Paint Flaking Off - NX 300h 5 Years old

[Saaj]

4 hours ago, Bounce75 said:

Hi Len/Paul,

I park in my garage from 5pm until 7am every day, the remaining time it is in a works car park with no trees, so I know it definitely wasn't picked up in my ownership.

As I said it was there very slightly when I picked it up in Feb this year, but has got worse over the summer, maybe the sun has affected it?

My local dealership have offered to try & polish it out for £85 which I have forwarded to the selling dealership last Tuesday, but no response yet.

I have tried Meguiars scratch remover, but it hasn't touched it. I am concerned too much work on that area will wear through the clear coat.

I will give the selling dealer until the middle of next week to reply, but I am sure they will say it has been caused by me as I didn't report it until 6 months after purchase, I do have pics from June when I noticed it getting worse.

 

 

4 hours ago, Bounce75 said:

Hi Len/Paul,

I park in my garage from 5pm until 7am every day, the remaining time it is in a works car park with no trees, so I know it definitely wasn't picked up in my ownership.

As I said it was there very slightly when I picked it up in Feb this year, but has got worse over the summer, maybe the sun has affected it?

My local dealership have offered to try & polish it out for £85 which I have forwarded to the selling dealership last Tuesday, but no response yet.

I have tried Meguiars scratch remover, but it hasn't touched it. I am concerned too much work on that area will wear through the clear coat.

I will give the selling dealer until the middle of next week to reply, but I am sure they will say it has been caused by me as I didn't report it until 6 months after purchase, I do have pics from June when I noticed it getting worse.

 

Do you have pictures you may have taken at the time of purchase that shows that mark? If you do then perhaps you could show that to the dealer. Just a thought. I tend to take some pictures just before purchase. Not everyone does.

[Bounce75]

28 minutes ago, Saaj said:

 

Do you have pictures you may have taken at the time of purchase that shows that mark? If you do then perhaps you could show that to the dealer. Just a thought. I tend to take some pictures just before purchase. Not everyone does.

Hi Sajid,

No the earliest pictures I have are from beginning of June when I started to notice it more outside.

It does look worse in the pictures & is only about the size of an old 5p piece, I just don't want it getting any worse.

[LenT]

21 minutes ago, Saaj said:

. I tend to take some pictures just before purchase. Not everyone does.

What a good idea!  Now why have I never thought of that?

Having said that, it was the excellent Lexus dealer in Milton Keynes (!) who sent me a video tour of the car before I bought it.  At least that might provide a record of the more obvious faults, if not rather more subtle paint defects.

[Bounce75]

22 minutes ago, LenT said:

What a good idea!  Now why have I never thought of that?

Having said that, it was the excellent Lexus dealer in Milton Keynes (!) who sent me a video tour of the car before I bought it.  At least that might provide a record of the more obvious faults, if not rather more subtle paint defects.

I must admit they did send me 2 video tours of the car, but neither are close enough over the roof to show any damage, plus as I say I didn't really notice outside at first.

[Saaj]

32 minutes ago, Bounce75 said:

Hi Sajid,

No the earliest pictures I have are from beginning of June when I started to notice it more outside.

It does look worse in the pictures & is only about the size of an old 5p piece, I just don't want it getting any worse.

I guess time will tell. Judging by the pictures it appears that the stain on your has gone through the laquer. I may be wrong. If it won’t go away with a wash or you can’t T-Cut it out then that’s likely indented under the top layer  layer. Mine is also about the size of old 5p coin but in my case the edges are raised so I can only expect it getting worse as water will get through and jet wash will probably won’t help.

I am waiting for dealer to respond and I have also asked the selling dealership for their comments before I take it a body shop to get it done privately. 

[Bounce75]

19 minutes ago, Saaj said:

I guess time will tell. Judging by the pictures it appears that the stain on your has gone through the laquer. I may be wrong. If it won’t go away with a wash or you can’t T-Cut it out then that’s likely indented under the top layer  layer. Mine is also about the size of old 5p coin but in my case the edges are raised so I can only expect it getting worse as water will get through and jet wash will probably won’t help.

I am waiting for dealer to respond and I have also asked the selling dealership for their comments before I take it a body shop to get it done privately. 

Yes, I did notice the edges were raised on yours. I wonder how much a smart repair would be for a small area like that as yours has already gone through the lacquer?

Mine may not get any worse, but if it does I want someone to take responsibility for it.

[Saaj]

3 hours ago, Bounce75 said:

Yes, I did notice the edges were raised on yours. I wonder how much a smart repair would be for a small area like that as yours has already gone through the lacquer?

Mine may not get any worse, but if it does I want someone to take responsibility for it.

I will let you know the cost once the local dealer gets around to giving me a quite

 

[LMM]

On 9/4/2021 at 12:45 PM, Malc said:

if they won't be sensible and engage with you then I would see a solicitor and take out a claim against Lexus and the Dealership for full reimbursement of your purchase price of the car ....  and tell them you are doing so before you do it ! ..  and the resultant publicity too, especially on this Forum and elsewhere

If they don't offer you some sensible comfort after you have advised them of this proposed course of action then see that solicitor for professional advice to move it forward

Just my two penn'th 

Malc

Best to get all your ducks in a row first Malc. An expert examination and report that supports your case is pure Gold - however, it would have been helpful to bring it to the dealers attention straight away.

Many franchises have substantial case studies (supplied by the manufacturer to their trained dealer staff) to refer to for paint issues - insects, impact, poor adhesion, contaminants and so on. It is hoped that the dealer inspected the paint using a qualified technician who is well versed in such matters. If so, a written report from them stating categorically why it doesn't come within warranty would be required. Then, it should be compared to an Independent inspection by your chosen expert.

Should the cause be an external influence of any description (other than something that the paint finish would resist) then it would not be warrantable. In that instance it would be incumbent on the owner to prove that it happened prior to delivery - and that could be tricky.

Escalating the issue with threats would seem counter-productive.

I note Steve says it is either at work or in his garage - it has NEVER had a journey outside of this? At work is it parked near a railway as the metal filings from their brakes can cause damage.

Regardless, I hope Steve achieves a favourable outcome.

[Saaj]

On 9/3/2021 at 4:19 PM, Spacewagon52 said:

Sajid, please let us know how you get on.

Hi all

Right, this is the update 

I took the car to local dealership. The dealer measured the car paint thickness and have concluded that the bonnet was repainted either by the previous owner or the dealer I bought the car from. Bear in mind I bought the car in 2018 when it was just two years old so I would have expected to have been informed of this at the time of purchase but I wasn’t.

I have contacted the selling dealer as well and their view is that they never repaint cars that are for sale as it’s not cost effective for them to do so and if it was repainted by the previous owner then they wouldn’t have known about it when it was returned back to me (I believe it was on PCP by the first owner). None the less the selling dealer is going to dig into the paperwork to see what records they have for the car. I am not finding the dealer responsive and I suspect they won’t want to take any accountability for selling a fairly new car with a repainted bonnet. 
 

I have taken it to local Body Shop and they have quoted £260 to repaint the bonnet and they reckon they can get a good match with paint that’s around on the panels etc.

Lexus have estimated a cost of £800-£1000 to repaint the bonnet, pillars and side panels as they believe that to get a good match you’d have to paint panels around the bonnet.

I am not sure what I will do so will hold on for the time being in doing anything 

thanks all for your input and comments 

[Malc]

19 minutes ago, Saaj said:

their view is that they never repaint cars that are for sale as it’s not cost effective

OK my two penn'th again

My indy mechanic in an earlier life, was based at Sheerness docks on Sheppey which is a big big import .... port for many marques of cars

His job was to professionally touch-up, respray bits/areas of  brand new cars that had arrived slightly damaged through knocks, scrapes etc

Then the cars went on their merry way to the Dealers who were totally oblivious to this having happened .....  and the end buyers would therefore just never know until maybe, like you now ...........  and the dealers quite justifiably knowing nothing of this with any specific car

Good luck with it all ........ at 5 years old I'd be going for the local Body Shop if its reputation is good 

Malc

[Joe P]

Get a paint expert to determine the cause.  This is not cool for a 5 yr old Lexus!!  Mines a 2021 NX300h white pearl.  Keep me posted.

[rayaans]

Id be very surprised if its genuine peeling of the top coat. Lexus paint is almost flawless in comparison to other manufacturers

Its more likely to be a stone chip and then poor wash technique causing water to get underneath. 

The repaired bonnet was probably done prior to the dealer getting it and selling it on. 

Lexus is correct that the panels surrounding the paint would need to be blended in to match perfectly. Otherwise it could potentially stick out like a sore thumb due to the nature of sonic white paint. 

The brown bits you mention are probably tiny metal particles from brake dust etc. Using a fallout remover in combination with a clay bar will remove this. Theyre most evident on lighter coloured cars

[Bounce75]

Sorry to hijack again, but I have an update on my roof blemish.

The selling dealer said it was probably bird lime from its time sitting at the docks, they have come across this before apparently.

They arranged for a dealer more local to me to try & polish it out, long story short they went too far through the clear coat & had to respray the whole roof.

The finish was not particularly good & I sent pics to selling dealer.

They were disgusted with the finish that was left on the car & have arranged to take it back to where I bought it from & spray the roof properly back to original spec & finish, which in all fairness is good of them.

They have said they will give me a car while it is being done & send me a detailed video when it is complete.

Fingers crossed it will come back like new.

[Saaj]

2 hours ago, rayaans said:

Id be very surprised if its genuine peeling of the top coat. Lexus paint is almost flawless in comparison to other manufacturers

Its more likely to be a stone chip and then poor wash technique causing water to get underneath. 

The repaired bonnet was probably done prior to the dealer getting it and selling it on. 

Lexus is correct that the panels surrounding the paint would need to be blended in to match perfectly. Otherwise it could potentially stick out like a sore thumb due to the nature of sonic white paint. 

The brown bits you mention are probably tiny metal particles from brake dust etc. Using a fallout remover in combination with a clay bar will remove this. Theyre most evident on lighter coloured cars

I am not sure if Lexus paint is flawless. I have a Lexus UX in the house too which is under two years old and has paint issues. Not quite like on my NX but an issue with paint.

[Saaj]

55 minutes ago, Bounce75 said:

Sorry to hijack again, but I have an update on my roof blemish.

The selling dealer said it was probably bird lime from its time sitting at the docks, they have come across this before apparently.

They arranged for a dealer more local to me to try & polish it out, long story short they went too far through the clear coat & had to respray the whole roof.

The finish was not particularly good & I sent pics to selling dealer.

They were disgusted with the finish that was left on the car & have arranged to take it back to where I bought it from & spray the roof properly back to original spec & finish, which in all fairness is good of them.

They have said they will give me a car while it is being done & send me a detailed video when it is complete.

Fingers crossed it will come back like new.

Good outcome there. My daughters Lexus UX which is under 2 years old has exactly the same issue as your car. I need now to sort that out. I doubt I’d get anywhere with my issue on the NX as selling dealer hasn’t bothered to respond. I may just get it redone at a paint shop.

[Bounce75]

4 minutes ago, Saaj said:

Good outcome there. My daughters Lexus UX which is under 2 years old has exactly the same issue as your car. I need now to sort that out. I doubt I’d get anywhere with my issue on the NX as selling dealer hasn’t bothered to respond. I may just get it redone at a paint shop.

I would keep pushing them on it, maybe contact the manager.

I did offer to get it sorted at my local paint shop that has a very good reputation, but they insisted they wanted to sort it themselves so that they can be sure it is done to a very high standard.

Good luck with your daughters car.

[rayaans]

18 minutes ago, Saaj said:

Good outcome there. My daughters Lexus UX which is under 2 years old has exactly the same issue as your car. I need now to sort that out. I doubt I’d get anywhere with my issue on the NX as selling dealer hasn’t bothered to respond. I may just get it redone at a paint shop.

That's not a problem with the paint though is it? That's to do with the maintenance of it surely? 

[Saaj]

17 hours ago, rayaans said:

That's not a problem with the paint though is it? That's to do with the maintenance of it surely? 

Nope it’s a problem with the paint on the bonnet. Not maintenance related.

you have to carefully look at the spot to see the issue - can’t see it as you walk by - lacquer is intact but it looks smudged underneath it. When you run your fingers over its smooth as a baby’s bottom

[Bounce75]

On 10/5/2021 at 10:23 PM, Bounce75 said:

I would keep pushing them on it, maybe contact the manager.

I did offer to get it sorted at my local paint shop that has a very good reputation, but they insisted they wanted to sort it themselves so that they can be sure it is done to a very high standard.

Good luck with your daughters car.

Finally got my car back from Lexus Derby & it now looks like new again. 

They have been very good & gave me a car while they had it for the week & even coated the roof with Supaguard for free.