Michigan Woman Says Her Car Is 'Melting.' Is It Possible For Cars To Melt In The Heat?

"All this damage is from the sun."

Michigan woman says her car is ‘melting'

Photo by: kaitiemarielsg & Christine Telep

Steve Ecker

By: Steve Ecker

Aug 21, 2025 at 9:00am ET

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A Michigan woman has gone viral for believing her Toyota RAV4 is ‘melting’ in the Michigan sun.

In a TikTok that’s generated over 750,000 views as of this writing, Kaitie (@kaitiemarielsg) shares how her car's paint is bubbling and deteriorating over time.

Kaitie has done a series of updates with her melting car since 2021. In her first post, Kaitie says the window of her home is causing the damage. “This window is melting my car,” Kaitie claims.

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Two years later, she made another post showing more visible damage on the car. She continues to complain how this is getting worse over time.

“Let’s do a checkup on my melting car,” Kaitie begins in her latest update.

Kaitie reveals that her Toyota is damaged on the bumper, side mirrors, windshield wipers, and emblem. The deteriorated parts appear to be bumpy, bubbly, and cracked in areas of the car.

“All this damage is from the sun hitting the front window of my house,” she claims.

Additionally, Kaitie believes this is just a Toyota issue. “My fiance used to have a Charger, parked in the same spot and it didn't melt. Seems like a Toyota issue only so why don't they care,” she captions her latest video.

Kaitie thinks Toyota needs to address this matter. However, not all the commenters are convinced it’s Toyota’s fault.

“I really don’t believe it’s a Toyota problem. There’s hundreds of thousands of Toyota RAV4’s here in Australia and we have pretty decent UV and heat none of them have melted,” one said.

“Really not understanding how this is a Toyota issue when you state your one window is a warped double pane,” another commenter noticed.

Kaitie replied to this comment, “Because even if it's the window reflecting the sunlight, the only car it happens to is my Toyota. It didn't happen to my fiance's Dodge Charger or my mom's Jeep (she house sits a lot) so obviously it's Toyota plastics.”

Is It Possible For Cars To Melt In The Heat?

'This Goes Against All of My Irish Bloodline Superstitions:' Woman Parks Her Car in the Hot Sun. Then She Pops Open Her Umbrella

While Kaitie believes it’s possible for her Toyota’s external parts to melt, it’s unlikely.

“Modern vehicles are tested in all extremes to make sure they’re able to cope with climate variations and freak weather, so it’s very unlikely that bits of plastic or metal will start melting on your car anytime soon,” per Prestone.

Although rare, melting can happen with solar convergence.

“This happens from solar convergence. Solar radiation gets reflected and focused onto a specific spot and amplifies the temperature. It can cause fires and melt plastics on cars and houses,” one person said.

“Not a Toyota problem. It’s solar convergence from the windows. It would happen to any car,” another replied.

The effects of solar convergence have also impacted other Toyota drivers.

A woman in San Antonio was shocked to discover her Toyota ‘melting’ as well. Drivers have also taken complaints about solar convergence to forums including CarEdge, Reddit, and Toyota Nation Forum,

What Is Solar Convergence?

Solar convergence takes place when multiple reflective glass panels simultaneously reflect the sun to one direct point, becoming stronger than direct sunlight, Pager Power reports. This leads to surfacing concave horizontally, vertically, or both.

This concentrated heat can damage the paint and vinyl wrap of the exterior vehicle causing a bubble texture to form, Anti Reflective Window Film shares.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, standard clear glass will reflect 10% of the sunlight’s energy, while Low-E (low-emissivity) windows reflect 30-50%. This reflection will direct the heat away from the house. In rare cases, the heat of the reflected sunlight can concentrate like a magnifying glass.

Low-E windows collect concentrated light and can create patches of heat measuring up and above 200 degrees Fahrenheit, InterNACHI Forum reports.

How To Avoid Your Car Melting

Window Film For Turf suggests doing the following below to avoid window reflections melting your car.

Park In The Shade: Finding a spot covered by shade or under a tree is a simple solution.
Wax Your Car: Car wax has ingredients that protect car paint from sunlight and UV rays. The wax will act as a barrier between the sun and the paint, keeping the sunlight from touching the surface of the car directly.
Film your car: Another level of paint protection is film. This will cover the paint while still letting the color shine through.
Use Window Sun Protector: This coating layer can be applied to glass windows of your home that eliminates its reflectivity factor.

Update Aug. 26: Via email, Kaitie told Motor1:

"We moved into this house at the end of 2020, and I started to notice cosmetic issues with the front end of my 2018 Rav4 about 7 months later. I was diligent about figuring out what was the cause of the issue. At the time, many people tried to tell me it was vandalism. I knew that wasn't the case and pressed on. After some research and a visit to my longtime Toyota dealership, the service department manager confirmed that the damage was due to solar convergence. A fancy term for sun bouncing off a window and creating a magnifying effect.

He reached out to corporate on my behalf and was able to get an area rep to come see it. He was shocked and of no help. We then had a national rep come out, who also was of no help but admitted he had seen this on both Rav4 and Prius before.

After getting nowhere with Toyota and making many calls to corporate myself, I called my insurance company.... The claim adjuster came to my home to inspect the damage and said plainly, "I wish this was from parking too close to a bonfire. We can't insure the sun."

At that point, I was at a dead end, but the damage to my car was already done. I have tried window film but saw no pause in the continued damage. Other UV specific tint, alterations to the window, and other ideas have been too costly to try. I have nowhere else to park. But although it has definitely gotten worse over the years, it has only continued to impact the same car parts that were damaged already when we determined the cause.

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Regardless, those car parts need to be replaced. So, for people treating me like I'm incompetent or unwilling to do anything, that is wrong. I just have not been able to make bigger changes and understand that I will be the only one responsible for fixing my front end now that Toyota has made it clear they do not care about their ABS plastic melting or about keeping long time customers happy.

I did have hope for a year or two that Toyota would step up and help me fix these parts as I've been a proud Toyota owner for nearly 10 years. Sadly, that isn't the case, even with so many people seeing my video now. Toyota hasn't reached out."