Warranty Coverage Being Denied For Damage To Brand New Car Due To "solar Convergence"

Location: Georgia (United States)

Posting this on a new account I've made as my main account can probably be easily linked to my identity.

I'm looking for any insight this community can share related to an ongoing dispute we're having with regard to my fiancee's new car.

Earlier this year (I believe around March), my fiancee purchased a brand new 2025 Toyota RAV4. Since taking ownership, the car hasn't been involved in any accidents, nothing has fallen on it, etc. The most significant "issue" we have with the car are minuscule paint chips you'd expect to accumulate over time by driving at highway speeds.

Fast forward to around August of this year, I took the RAV4 to go grocery shopping. Since my hands were full with the grocery bags, I used the key fob to open the trunk from across the parking lot. As I approached, it seemed that the trunk was not opening all the way. Upon inspection, I saw the roof that was part of the trunk had "bulged up" in the center, and that when the trunk opened, this bulge had impacted the rest of the roof. It's difficult to explain so please see the picture below. I took this immediately after spotting the issue, in the parking lot.

Photo: https://imgur.com/a/lp9o9pZ

Toyota has had the car since then and are now confirming for us that they will not cover the damage under warranty as it is due to "solar convergence". They have provided no proof or evidence that this is the cause, just that that's their conclusion. They have quoted us ~$11,000 to repair the damage.

Naturally, we have no intention of paying 25% of the cost of the car to repair an essentially new vehicle. I've looked a bit into the idea behind solar convergence and to me it seems like a stretch given that 98% of the time, the car is parked in one of three places: a covered garage at my fiancee's job, our garage at home, or our driveway at home (we have 3 cars and a 2-car garage, so the RAV4 and my daily driver take turns in the garage). The fascia on our house is brick (we have a few windows, of course) and my fiancee backs the car into the driveway so the trunk is the part of the car most "in the shadow" of the house. If sunlight were reflecting off our windows onto it, I'd expect issues to occur further towards the front of the vehicle.

What would be appropriate next steps here? We do pay for comprehensive coverage through our car insurance, so my expectation is that we should be able to file a claim if necessary. With that said, though, my fiancee spoke to our agent yesterday, and she's told me that our insurer seemed insistent that this was a defect that was Toyota's responsibility to fix and that it would not be covered by insurance. Note though, we have not yet filed a claim, so nothing has been formally denied.

We're also wondering if it would be appropriate to get an attorney involved. I know lemon law in Georgia applies for 2 years, so we're thoroughly within that timeframe. And full use of the car is impeded because the trunk will not open all the way, and attempting to do so will cause further damage to the roof.

Appreciate any thoughts you may have, and apologies for the wall of text.