Check under your OEM mudflaps!
 

I was taking off my OEM mudflaps in preparation for installing my RallyArmor ones when I noticed this under the driver's side front one:

http://i.imgur.com/B8wdyjN.jpg?1

The paint under the mudflap where it wraps around the body panel has chipped off and started to rust. Needless to say I'm going to the dealer I bought the car from tomorrow to have this addressed. But for those of us with OEM mudflaps installed from the dealer, check under them!

well thats a good reason to not use OEM plastic bits

That seems likely due to vibration wear. Were all the plastic rivets and metal screw installed? Front flap? I note the paint is actually cracked or possibly cut? Hamfisted installation seems the likely cause.

Looks cracked and maybe the lip is bent there? Looks like something hit it...

What it looked like immediately after taking the mudflap off was a vertical crack with a bit of chipping around it. I was wiping off the grime from where the mudflap had been and more of the paint flaked off, revealing the rust underneath.

I'm not sure what you mean by front flap; it was on the front of the car, yes, but the mudflap was only one piece. They had definitely drilled the bottom hole that was supposed to be there, and all of the holes in the mudflap itself had fasteners as far as I could tell.

The paint definitely cracked. I didn't hit anything to my knowledge though, and the lip is not bent, it just looks that way in the photo because so much paint is missing right by the bend. If I had to guess, it was either damaged during installation, or the combination of trapped water and dirt behind the mudflap wore it down.

To me that straight line crack looks like it may be the cause of the problem, with the flap a secondary factor. The paint looks cut or cracked in a straight line eventually leading to rust underneath and the paint then flaking off.

I see what looks like signs of of an impact right above the rocker panel protective paint on the leading edge of the fender. The paint looks rough and the crack seems to originate there. Impact before the flap was installed? Or maybe a clumsy installer?

An impact could cause a crack in the paint like this but it would have to be a fairly substantial impact. This would be an impact you'd be likely to notice.

Wow sorry about what happened and thanks for posting. This is what I was worried about with the OEM mudflaps. I really like the way they look on the car, but heard that they can cause some paint scratching. Hope for the best with the dealer and post pictures once you get the Rally Armors on!

So a bit of an update: I brought the car in to the dealer, and they sent a bunch of photos off to Scion corporate. They came back saying they want the car taken to a body shop to measure paint thickness, as well as to take off the rear mudflaps to check for damage there. I had taken off the front ones and stopped when I saw the rust, and expressed to the service director at the dealership that I wanted all of them off, so at least they're doing that for me.

Here's to hoping they fix it and don't try to pull some BS. Haha

I installed these flaps on my car as well.. I did it myself and took my time.
After reading this, I removed my front ones to have a look. After 6 months and 4500 miles.. They look fine. There was dirt behind the flap at the edges like yours.. But no cracking or rust. I'm keeping the front ones off for now.. And might possibly remove the rears.. After some time.. I'm not liking the look anymore with them on.
If you install them wrong by drilling the hole offset so it pulls against the crease.. Then I could see how it would move about and rub the edges...
Thanks for the heads up on this.. Good luck at the dealer..

Welp, as I suspected, the body shop the dealer sent my car to says the paint crack was caused by an impact of some sort. It was clear over the phone that they are no longer considering this a warranty repair. Since I'm confident I didn't hit that mudflap against anything, and there's no damage whatsoever to the outside of that mudflap, I'm going to take this up with Scion corporate once I get a case number out of the dealer.

So besides an "impact" to the mudflap from the outside cracking the paint, what are some other potential causes? Incorrect installation causing the flap to rub against the car? Damage during installation and then covered up? None of my other flaps had rusting under them.

It is possible that it happened at the dealership someone could have hit something and installed the mudflaps to cover up the damage thinking whom ever took owner ship would never find the damage.

It the mudflap was damaged I would say you might have hit something. I hope you get the problem fixed

having worked at a automotive production plant and one of my jobs is to install mud guards... I can say that can happen with relative ease. =/