Automotive

Toyota Supra GR Paint Defect

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If you’ve been keeping up with me, you’d know that I recently purchased a Toyota Supra GR in Absolute White. Well, this is technically the second Supra that I purchased. The first one was in Renaissance Red 2.0. So, what happened? Why did I get rid of the red Supra?

Well, from what I saw, this red Supra had what seemed like a paint defect. When I purchased and inspected the vehicle, it sat in direct sunlight. It was a bright sunny day so everything was very vibrant. It was also a bit difficult to actually make out everything because of all the bright reflections.

When I took the car home, the sun was setting so the light began to diffuse and wasn’t as harsh. It was a lot easier to inspect the Supra. As I looked around, I started to see all these white spots. It wasn’t water spots because I could tell that this wasn’t on a surface level. The spots looked as if they were under the clear coat. As I looked at it more and more, it really started to look like clear coat failure or delamination. It looked as if the clear coat was separating from the base coat.

I’m no paint expert but this didn’t really make sense because this is such a new car. Clearcoat failure typically only happens on old or neglected vehicles. It’s very uncommon to see it on a new vehicle, but you just never know. Anything can happen. I even thought that maybe it was just a bad paint job.

Well, I contacted the dealership immediately. They contacted the local field rep and got an official answer. Apparently, this is a known thing. I don’t want to call it an issue because Toyota doesn’t think that it’s an issue but if you didn’t know, BMW paints these Supras and according to Toyota, whatever process they use, it can result in these spots. The remedy is heat. You can either take a heat gun to the spot, stick the whole car in a paint drying booth or just let it sit out in the sun for a few months. I was told to take a heat gun and try it out for myself but to be careful because when I do this, there is a potential of burning the clear coat. I hit one spot with a heat gun, but ultimately stopped when I wasn’t feeling comfortable doing it anymore. I tried for a while and got no changes so I didn’t want to possibly burn the clear coat and be responsible for damages. Toyota was confident that they can fix it so I ultimately gave them the car back to do whatever they want with it. My dealership got me in my Absolute White Supra and I’m happier with it. I like the finish better, in general, and there’s no spotting.

For me, the decision to get rid of the red Supra was ultimately determined when I asked myself, how much trust do I want to put in what was told to me. How much am I willing to risk and believe that the issue will go away. What if it doesn’t? What if it was a case of clear coat failure? There was no contract stating that if it was clearcoat failure then Toyota will fix the damages. So maybe 5 years down the line and the clearcoat just completely flakes off, what then? I may have to pay for an entire new paint job. Am I willing to risk that? Absolutely not.

And that’s that. I just wanted to make this video and inform all potential GR Supra owners of this situation. A piece of advice, if you are buying a new Supra, examine the paint thoroughly. If you see these spots under the clearcoat, make sure that the dealership knows of them. Make sure that they are absolutely going to take care of the issue if the spots don’t go away or if there really is some form of paint defect. Get it in writing. Look out for yourself because there is a HUGE potential for a very costly repaint of the entire car.

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Weather FloorLiner & Cargo/Trunk Liner | Toyota Supra GR MKV A90

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As someone who lives in Washington, I personally feel that all-weather rubber floor mats are a must. We get a lot of rain around here and aside from the water, there’s a lot of chance to drag mud inside the car.

So when I bought the GR Supra and saw that it came with the regular carpet floor mats, I knew that I would have to buy some all-weather mats. Unfortunately, Toyota doesn’t currently have an OEM option available. Last I heard from the dealership, they were told that the all-weather mats were still only in development so who knows when they’ll actually be available. This means that I had to go aftermarket.

A quick search resulted in some being available from WeatherTech. A very reputable accessory maker in the auto industry. So, I ordered the FloorLiners and here they are.

These mats are made from a patented High-Density Tri-Extruded material, which is essentially fancy rubber. This material provides rigidity while offering good traction.

In creating the floor mats, WeatherTech laser measured the interior surfaces of the vehicle to get the most accurate fitment.

When buying these floor mats, you get one for either side of the vehicle. The mats are side specific and are pretty hard to inaccurately install. The driver side has a cut out to compensate for the gas pedal.

Installation of these floor mats can be as simple as just slipping them in and calling it a day. It may seem like this is the proper way to install these mats for some because they don’t come with any instructions. It also doesn’t help that some of these mats are shipped with missing parts.

You see, these mats are supposed to come with some anchoring hooks. The hooks keep the mat in place and don’t let them move around like they would without them. If we look at the Supra’s floor liner, we see that there are two circular velcro patches. These connect to the underside of the OEM carpet mats and hold them in place. The WeatherTech mats, on the other hand, have no matching velcro patch but are supposed to come with the anchoring hooks. To install these hooks, we first have to remove the velcro patches on the floor. This is done by using something like a flat head screwdriver, lining it up with the slot in the velcro patch and giving it a quarter turn. The patch can now be removed and replaced by the WeatherTech hook. Place the hook in the space and give it a turn to lock it in place. Remember, the open end of the hook faces towards the driver. From here, it’s just a matter of sliding the mats into place and anchoring them down with the hooks.

Again, make sure that your WeatherTech mats come with these anchoring hooks. If they don’t, you can contact WeatherTech and they’ll ship some out for you.

As you can see, the mats cover a large portion of the carpet and lines the front, sides, and back of the footwell. This is nice because the raised lip helps to keep debris inside the mat.

On the main portions of the mat are channels that help to carry fluid and debris away from shoes to a lower reservoir. These channels are designed to minimize fluid movement while driving.

In my opinion, these floor mats look great in the Supra. Fitment is good for the most part and I’m sure it’s going to provide great protection for the car. But, how can we make it even better? How about adding our own custom logo? I’m sure that some people are going to want that factory look and have to have Toyota Supra branded everything. For these people, seeing the WeatherTech logo every day isn’t going to work. Especially, if it’s installed all lopsided like on mine. That’s why I made these decals. They are meant to replace the stock WeatherTech decal and slip right into the original indention. They actually fit even better than the original. Installation is as simple as peeling the old decal off and replacing it with the new custom one. With a few seconds of work, we completely transform the feel of these floor mats and make them look as if they came directly from Toyota.

So far, I’m enjoying these mats. They look great, especially with the new logos. That being said, I do have some complaints. The first complaint is with the hook anchoring system of the front floor mats. WeatherTech should’ve used the existing velcro hook and loop system. My problem with the hook anchoring system is that it introduces holes in this otherwise sealed one-piece design. This allows small amounts of water to seep through and soak the underlining and reduces the efficiency of the floor mat. Luckily, the hole is pretty small and positioned so that it gets minimum water exposure.

The second complaint is about the overall size of the mats. I think they could be longer. If we look at the driver side mat, we’ll see that towards the seat, the mat is raised to compensate for a bump in the floor liner. Well, if we actually pull the mat back to cover the bump, the front of the mat won’t rest on the dead pedal and leave a gap. So, it comes down to what you’d rather have. Protection up front or in the back. Realistically, if you use the anchoring system, you won’t have a choice as they force the mat to cover the dead pedal and, of course, the mat will leave a gap towards the rear so don’t move your feet back too far.

Along with the front mats, I also decided to pick up the cargo mat or trunk liner. This mat is made from a proprietary custom blended TPE, again, just fancy rubber. This material is advertised as being flexible under extreme temperatures. Between the cargo and the front floor mats, I don’t see a significant difference in terms of material and flexibility. They feel almost identical. In use, the cargo mat does seem to be a bit grippier. This is in part thanks to the textured finish and tread pattern that help to keep cargo in place as you drive around. If I have one complaint about the cargo mat, it would have to be fitment. When first installing it, I actually thought that I was sent the wrong mat because mine seemed overly large. It turns out that the sides arrive flat and have to be folded up to make the sidewalls. This is fine but even after I got everything in place, some corners of the mat didn’t want to stay down. They keep lifting unless I add some weight to that location. Hopefully, after the mat’s been able to sit in the trunk for a while and been exposed to some heat, it’ll hold its form better and stay in place properly.

Again, the cargo mat looks pretty good, but it can be better. Since I did it upfront, I, of course, have to match in the back. I have to replace the original WeatherTech logo with a more factory logo. Now, we have a complete product. Perfectly suited for the GR Supra.

Minor complaints aside, I would say that both mats are great. They do what they’re supposed to and provide lots of protection for the carpet liner. If you’re looking for some high-quality all-weather floor mats, definitely give these WeatherTechs a try. I’ll include links below so make sure to check them out for the most up to date pricing.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Front floor liners part # 4415341 (they are the same as those for the BMW Z4) https://amzn.to/2UJgIY0
Rear cargo/trunk liner part # 401318

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Rexpeed Carbon Fiber Interior Trim Badges | Toyota Supra GR MKV A90

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When it comes to the Supra, a few things about the interior annoys me. There are instances of corner-cutting that involves plain plastic parts. Unfortunately, this really detracts from the interior, especially so if you own this vehicle and have to see these things all the time. Well, there is a solution. Check out the video above for some quick and simple mods to spice up the Supra’s interior.

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Nanoskin Ultra Line Super-Charger SiO2 Touchless Spray & Rinse Sealant

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When it comes to paint protection coatings, touchless sealants are my absolute favorite to use because they are so easy to apply. You literally spray them on the surface and immediately rinse them off. That’s it. This is why 303 Touchless Sealant has been my go-to for the past 6 months. This is a good product that does what it’s supposed to but at about $20 per 32 oz bottle, it’s a bit expensive. This is why I was quite excited to discover Nanoskin Super-Charger. It is the same type of product but at a much cheaper price. At less than $6 per 16 oz bottle, it is just over half the price of 303 Touchless Sealant and is the cheapest of any touchless sealant that I’ve found. If you buy this product in the one-gallon concentrate, it is even much much cheaper and can make enough usable solutions for you to essentially have a lifetime supply. When I saw the ridiculous value that this product offers, I just had to pick up a bottle and try it for myself. So, in this post, I’m going to tell you the steps that I took to prep the surface of my test vehicle in order to give Super-Charger the best chance to bond with the painted surfaces and, of course, we are going to get a first impression how the product itself performs.

Check out the links below for the most up to date pricing for this product and everything else that I talk about.

Although touchless sealants are advertised as being spray on rinse-off products, there are things that you can do to maximize their performance. The first is, of course, to apply the product on a clean surface. So, the least that you can do is to give the car a wash. Again, this is the least that you can do. After the wash, you can very well just apply the product but depending on the condition of the vehicle, the product may not last very long.

If you want to help the touchless sealant get a better bond with the surface, you’ll need to decontaminate it. The particular vehicle that I was working on was heavily soiled so it needed a thorough two-step decontamination process. This starts with a chemical decontamination via an iron remover. With this, it’s just a matter of spraying the chemical on and waiting for it to do its thing. You can scrub and work the chemical into the paint to try and get a better result but I typically just let it sit. Once the iron remover has been able to sit on the surface for 5 minutes, we just rinse it off. Now we can move on to a mechanical decontamination and this involves claying the vehicle. This process will help to remove any embedded particles that were left behind after the iron remover.

If you really want to take it a step further, polishing the vehicle will give an even better surface to apply the product to as it will eliminate any imperfections. This leaves behind a smooth, blank canvas to work with. I’ve decided to skip this step because it is not something that the owner of the vehicle cares enough about.

At this point, the surface is stripped clean and is ready for paint protection. Typically, when a vehicle has no form of paint protection, water will cling to the surface in a large sheet and move off of it very slowly. My test vehicle actually showed some water beading on the surface. This is due to the Meguiar’s M34 Mirror Glaze Final Inspection that I used for a clay lubricant. If you want to and after claying, you can apply an IPA to remove any remaining substance from the surface. I opted against doing this.

Because Nanoskin Super-Charger needs to be applied to a wet surface, I thoroughly sprayed the vehicle with water in preparation for application. Then, it’s just a matter of misting Nanoskin Super-Charger on the surface. Water will immediately begin to bead and roll off the surface of the vehicle. This product doesn’t need any dwell time. Once it hits the surface of the vehicle, you can immediately begin to rinse it off. This product is water activated so the act of rinsing it off really helps to make it work. Now, areas where the product is applied will bead water much better than before. This shows that this area is now protected and you can move on to protect the rest of the vehicle. It is advised to apply this product out of direct sunlight and in a shaded area. I don’t have this luxury so I’ll just have to work fast. You just don’t want to let this product dry on the surface as it can cause spots and streaks. Work on one panel at a time so that you’re able to properly rinse the product off.

Overall, I would have to say that I’m happy with this product, especially for the price. For $6, I don’t think that it can be beaten. That being said, do I think that it’s as good as some of the competition, particularly 303 Touchless Sealant? Maybe, not. Upon first impressions, I’ve noticed that Super-Charger doesn’t necessarily perform as well. Water beading isn’t as strong or prominent as Touchless Sealant and I’ve also noticed that more product is needed to get adequate performance. In certain places, it seemed like Super-Charger just didn’t want to stick to the panel and there was still some sheeting. I had to do multiple applications to a particular door and it was still just adequate. That being said, one bottle was more than enough for me to get two coats applied to the entire vehicle. Even if I had to buy another bottle and apply more, I’m still only spending about half the price that I would with 303 Touchless Sealant.

As of right now, it is too early to judge the value of this product. I would say that if the coating lasts a month, I would be more than satisfied because, for the price and convenience of application, a month of protection would be good enough for me to buy more and use it again.

That being said, I will be making an update showing how this product is holding up in a month. Make sure that you subscribe to my YouTube channel and sign up for notifications to see that video when it is available.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Nanoskin Ultra Line Super-Charger https://amzn.to/2U4H1q2
303 Touchless Sealant https://amzn.to/2ILlSvM
Adam’s Iron Remover https://amzn.to/31L6acO
Meguiar's C2000 Mild Professional Detailing Clay https://amzn.to/2xAmjH6
Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Final Inspection https://amzn.to/39IWFy1
Chemical Guys Wipe Out Surface Cleanser Spray https://amzn.to/2QeIjO3
All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d

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Rexpeed Carbon Fiber Spoiler | Toyota Supra GR MKV A90

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I recently picked up the Rexpeed Carbon Fiber Spoiler for my A90 Supra and decided to make an install video for it. This particular spoiler is installed with some double-sided 3M tape so no drilling necessary. Installation can be as easy as sticking the spoiler in place. That being said, there are a few things that can do be done to ensure that the tape gives the best possible adhesion. Watch the video above to find out how.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Meguiar’s Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo https://amzn.to/2wjXvTy
Adam’s Iron Remover https://amzn.to/3aMh3if
Meguiar's C2000 Mild Mirror Glaze Detailing Clay https://amzn.to/2Xbh0bK
Meguiar's M3401 Final Inspection https://amzn.to/2V0ccn3
Chemical Guys Wipe Out https://amzn.to/3dTt4V3
All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d

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