Sonic Titanium Paintwork

[NXPremier]

Having been a died in the wool Jaguar man for many years, I took delivery of a new CT200h SE-L with premium nav back in 2012. Although the CT was compromised in too many areas in my opinion, I’m now on my 3rd Lexus having had a new 2015 IS300h SE until earlier this year as a company car, and having bought myself a used low mileage NX300h Premier in February from Lexus Hatfield. Guess I’m converted then!

both my IS previously and my current NX are Sonic Titanium being my favourite Lexus colour. I parted company with my IS with a little over 29k Miles, my current NX has just clocked up  little over 22k so far. Over the three years I had the IS, which I consider to be an excellent car BTW, it picked up no end of scratches and the front bumper and lower valence on was quite badly peppered with stone chips to the point of feeling rough to the touch. No amount of regular wax polishing seemed to help. 

Having owned my NX for a little over a month now, being extremely pleased with it, the only slight negative is it has already picked up some small but noticeable scratches and a stone chip on the front that has gone down to the black material below the paint. For me, this is frustrating as I care for my cars a great deal and hate to see paint imperfections. 

Has anyone else experience with Sonic Titanium paint in the long term in that it seems to be very soft and easily damaged? If so, have you any solutions or suggestions in protecting it from chips and scratches? I really love the colour but at the moment, I’d think twice about having it again. I don’t recall having the same issue with the CT which was metallic silver.

[olliesgrandad]

Certainly my silver RX doesn't seem to suffer despite pounding up and down the M5 most days. My previous pearlescent white GS was also pretty good. Before that the celestial black IS300h was definitely not as robust and showed every mark. Strange as an obsidian black Mercedes was much less prone to marks. Not owned a car in sonic titanium but your comments might dissuade me from that colour. 

[NemesisUK]

What sort of roads do you predominantly drive on?

I don't have Sonic Titanium but the red version, so same paint process. I collected a stone chip in the second week of ownership but none since. My impression is the paint is no 'softer' than the Mercs I had before.. The model shape can have a massive influence on how easily a car collects stone chips

As for prevention, the only thing to do would be a paint protection film. I personally don't like PPF as it's never invisible and being a sacrificial it still gets visibly damaged. The edges show dirt easily.

Stone chips are, unfortunately, a fact of driving life

[malcolmw]

We have had our IS300h for three years and I previously had an RX450h both in Sonic Titanium. They both had minimal marking and neither of these has shown any worse paint damage than any other car. We live in the country with mud and gravel a common feature of the roads.

Both cars had the G3 Glasscoat applied from new.

[DanD]

As an aside, while we often moan about "soft" paint, I was recently told by a bodyshop professional that new "softer" paints are actually much better at absorbing stone hits that previously used paints. Also, when there are chips, they tend to be smaller and less deep and therefore easier to repair.

Did you know that newer paints use sunlight to self-heal?

https://newatlas.com/self-healing-car-paint/11254/ 
(note that this is a 2009 article, so nothing new!)

This is also interesting:
https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101-a/104848-lexus-self-healing-paint.html

[Martin J]

My NX is in Sonic Titanium, and so far (3.5 years) no major issues with paint chipping. I did have the Supagard paint treatment, which may have helped.

[First_Lexus]

As I've remarked elsewhere on the forum I personally find Lexus paint very prone to chipping. My previous Mercury Grey NX and current Mesa Red NX have both suffered at low mileages with sympathetic driving. 

My driving is mainly on B-roads and below, and I too like to take care of my cars. Lexus paint is the most vulnerable in my experience since I had VWs which are known for hard - and brittle - paintwork. Previous Hondas and my other car, a MINI, just don't suffer in the same way based on my experience. 

[NXPremier]

10 hours ago, olliesgrandad said:

Certainly my silver RX doesn't seem to suffer despite pounding up and down the M5 most days. My previous pearlescent white GS was also pretty good. Before that the celestial black IS300h was definitely not as robust and showed every mark. Strange as an obsidian black Mercedes was much less prone to marks. Not owned a car in sonic titanium but your comments might dissuade me from that colour. 

Thanks to all for your replies; the only common factor I can gather between my experience and those who haven’t experienced above average paint issues is the paint protection option which I didn’t opt for when buying my NX. I was offered this by the supplying dealer with an alloy wheel damage and smart repair protection policy but considered it expensive. 

I cleaned my NX yesterday afternoon and found a couple of small light scuffs on the near side front door, the stone chip I mentioned previously (which is definitely new) and what look to be a couple of small fingernail scratches below the drivers door handle. I don’t recall seeing these before and I was quite thorough checking over my NX prior to purchase. There are also a few very minor nibbles on the outer edge of the drivers door which although are barely noticeable, I know they are there and as such they bug me. 

Not wanting to put my NX down, it is in beautiful condition for a 2015 example with 22k miles up. But I’m very fussy about keeping it in the condition it’s in so the recent chip and scuffs picked up so soon concern me.

I use my NX daily for commuting, work and SDP combining town driving, A and B roads and usually one decent motorway run per week. I’m currently averaging 38.5 mpg proving I’m not too aggressive with the go pedal. 

In conclusion, I will now investigate having a paint protection treatment applied through my local Lexus dealer and go from there. 

But aside the seemingly easily damaged paint, I’m extremely chuffed with my NX, I really wanted a used pre-facelift Premier model (as I prefer the styling and didn’t want to take the hit of the first three years of depreciation) in Sonic Titanium with Ivory leather and Style Pack so all boxes were ticked fo me. The NX gives me a quite a different driving experience to the lower slung and more sporting IS 300h I had previously (which I wasn’t expecting as much) but the NX is exceptionally refined and comfortable. It feels more ‘premium’ to me too and I’ve never enjoyed so much kit and features in car. Loving the HUD, brake hold and radar cruise! The Mark Levinson is pretty impressive too. 

[olliesgrandad]

Paint protection is an expensive dealer money maker. Use a good modern Polish. Try chemical guys blackllight with their V70 spritzed on after washing. Looks great and is easy to apply. Beads water well even afte6, months. 

[DanD]

I am not sure that the paint protection offered by Lexus would help against stone chips. To my knowledge, it is no more than a superficial, hand applied coating that helps keep the car looking clean for longer.

[NemesisUK]

1 minute ago, DanD said:

I am not sure that the paint protection offered by Lexus would help against stone chips. To my knowledge, it is no more than a superficial, hand applied coating that helps keep the car looking clean for longer.

My understanding also. My ceramic coated RC has chipped.

The only way I know is to apply PPF (aka 'helicopter tape') available in sheets like vinyl wrap