Don't buy a structural blue one. NO, don't buy a Lexus

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Hi

Slightly more than two months ago I had some parking damage and I called Lexus Leeds to ask whether they could fix this. They told me they couldn't and referred me to their regular body shop. I called them, they too couldn't fix it as they didn't know how to get hold of the paint. I called Lexus again and they told me that they'd come back to me. They did and told me that they had found a friendly garage who was going to help me. This frendly garage was indeed very friendly and they started their search for the paint. It took them about 3 weeks to do this and told me that the paint would be about 1,250 pounds for half a litre and they thought they'd probabaly need about a litre. I transferred 2500. Apearantly the frndly dealer has found a company who can deliver the paint, but they need to ghet it from a company in The Netherlands who can make. Now, more than four weeks later no paint has arrived and I'm still waiting. I'm not as much disappointed with the friendly bodyshop who have taken it upon them to try to do this as I am with Lexus. Last Sunday I complained on the website of Lexus Leeds and told them that I was quite unsatisfied with their service as I think that when you buy a car from a dealer that they should be able to fix it or to deliver the parts that are needed to fix it. I was called on Monday by the after care manager and he would take it up with Lexus and that they would come back to me. The have not. I'm quite disappointed.

For some reason or another I'm now starting to dislike the Lexus.  I  dislike the dealer and I dislke the whole brand. The suggestion of giving a good service is false. Maybe I should sell it after it's been fixed. 

Ben

PS Bought a 2nd hand Rolls Royce Wraith at P&A Wood. I think their service is better.  

 

[RgrWynne]

That is not good and I feel for you , Rgds, Roger

[NemesisUK]

This might be of interest to you

"Lexus Structural Blue, paint code 8Y0 is a standard basecoat/clearcoat system. This amazing color looks like it might be difficult to repair, but actually, it's very simple. Follow this recommended procedure from PPG to perform a small spot repair on this color.

Structural Blue was developed by Lexus and VIAVI Solutions Inc. It’s based on the coloration of the vibrant morpho butterfly, a species found in Central and South America. The butterfly appears blue in color but does not actually have blue scales in its wing surfaces. The blue color — which varies depending on the ambient light — is achieved through light interference.

PPG has introduced a training video to assist paint technicians with refinishing Lexus automobiles sporting the OEM’s Structural Blue finish. The video has been produced to dispel the notion that complex colors require a complex refinish process. In fact, it's not difficult at all."

 

I was quoted £1100 to repair a simple stone chip on my Sonic Red painted bonnet..

[RgrWynne]

Wow well done finding that, really interesting, and I guess you can understand why it costs so much. Perfection !!

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12 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

This might be of interest to you

"Lexus Structural Blue, paint code 8Y0 is a standard basecoat/clearcoat system. This amazing color looks like it might be difficult to repair, but actually, it's very simple. Follow this recommended procedure from PPG to perform a small spot repair on this color.

Structural Blue was developed by Lexus and VIAVI Solutions Inc. It’s based on the coloration of the vibrant morpho butterfly, a species found in Central and South America. The butterfly appears blue in color but does not actually have blue scales in its wing surfaces. The blue color — which varies depending on the ambient light — is achieved through light interference.

PPG has introduced a training video to assist paint technicians with refinishing Lexus automobiles sporting the OEM’s Structural Blue finish. The video has been produced to dispel the notion that complex colors require a complex refinish process. In fact, it's not difficult at all."

 

I was quoted £1100 to repair a simple stone chip on my Sonic Red painted bonnet..

I sent this video to the bodyshops. Didn't help. 

[dutchie01]

Something does not add up, does it.  If you drive a Pagani you know servicing needs to be done in the works in Italy. But that is a handbuild supercar. The LC is unique in its own way but built by the Toyota Motor Corporation with a network of dealers in any country. And they cant repair the paint??  Maybe you need to send the car to Japan?

Why not contact Lexus headoffice and talk their m/d about this bizarre situation?

[malcolmw]

We did discuss this issue when the special edition Structural Blue was announced. The thread is in the LC500 forum somewhere. It was clearly going to be a problem to repair but you might reasonably assume that Lexus had thought about this as it is, after all, subject to damage as it is on a car.

I know that my Sonic Red paintwork isn't easy to repair but can be done. A friend of mine had a respray done on her NX bonnet which is Ultrasonic Blue and it is absolutely indistinguishable from the original paintwork.

[NemesisUK]

I think the 'problem' is with the OP's dealership not Lexus per se. Structural Blue is clearly easily repaired as per the video (in fact it's an easier respray than the 4 layer Sonic red, Ultrasonic blue/ Naples yellow and Sonic titanium). Sourcing the paint shouldn't be an issue either. Obviously not common as so few cars out there with this colour but should be an issue IMHO.

Try a different dealership, or as suggested above, contact Lexus UK directly

[wendle]

I hope your insurance company don't find out, your premium will sky rocket 

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45 minutes ago, wendle said:

I hope your insurance company don't find out, your premium will sky rocket 

It's not the costs that worry me. I knew that "structural blue" was rediculously expensive when I found out that it was 14,000 pounds more than the standard version (when I bought it, it was unclear that it would have some of the sport plus features). It's the way my dealer and Lexus handle it.