Car owners on average are keeping their cars for longer, whether due to steeper prices or better quality built that lets the cars have a longer journey to the scrapyard. Regardless, automakers have to prepare for the day when car sales alone are no longer able to support their business.
Toyota is smart enough to start planning for that day and is looking to cash in on aftersale services that they can provide their customers. Most recently, they are offering a seemingly no-fuss painting service and it sounds like the new technology makes it easier to paint your car than to dye your hair.
The new coat of paint goes onto the car without needing to remove the original layer, and apparently offers additional rain and wind protection. If or when you change your mind (again), this coat of paint can be stripped using a high-velocity water spray that won’t harm the vehicle nor the original paint colour, rather than stripping chemicals that might. There are 100 colours to choose from, so if you feel like it, a different colour every other month?
This service is just one of several provided by Toyota’s Kinto subsidiary that was created to manage the Japanese automaker’s car subscription service. The Kinto Factory programme was introduced just this past January to outfit older vehicles with modern features, such as blind spot and rear cross sensors, tailgate kick sensors, the latest safety features and computer systems as well as replacing worn-out interiors and components, like seat liners and steering wheels. This writer drives a 15-year-old car and would certainly love to get some of these, but alas her car is not a Toyota (c’mon, Perodua).
In terms of sustainability, it’s certainly better to prolong each car’s lifespan than to keep building new ones. For the driver, it will almost feel like driving a new car after the updates. So, win-win-win, really (for Toyota, the customer and the planet). The painting service, though, is presently only available in Japan.
