Normal for there to be a ridge under rubber footprint of roof rails?

I am installing a Gobi roof rack. To do that, I have to remove the stock rails on the roof of my 2021 4Runner. When I did so, on the rear driver side, where you pop off the cover and unscrew the rail, I found a somewhat pronounced ridge of what appears to be clear-coat. Not just the thin line that wipes away with a little alcohol followed by some polishing compound, but a taller ridge.

Here's my concern. I had to get a little body work and paint on that rear quarter panel and bumper cover, so they had to re-paint and feather the paint, then re-apply the clear-coat. I had some troubles with the first repair and took it to a different location of the same company who fixed the issues (and they were numerous . . . it was truly a shoddy job). I think I may have missed this one since I had not removed those roof rails at that point. I think rather than removing the roof rails themselves and re-applying the clear-coat properly by going under the roof rail feet, they just applied it right up to the rubber foot, and it built up against that rubber foot. The short piece of rubber that sits just behind that foot (it's the rubber trim that runs the length of the roof, breaking at the screw holes) has a thin sheen of what I believe is clear coat along the lateral edge of that strip of rubber.

Does my suspicion sound reasonable? The other 3 footprints did not have this ridge--on the passenger side there was no work done, so there would be no ridges there. And the work was only on the rear quarter panel where the ridge is, however on the front driver's side, the foot area also does not have the ridge.

Thanks for any insight.

Jon

PS. Here are the issues that I discovered that lead me to think shortcuts were taken:

1. The Limited Emblem was replaced but was severely scratched when installed
2. A rubber block in the wheel well was to be replaced due to a cut in it, but they put the cut piece back in rather than replacing it as the estimate called for
3. The part of the rear bumper that sits at the bottom has a rubber trim that was pained (it should not be painted--the paint was already peeling when I picked it up). Furthermore, that rubber 'seal' was warped where they used pry tools (it looked terrible and obvious)
4. The bumper was not seated level--the gap between the metal and the bumper cover was clearly askew.
   
5. There was tape residue all over the place. I even found several pieces of masking tape that had baked in the 105-degree heat
6. And most concerning, behind the rear small window, where the window sits in a recessed area, there was bare exposed metal . . . the 2nd location where I took it confirmed that this was a HUGE mistake that would have led to corrosion issues down the road had I not caught it.

Obviously, the workmanship was subpar at the first location of this company, but I have had great experiences with them previously, so was willing to give another location a chance to fix it. I'm a little surprised they did not discover this themselves if they re-painted as they said unless they did not need to go that high when they fixed the paint in the window recess.

 

I do have some clear coat that I got with my Toyota Touch-up paint that I could cover the ridge with just to be sure that there is no crack in the coat.

 

Your story and perspective sounds reasonable and logical. Why are you concerned about the clear coat (being?) cracking there? Did they sand down the roof?!?

How did your stock rail removal go? I will look on youtube but I appreciate your comment, I'm new. I'm interested in a lower profile in highway wind, will you by chance have driving impressions without rails before you put your rack on?