Art.

It's like sleeping on a mattress 1000 times and then expecting the company to cover the wear of the mattress springs/foam under warranty. Sounds a lot like you do not have a claim.

I agree with you in part. My issue is that the car is a year old, with 25K miles on the clock.
Would you expect the mattress to have worn out after 100 uses instead of 1000? Where do we draw the line?
I suspect the warranty is clear cut on this. I need to look this up, I am certain there is an actual 'wear item' clause. Additionally there should be a list of things that are considered 'wear' items. Anything not on the list should be fair game.
Let me know what you think.

You could try explaining this to toyota/the dealership but their response will be more or less that you should take better care of your car, regardless if that's the issue or not.

Your logic is correct fellas. Here is a copy paste out of the owners manual. I suppose the only thing left to do is figure out who decided what's 'normal'. Chances are its left up to the dealers discretion.




Normal Wear and Tear


Noise, vibration, cosmetic conditions


and other deterioration caused by


normal wear and tear.

Well you bought the car used, so with that alone the dealer could easily say that it was your responsibility to inspect the vehicle, and if you found something you deem wrong/faulty with the vehicle, to either not take it or bring it to their attention before signing any papers.

A personal experience of my own. When I went to pick up my brand new 2017 86, there were two scratches on the exterior body, I found these scratches immediately and brought it to their attention, the dealer said that they would only cover one scratch because they could buff it out, but the other scratch, because they had to paint it, they wouldn't cover it. This was on brand new car, I highly doubt they will be any nicer for a used car, especially if it isn't a certified pre-owned (unless you "know a guy").

very hard to see this being considered as a wear item since I've never really seen or heard this happening on other twins and from my personal experience it seems like quite a bit of weight would be needed to cause the OP's situation.. I agree it ain't the sturdiest panel but it does take at least a little abuse so I have to agree with the dealer here.

could bite the bullet http://www.ebay.com/itm/Subaru-BRZ-S....c100338.m3726

OMG. HKZ, thank you for this. I work with cars for a living. I guess sometimes you just forget that this is just a Toyota. 70 bucks for a complete door panel.... lol.

Probably $20 at an auto wreckers.

You could always take them to court or arbitration over it. You'll probably win if you present your case well. Is it worth that effort?

There are multiple part-out threads going in the member classified section from people stripping their cars for racing:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=65

Some of the old part out threads probably still have parts left. You might be able to find a deal on a panel there.

If not, try Car-Part.com. That's the used car part search engine the collision shops use to find parts. You can search for the panel, then sort by location to see what's close to you. The prices will be all over the place, so it may take a bit of calling around to find one that isn't priced too high.

http://www.car-part.com/

Time for an upgrade!

http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/suba...-arm-rest.html

I have a 16 (purchased new) with fewer miles, and heck if I know if it was like that when I picked it up, but I do tend to use that arm pad to rest my arm, and a semi-permanent dent has developed there. You can't see it, but you can feel it if you run your hand across the material. The foam in the pad is really a barely-there material, and it compresses very easily. I was surprised too that it didn't last very long (I noticed this only a few months into ownership), but I'm not all that concerned.

If the whole thing does start to visibly sag I may bring it to their attention because a door card and its attachments shouldn't be doing that only a few years into existing, and I don't have 300 pounds of body weight to put on this thing even if I wanted to, so it's not like I'm abusing it. But as far as the padding is concerned, I just see it as an excuse to have the pads re-stuffed with some more substantial foam by a good upholsterer. I'm already inclined to do that with the paper thin padding that's in the armrest I have over my center console. That stuff just has no kind of resistance to it (although I shouldn't complain too much because a lot of people didn't get that accessory in the car at all over the last 5 years, so something's better than nothing, if barely).

This is why a good working relationship with a dealer can make it into a (free) warranty claim.

Don't throw away this interaction. Use it as a basis to build a professional relationship, even if it was denied.