Repair Process on This OEM Defect

[Tanuki]

I appreciate the support and advice from everyone so far. I met with the regional rep this morning at the factory recommended body shop. It was simply a meeting to gather more information and allow corporate toyota to talk to the body shop and take pictures.

I was asked if I would be interested in some perks if I get the car fixed and keep it, or if I still wanted to have the vehicle replaced? I told them I would still prefer vehicle replacement. The rep also took pictures of my clear bra applications and requested a copy of my receipt for the work that was done.

I am guessing that I will hear more from Toyota later today. This was actually a very pleasant experience with the rep/ body shop aside from the hassle of taking the morning off from work to take care of it.

[delsol97]

Hey Scion,

Give this guy a new car.

[delsol97]

Originally Posted by Tanuki

I think it is good that they can admit they are actually looking for information where it matters. I think 99% of the "research" companies do, is so far off base that we end up with cars like the Veloster Turbo.

Hey... the Veloster could very well be a great buy at end of model year time. We know Hyundai blows out their unsold inventory with great incentives.

[jadewbj]

Originally Posted by Tanuki

...I was asked if I would be interested in some perks if I get the car fixed and keep it,...

Perks? TRD Kit, supercharger and Eurospec headlights and you have a deal!

[Tanuki]

Originally Posted by jadewbj

Perks? TRD Kit, supercharger and Eurospec headlights and you have a deal!

I actually sent them an alternative option to fully replacing the car. We will see what they say. I am actually surprised I havent gotten a phone call this afternoon. They said they would call

My First post... Yay!!! Hello Forum. With that said i find this interesting. I relate to this. Not only am I a FR-S owner, I work at a body shop I know a tad bit on car construction. The is FR-S is a Unibody construction. Pretty much everything is welded to each other to gain the over all strength. I went outside and inspected my FR-S. Luckily i don't have your issue, but i do have issues that are not related to this. My First thought was someone either you or post delivery had shoved something in the trunk causing the metal to bend. On further review I noticed that spot welds are intact. With out going to tech, a spot weld is where metal(or multiple layers) are welded/fused together by to electrodes using high current on a specific location/spot, Thus the name spot weld. In a collision when i inspect for structural damage I always inspect the spot welds for tears or cracked paint. Your welds are in tact and there are no holes/tears in the bent metal. If this was caused by physical damage I assume there would be tears in the metal or at least cracks in the paint. Imagine getting two pieces of paper, placing a few small drops of crazy glue 2 inches a part on one sheet. Then placing the other sheet right on top of the other. After the glue drys separate the two piece about like pulling a band aid. Whats is going to happen is that which ever side of the paper had the weakest bond would tear leaving holes on one or the other. So no tears in the metal means no psychical damage. No cracked paint means this was prior to the paint process. To me it means this was a part that was not spot welded by the welding robot. The only thing i can think of is that the welding arm of the robot, or which ever arms held the part must have bent the part before it started welded. Or the part was defective and some how missed the quality control process. Either way this is a factory defect!!! Not only Scion or Toyota but Subaru/Fuji industries must be made aware of this. I find this very strange from a Japanese company to have this factory defect in a car. I love my FR-S other then some minor issues I come to find. But these are minor like the speaker/trim panel rattles and the Stupid passenger side window auto button work 2 out 10 tries. This is a defect that should had been caught in the quality control process either by humans that place the interior trunk trims or by robots using photo imagery or lasers. I defense of Fuji industries(any manufacturing company) I understand that problems occur. To put my mind to rest about Mine and everyone's else FR-S/BRZ's I hope this is a 1 in a million defect. If these spot welds where missed what other welds where missed at the factory? I ask this question so that Toyota/Subaru can take is inquiry very seriously. Tanuki this is my advise. I would ask for a car replacement. Not because i think this bent metal is a safety issue unless you do cut your self loading or unloading things out of the trunk. But like a asked before, what else could have been missed. I would like Toyota/Subaru inspect all welds of this car and post the finding to put everyone's mind at ease. I really do hope and think this is a 1 in a million event but it should be taken seriously. So that it can determine at what phase the Q/C failed and that it can be corrected. I want to point out I don't believe we all should take are cars back out of fear, I just would like to see real inquiry and some feed back from Toyota/Subaru. If they don't offer a new car or you don't want to go through the hassle of fighting for one. I would have there body shop reshape the metal(best as humanly possible), either spot weld it or MIG weld it back and painted. I would ask it to be documented on cars file and ask for a written Life time guarantee on the repair focusing on corrosion protection in the related area. I'm pretty sure that it is made of some type of mild steel. Mild steel can be worked back into shape with making it weak by a professional. I know GREAT body man/ Techs I trust with my cars. But I wouldn't want anyone drilling out factory spot welds removing the whole part and replacing it with a new one. If it was a collision or act of god yes I would have no choice. But on a new car that clearly is a defect I say No to replacing the part. Either get it repaired and take the perks( They better be GREAT perks) or get a new car. My 200 cents on this...

[Gavin Albright]

Great analysis.
When you talk to Toyota use the words "field clame", "safety issue" and try to work in a discussion about their "parts per million" if you have the right people this will hit home.
If I was allowed to do it I would send you a form which would make things interesting.

[Tanuki]

Originally Posted by zxperez1

My First post... Yay!!!

Wow great post, thank you for that. I don't know how I missed it.

I am supposed to hear back from them today or tomorrow with a decision.

[|-Goku-|]

Hope they replace the car for you man

[Tanuki]

I was contacted by Jalopnik, and there may be something about this on their site in the next couple of days.

[jadewbj]

Originally Posted by Tanuki

I was contacted by Jalopnik, and there may be something about this on their site in the next couple of days.

That is very good news for you. That would take your issue to a whole new level.

[Tanuki]

Originally Posted by jadewbj

That is very good news for you. That would take your issue to a whole new level.

Yeah, I think it is a good direction to run in. I honestly want as much awareness as possible. It protects not only myself, but all consumers. I wouldn't want something like this to happen to anyone else. I am a firm believer in cleaning up your own messes. I own a small parts company, and when I have customers call me with issues, I go to bat for them, even when it is unreasonable. I have a lot more to lose spending my time on small things for my customers, but if you want to stay in business, good customer service is key.

[Sigh-on-Rice]

Originally Posted by Tanuki

I was contacted by Jalopnik, and there may be something about this on their site in the next couple of days.

That's nice! Everyone will be even more serious about this problem as more people will be knowing that it's happening.

[Tanuki]

Also to be fair, TOYOTA has been great so far. I have had great communication with them for the most part and they have been extremely understanding. As I have stated in previous posts, they have not given me a reason to doubt them. I think it is weird that this defect made it to the customer, but at the same time, I don't really know if it was overlooked or what? I am excited to hear from them. They haven't called today, so it will probably be tomorrow before I hear anything.