GSF Carbon interior trim delaminating

[mrfunex]

3 hours ago, Twellsie said:

if its a real carbon fibre, which it appears to be, a body shop could very easily flat and rear clear them, i have a recently re-done my rear spoiler under the guidance of a friend that used to manufacture carbon parts at Prodrive

It is real carbon fibre, but the majority of the examples I’ve seen crack as well as delaminating. They’re not repairable. 

[Twellsie]

15 hours ago, mrfunex said:

It is real carbon fibre, but the majority of the examples I’ve seen crack as well as delaminating. They’re not repairable. 

if cracked they can still be repaired, sand the cracked area until the dust is just black (instead of white, with a small brush coat with resin, leave to dry, block it flat and apply clear coat. 

[F.A.]

Bristol Lexus have come back to me on this. To replace the dash trims and also the trim on the drivers door card, it will be £2300. Bristol did the best they could to get the price down from around £3600 but it’s still a ridiculous price. I am going to leave it for now as it’s very minor at the moment but to say that I am extremely disappointed in Lexus built quality and Lexus GB customer support ( Bristol Lexus have been great) is an understatement. Obviously I still love the car but It has somewhat tainted the brand for me and whereas I wouldn’t even consider another manufacturer before this, I’m certainly not as loyal anymore. 
 

Lexus GB customer support / relations are absolutely horrendous. They speak to you like you are a complete idiot and flat out denied that there were any other reported cases of this. I’m glad that these cars are generally reliable and dealers are able to solve issues most of the time, as I would hate to have to deal with them on other matters. 

[mrfunex]

@F.A. I'm kind of in the same position as you - these trim parts are HUGELY expensive. I had mine done, but I didn't need as many pieces as you seem to. I have no idea what these pieces of trim actually cost Lexus to make/ship etc, but it's obviously going to be nowhere near what they're selling them at.

If it helps, there are plenty of really good quality vinyl overlays that could be cut to size and stuck over - some of the higher quality ones are very close indeed to the finish of the original carbon parts - worth investigating? I think I'll do this for any other bits that start to look tatty.

As for sticking with Lexus for my next car; I'm not sure. There's nothing Lexus make that's even comparible to the GSF, and it looks like there's nothing in the pipeline either...

[F.A.]

25 minutes ago, mrfunex said:

@F.A. I'm kind of in the same position as you - these trim parts are HUGELY expensive. I had mine done, but I didn't need as many pieces as you seem to. I have no idea what these pieces of trim actually cost Lexus to make/ship etc, but it's obviously going to be nowhere near what they're selling them at.

If it helps, there are plenty of really good quality vinyl overlays that could be cut to size and stuck over - some of the higher quality ones are very close indeed to the finish of the original carbon parts - worth investigating? I think I'll do this for any other bits that start to look tatty.

As for sticking with Lexus for my next car; I'm not sure. There's nothing Lexus make that's even comparible to the GSF, and it looks like there's nothing in the pipeline either...

Thanks @mrfunex for the suggestions. I will look in to them when things get worse. 

We tend to keep our cars for a long time so I don’t think I will be changing the GSF anytime soon. But yes, I have the same dilemma as you. I imagine we will keep the GSF and change our RX450h for something fully electric when the time comes and take advantage of buying it under our LTD company, if that loop hole is still open. If that time was now then we would definitely be going elsewhere as Lexus doesn’t  current offer anything that would accommodate our family. I might even consider Tesla now seeing as Lexus build quality has let us down 😂🙄

[Arnett]

40 minutes ago, F.A. said:

Thanks @mrfunex for the suggestions. I will look in to them when things get worse. 

We tend to keep our cars for a long time so I don’t think I will be changing the GSF anytime soon. But yes, I have the same dilemma as you. I imagine we will keep the GSF and change our RX450h for something fully electric when the time comes and take advantage of buying it under our LTD company, if that loop hole is still open. If that time was now then we would definitely be going elsewhere as Lexus doesn’t  current offer anything that would accommodate our family. I might even consider Tesla now seeing as Lexus build quality has let us down 😂🙄

From what I've seen all over social and the interwebs Tesla quality is very sub par. I'd be considering a polestar if I was to jump on the electric route. 

 

Personally I'm waiting for hydrogen to be developed more.

 

I too am really uncertain as to what to buy next. 

I mean the Alfa - quadrifoglio is just a bit nice, but it's an Alfa...  Or a properly Asbo R35. 😅 BUT they are rather common

[F.A.]

5 minutes ago, Arnett said:

From what I've seen all over social and the interwebs Tesla quality is very sub par. I'd be considering a polestar if I was to jump on the electric route. 

 

Personally I'm waiting for hydrogen to be developed more.

 

I too am really uncertain as to what to buy next. 

I mean the Alfa - quadrifoglio is just a bit nice, but it's an Alfa...  Or a properly Asbo R35. 😅 BUT they are rather common

That is true about Tesla but it’s not one of its known strong points. Built quality and customer support are is Lexus’ but I’m not overly impressed from recent experience considering this is a 4 year old car that was their flagship F model. 

[Arnett]

1 minute ago, F.A. said:

That is true about Tesla but it’s not one of its known strong points. Built quality and customer support are is Lexus’ but I’m not overly impressed from recent experience considering this is a 4 year old car that was their flagship F model. 

Yeah the approach they are having regarding the interior trim is quite dreadful. 

 

Have you considered messaging Elvin CF about the trim for a quote of what he would charge for the pieces ? His work is awesome. 

[ColinBarber]

28 minutes ago, Arnett said:

I'd be considering a polestar if I was to jump on the electric route.

The Polestar I test drove had two interior rattles and a boot lid that didn't align to the rear wing, whereas the Tesla had no issues.

[F.A.]

2 hours ago, Arnett said:

Yeah the approach they are having regarding the interior trim is quite dreadful. 

 

Have you considered messaging Elvin CF about the trim for a quote of what he would charge for the pieces ? His work is awesome. 

I haven’t but it maybe something to consider when it gets worse. Thanks for the advice 

[Drobe]

Hi all. New here. Just curious if anyone has found a good solution to this? I was getting some body work done to my car and I asked the shop (not Lexus dealer) if they could replace the trim. Mine is delaminated on both driver and passenger sides, and the passenger side is cracked apart and has mostly fallen off. They said it would be $3000 USD to replace so I said no. But now I'm stuck with cracked and delaminated trim. This is the only post I've found so far so wanted to see if there have been any updates. Thanks!

[F.A.]

No, not yet. 
Still waiting for my dealer to see if anything can be done as good will, but I’m not too hopeful. 

[ColinBarber]

getting the pieces wrapped or purchasing replacements from Lexus seem to be the only options 😞 

[hockeyedwards]

Mine has not started to show itself on a few edges, must be that sandpaper I use to clean it everytime... fml!

[F.A.]

2 hours ago, hockeyedwards said:

Mine has not started to show itself on a few edges, must be that sandpaper I use to clean it everytime... fml!

😂. Mine was the nonexistent air freshener that had some how leaked all over the carbon trim.  Basically just a bunch of idiots working at Lexus head office who have no idea what so ever. 

Clearly this is an manufacturing defect likely to affect most GSFs. Disappointing from Lexus. I would think twice about buying anything else from Lexus with carbon trim, which is a real shame.  

[k80]

With the way it is flaking off, it's almost as if it is UV damage - I mean what else could cause it to flake and crack? The only thing that dash sees is a soft cloth and the sun. Seems a pretty short number of years for it to be that damaged tbh. Guess the lacquer isn't uv resistant enough if I had to guess...

[ColinBarber]

6 hours ago, k80 said:

Guess the lacquer isn't uv resistant enough if I had to guess...

Yes, UV or moisture. I would have expected the trim to be made the same as the external pieces which seems much more robust - I guess the edges haven’t been sealed (correctly). 

[F.A.]

2 minutes ago, ColinBarber said:

Yes, UV or moisture. I would have expected the trim to be made the same as the external pieces which seems much more robust - I guess the edges haven’t been sealed (correctly). 

Not in my case.  My rear spoiler is going at the same rate as my interior. 

[ColinBarber]

4 hours ago, F.A. said:

Not in my case.  My rear spoiler is going at the same rate as my interior. 

Why have you been putting air freshener on your rear spoiler?

[F.A.]

3 minutes ago, ColinBarber said:

Why have you been putting air freshener on your rear spoiler?

I’m wondering the same !! 

[hockeyedwards]

16 hours ago, k80 said:

is a soft cloth

80 grit is 'soft' right? 😉

[hockeyedwards]

Not to add any fuel to the fire. Captured from FB group. Funny how in the US, it seems to be replaced under warranty...

[F.A.]

Yes different level of customer service there. 
I showed Lexus UK similar posts last year from a popular forum in America and for some reason they deemed these cases irrelevant. They were adamant  that it was all down to neglect on my behalf. 😡😡😡 
May be if there were enough of us with this problem, they may listen. Trouble is, the rarity of this car is working against us for once 🤦🏽‍♂️

[hockeyedwards]

18 hours ago, F.A. said:

Yes different level of customer service there. 
I showed Lexus UK similar posts last year from a popular forum in America and for some reason they deemed these cases irrelevant. They were adamant  that it was all down to neglect on my behalf. 😡😡😡 
May be if there were enough of us with this problem, they may listen. Trouble is, the rarity of this car is working against us for once 🤦🏽‍♂️

Rare factor could play in our favour if enough of us banded together. 7 of 70 is 10% of cars in UK experiencing same problem... I would be up for a group letter of some sort. I know it is impacting RC F owners too, so could gain more numbers that way. Mine is only getting worse, will see how cheap/ expensive a repair would be and maybe suggest Lexus good-willing that cost!

[F.A.]

5 hours ago, hockeyedwards said:

Rare factor could play in our favour if enough of us banded together. 7 of 70 is 10% of cars in UK experiencing same problem... I would be up for a group letter of some sort. I know it is impacting RC F owners too, so could gain more numbers that way. Mine is only getting worse, will see how cheap/ expensive a repair would be and maybe suggest Lexus good-willing that cost!

I would be up for that. 👍🏾