Lexus paint quality!

AlanS · June 22, 2017

What is it with Lexus paints, it's so brittle and soft. Only 6 weeks and 1500 miles into the ownership of the new IS, I have suffered 7 chips on the paintwork already.

2 on the bonnet, 2 on the bumper and 3 on the front wing, door and mirror( I think hit by the same stone). Seems like the car will automatically get new chips every time it's being driven.

Really breaks my heart especially I've put in so much effort and time washing, cleaning the car. Makes me want to give up and just whack it through the local £5 car wash.

NemesisUK · June 22, 2017

I feel your pain...

Malc · June 22, 2017

hey there's another thread about crap Lexus paint finish somewhere .................... they have dumbed down I'm sure.

My original paintwork is quite brilliant with very few stone chips and on 194k miles and 22 years ... the black windshield trims and wiper arms are silvered, chipped a fair bit though and that annoys me too.

My bro-in-law with a brand new RC had those black trims chipped after just a few days.

Malc

rayaans · June 22, 2017

18 minutes ago, AlanS said:

What is it with Lexus paints, it's so brittle and soft. Only 6 weeks and 1500 miles into the ownership of the new IS, I have suffered 7 chips on the paintwork already.

2 on the bonnet, 2 on the bumper and 3 on the front wing, door and mirror( I think hit by the same stone). Seems like the car will automatically get new chips every time it's being driven.

Really breaks my heart especially I've put in so much effort and time washing, cleaning the car. Makes me want to give up and just whack it through the local £5 car wash.

10 minutes ago, Malc said:

hey there's another thread about crap Lexus paint finish somewhere .................... they have dumbed down I'm sure.

My original paintwork is quite brilliant with very few stone chips and on 194k miles and 22 years ... the black windshield trims and wiper arms are silvered, chipped a fair bit though and that annoys me too.

My bro-in-law with a brand new RC had those black trims chipped after just a few days.

Malc

So paint quality is all about hardness is it?!

There's nothing wrong with the quality of the paint, in fact the paint is probably some of the highest quality paint you can get at the moment.

Different manufacturers use different paint hardness, Lexus typically use soft - so do manufacturers such as Aston Martin, Ferrari and some Porsche models.

Since lead has been removed from paint, its been softened significantly but as I say, nothing to do with the quality, just a feature.

Any car will get stone chips - its stupid to think it won't, additionally if the car is low, itll get many more! I still see BMWs with huge chunks of road rash on the front with only 10k miles on them. All depends on the roads you drive on, how close you are to the car in front etc

Think about it - a rock travelling at 10mph hitting a car going at 30mph - its going to chip, no ifs and certainly no buts!

malcolmw · June 22, 2017

...and the stupidity of local authorities in resurfacing roads with tar and chippings. You might as well just leave them alone until you can regrade properly with tarmac.

rayaans · June 22, 2017

5 minutes ago, malcolmw said:

...and the stupidity of local authorities in resurfacing roads with tar and chippings. You might as well just leave them alone until you can regrade properly with tarmac.

Thats a perfectly valid point.

With the RX, stonechips are a non issue - I have a grand total of 3 that I can see after 46k miles and 5 years.

With the IS, any road surface with chippings on and its atleast 3 car distance from the car in front and a speed of 5mph. Seems to work as the IS maybe has 4 chips on it.

alanc745 · June 23, 2017

What is it with Lexus paints, it's so brittle and soft. Only 6 weeks and 1500 miles into the ownership of the new IS, I have suffered 7 chips on the paintwork already.
2 on the bonnet, 2 on the bumper and 3 on the front wing, door and mirror( I think hit by the same stone). Seems like the car will automatically get new chips every time it's being driven.

Really breaks my heart especially I've put in so much effort and time washing, cleaning the car. Makes me want to give up and just whack it through the local £5 car wash.

hey there's another thread about crap Lexus paint finish somewhere .................... they have dumbed down I'm sure.
My original paintwork is quite brilliant with very few stone chips and on 194k miles and 22 years ... the black windshield trims and wiper arms are silvered, chipped a fair bit though and that annoys me too.

My bro-in-law with a brand new RC had those black trims chipped after just a few days.

Malc

So paint quality is all about hardness is it?!

There's nothing wrong with the quality of the paint, in fact the paint is probably some of the highest quality paint you can get at the moment.

Different manufacturers use different paint hardness, Lexus typically use soft - so do manufacturers such as Aston Martin, Ferrari and some Porsche models.

Since lead has been removed from paint, its been softened significantly but as I say, nothing to do with the quality, just a feature.

Any car will get stone chips - its stupid to think it won't, additionally if the car is low, itll get many more! I still see BMWs with huge chunks of road rash on the front with only 10k miles on them. All depends on the roads you drive on, how close you are to the car in front etc

Think about it - a rock travelling at 10mph hitting a car going at 30mph - its going to chip, no ifs and certainly no buts!

Hi its nothing to do with the loss of lead! It is since all paints are now water based & not cellulose based, solvent based to you.

All car paints are now water based & it is that alone that has caused all cars to be affected by stone chipping.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

IS300Hdriver · June 23, 2017

Just get yourself an official Lexus paint stick and touch it up every now and then

dutchie01 · June 23, 2017

I do feel sorry for allen, 7 chips in only 1500 miles feels bad. Can be road/traffic related of course but nevertheless if this would happen to me or to you i am sure we would feel absolutely gutted. No statistic would dampen that.

My advice would be to drive your car to the dealer and poilitely ask them about their opinion. A true Lexus dealer would offer a respray for sure.

rayaans · June 23, 2017

18 minutes ago, dutchie01 said:

I do feel sorry for allen, 7 chips in only 1500 miles feels bad. Can be road/traffic related of course but nevertheless if this would happen to me or to you i am sure we would feel absolutely gutted. No statistic would dampen that.

My advice would be to drive your car to the dealer and poilitely ask them about their opinion. A true Lexus dealer would offer a respray for sure.

No they wouldn't. They would say it's stone chips caused by stones flicking up.

Maybe they should start offering free seat replacements when a few creases form?

dutchie01 · June 23, 2017

Hey Rayaan, it could well be possible that some people have a different opinion than yours..

AlanS · June 23, 2017

Will just order a touch up and hide the scars for now, doubt the dealer will do anything.

Wouldn't want it resprayed anyway as I've only had the car for 6 weeks, I'd be more gutted if chips appeared right after repaint.

IS300Hdriver · June 23, 2017

As Nemesis says above with his 4 month old RC, Lexus wanted £1100 for a respray, so a touch up stick will do the trick for now, just be economical with it and it should look good enough. Scraped the bottom of the bumper wing on my IS somehow, think I hit some debris on the motorway, just painted over it and the surrounding chips with a few gradual applications, still looks a bit crap but I don't take much notice anymore.

rayaans · June 23, 2017

2 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

Hey Rayaan, it could well be possible that some people have a different opinion than yours..

dutchie01 - Lexus dealers will not have an opinion different to mine. Cars will get stone chips, it's called wear and tear. Maybe we should try getting free brakes and tyres as well as a respray?

Be reasonable man.

Tel · June 24, 2017

Gardex System offers Chip & Scuff Protection which came "free " in my Deal which I was happy about as Road Rash & Alloy Scars do hurt & can be costly to resolve.

R. clearly has his spin on all issues as we do too.

You may recall I had a Seat Cushion issue on Delivery that I did not accept but others thought I was picky! Lexus resolved this & to date it has been "obese proof " which Rayaan doubted would work.

My tyres are covered too & the brakes, so there is a good chance I can keep the car mint.

Tel

dutchie01 · June 24, 2017

I would definately go back to the Lexus dealership where i got the car from 6 weeks and 1500 miles ago and would politely inform them that i am somewhat disappointed with the paintquality of my brandnew vehicle. Did they maybe receive similar complaints etc?

This is a grey area where Customer Service will take over from technical and if your Lexus dealer puts his customers first he will surely understand your disappointment and will try to help you one way or the other.

NemesisUK · June 24, 2017

2 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

if your Lexus dealer puts his customers first he will surely understand your disappointment and will try to help you one way or the other.

Exactly where I was at with my dealer, he understood my dismay at acquiring a sizable stone chip so early into ownership but the bottom line was he would FOC try and touch-in the chip but couldn't guarantee the finish.

If I wanted a "back to factory" finish then it would be £1100 ...

Rebecca · June 24, 2017

On a related note, has anyone else tried the touch up paint? I received a free bottle from my dealer on my last service visit. I shook the bottle for several minutes and when I opened it it appeared thin and watery. I tried shaking several more minutes with the same results. When I used it on a small scratch it didn't really cover anything. Since my car is white, it looked more like skim milk than paint.

dougie175 · June 24, 2017

I personally don't see it as a grey area at all, its annoying yes however as stated above it is wear and tear. Sorry to hear its happened it must be gutting.

As a qualified professional sprayer I feel I have some understanding on the subject matter, modern paints are not worse thsn they were 20 years ago as everyone would have you believe "they don't make em like they used too" as for water based being the cause this is nonsense whether you use water or thinners as your carrier the end product i.e. what is actually left on the panel can be exactly what the manufacturers desire within the rules and legislations of the country it is being applied in.

For example Glasurit 90 line is actually a solvent scheme (a very good one) that has been adapted to become a water based scheme so the end product is essentially the same it just uses water instead of thinners to get the paint from the gun to the car and the basecoat dry.

IS200D · June 24, 2017

1 hour ago, Rebecca said:

On a related note, has anyone else tried the touch up paint? I received a free bottle from my dealer on my last service visit. I shook the bottle for several minutes and when I opened it it appeared thin and watery. I tried shaking several more minutes with the same results. When I used it on a small scratch it didn't really cover anything. Since my car is white, it looked more like skim milk than paint.

That sounds more like laquer than paint that they gave you. I bought a touch up pack from an eBay Lexus retailer which contains both paint and laquer. Used it today actually, while touching up the alloys, and results are good. You just need to be really tight with the paint, and if you dont get the chip/scratch spot on, just wipe it off and try again.

dougie175 · June 24, 2017

53 minutes ago, Rebecca said:

On a related note, has anyone else tried the touch up paint? I received a free bottle from my dealer on my last service visit. I shook the bottle for several minutes and when I opened it it appeared thin and watery. I tried shaking several more minutes with the same results. When I used it on a small scratch it didn't really cover anything. Since my car is white, it looked more like skim milk than paint.

Any chance of a picture?