Respray Job On My Is-250. Please Advise

[ahmed24]

hey everyone.

I have a Lexus IS-250 and have some serious stone chips on my front bumper and bonnet. and a few on each front side wing. On the bumper I would say almost 80% coverage of stone chips and to be honest it is looking disgusting. On my bonnet I have around 14 deep stone chips and quite a few littles ones here and there.

To cut the long story short, I know smart repair touch-ups and things just wont work. I want the front to look perfect like before. I visited my Lexus Dealer BodyShop department and have been quoted for a complete respray and repair of the bonnet, wings and front bumper. They say it will take around 3 days and I will be given a courtesy car. All this for around £800. I'm ready to go for it, but I wanted some advice from people here.

I want to make sure everything is done properly and no cowboy jobs. I'm wondering how they would do all the work, will they remove the bonnet, wings and bumper and work on it away from the car or work on the car with all that on? if working with it all on the car I want to make sure they dont scratch some other area in the process and if taking it off I need to make sure everything is put back together properly specially the panel gaps and things should be just as it is.

Also do they fill the stone chips with something or do they strip out the existing paint and level everything out? I asked them about the guarantee of the work and stuff. They claim the work is covered by a workmanship guarantee (cant remember if they said 1year or 3year) and on top of that they said I will still be covered with the manufacturers 12year bodywork corrosion warranty.

Has anyone had this sort of thing done to their car by lexus? if so it would be nice to hear your experience.

thank you

[PCIronmike]

What colour is the car ? Is it metallic or solid ?? Is the bodyshop a reputable company ???

[P4UL T]

What part of London are you in?

I know a guy that does a great job and is very reasonable, is a little back street garage,

[ahmed24]

The car's colour is called Argento Ice which is basically silver. Yes it is metalic and the bodyshop is part of the Lexus and Toyota Dealership. Its been in business for a very long time.

[PCIronmike]

The only prob a body shop has when doing metalic paint is blending it with the original paint so at a guess they should not reomove any of the panels and if they do it would only be the bonnet , in my experience the fade into the existing paint is the only hurdle , saying that if its part of a Lexus dealership I would'nt worry , If they do damage anything they will rectify it before giving it back to you . Just make sure that when you pick the car up , you inspect it thoroughly as once you take the car away anything you find could of happened in that short time . If you are not happy with the end results tell them there and then , don't be blinkered or excited because it looks better than before . Check it , Check it again and check it once more for luck .

Oh make sur the panel gaps are all the same too .

Regards

Paul.

[Tango]

Has anyone had this sort of thing done to their car by lexus? if so it would be nice to hear your experience.

Had my roof resprayed due to a stone chip...actually bit more than a chip as the impact caused a small dent also. Obtained three quotes, one of which was through my Lexus Dealership, and they were all pretty high due to all of them insisting the front and rear screens had to be removed to ensure the new clear coat ended under the glass seals.

Went through my insurance company (protected NCB) who then insisted I use their recommended bodyshop.....wait for it....a Vauxhall bodyshop

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the car went back twice...once because the finish wasn't quite up to the Lexus Standard and then again because when the cold weather came, I found out they'd broken off one of the connections to the rear screen heater. Quite a saga in the end as when putting in a brand new rear screen (their cost) it had to be re-tinted (my cost) and then they cut through the radio antenna unit which had to be replaced (their cost).

To be fair to the Vauxhall bodyshop, it was their glass removal and fitting subcontractor that caused the real problems. 10/10 to the bodyshop manager who ensured everything was (finally) completed to the high standard expected, including a final sign off by an independent engineer from the Insurance Company....and 0/10 to the guy that originally signed it off, although I doubt he's still employed there.

[PCIronmike]

Tango , you don't have to go with the repairer of their choice , its down to you , if you have a body shop you use all the time then you can ask to use them because of the trust issue , don't ever let insurance fims bully you into using their own people its just that they get the cost reduced for putting the work through certain dealerships .

Regards

Paul.

[Tango]

Tango , you don't have to go with the repairer of their choice , its down to you , if you have a body shop you use all the time then you can ask to use them because of the trust issue , don't ever let insurance fims bully you into using their own people its just that they get the cost reduced for putting the work through certain dealerships .

Regards

Paul.

I didn't really have a preference as even the 'Lexus bodyshop' was an unknown (to me) third party...just that the dealership would have underwritten it. I'd probably use the Vauxhall bodyshop again, as they went to some lengths to achieve the result I wanted without any negative push back or cutting of corners, and as far as quality is concerned I can be a real pain in the backside.

All I'd say to Ahmed24 would be to complete a final inspection of the paintwork under really good lighting e.g. striplights, sunlight or halogen lamps and if uncertain as to what to look for then take along someone who does.

[Noel]

sorry off-topic but i think this discussion needs to be moved out of the" Workshop" ;)

any Moderators around? :)

[Parthiban]

The car's colour is called Argento Ice which is basically silver. Yes it is metalic and the bodyshop is part of the Lexus and Toyota Dealership. Its been in business for a very long time.

Are you talking about Jemca?

[ahmed24]

Parthiban, no not Jemca its Hills of Woodford Lexus & Toyota Dealership

[Parthiban]

Parthiban, no not Jemca its Hills of Woodford Lexus & Toyota Dealership

Phew, that's fine then. If it was Jemca, I was going to say don't touch them with a barge pole, but I only have the highest praise for Hills - I've had a lot of bodywork done there (and I mean a lot) and they are brilliant.

Have you been dealing with Sean? He's really helpful and is totally aware of my incredibly high standards and will make sure things are done to meet them!

In terms of experience, the biggest was when I had quite a serious rear ending a few years ago, needing replacement of much of the rear of my car and almost a complete respray of the rest of it, and to be honest you'd struggle to tell there'd been so much bodywork done to it.

More recently I had them spray and fit my styling kit, the front bumper was a used one that was not in the best condition so the first time they sprayed it although it looked fine, wasn't as good as I was going to accept, so they gladly took it in and re-did it (the fact they took it back and did it again with no quibbles is one of the main reasons I won't take my car anywhere else)

Let me know if you have any questions, and you're welcome to have a look at my car if you want to see the quality of their work but if you deal with James in Lexus service and Sean in the bodyshop you definitely won't have any problems :)

[ahmed24]

Thanks Parthiban for your reply. Yes its Sean that I am dealing with at bodyshop :D I'm booked in for next week. Will let you know how it goes.

[ahmed24]

my car is in for the job now. i am just wondering is there anything i should do when getting it back like polish or something and should i do anything in the begining to protect the new paint or anything?

[kam05]

my car is in for the job now. i am just wondering is there anything i should do when getting it back like polish or something and should i do anything in the begining to protect the new paint or anything?

Ask the bodyshop when you pick up the car on the best ways of protecting the new paint. I think you should not wax/polish the new paint.

[Parthiban]

I vaguely remember being told not to polish the car for 2 weeks or something, but can't really remember - I'd check with Sean when you collect the car to be on the safe side.......

[dazz32]

Leave your car for a couple of weeks before you use any polish and wax...just lets the paint go off completly...

[thorien]

Let us know how it turns out, I've got my IS250 booked in for it's first service with Hills on 8th April, they are also fitting a boot lip spolier for me in their bodyshop so will be really interested to know how good they really are. If good I'll use them for all my future lexus needs (even though Lexus in Hatfield are closer to me, - but their service costs were £120 more than I was quoted by Hills, and that's not including the LOC Gold dscount!!! )

[ahmed24]

hey everyone,

i've just got my car back from bodyshop. everything looks superb on my bonnet and everything has been really well painted as far as my eyes can see. however, when washing my car today i noticed that my driver side foglamp housing seems to wobble quite badly, it wont fall out or anything but its just sitting in there wobbling.

Should I take it back to the dealer to sort it out or is it something simple to fix myself?

Also although the bonnet chips have been really well sorted with no uneven surface or indents remaining, some areas on the bumper where there used to be very deep indents still remain a little but cannot be noticed as the colour blends in and matches. I am just wondering should these little deeper indents have been sorted out aswell?

If i remember correctly they did say that they wont be filling anything up and that that they will only remove existing paint and level it out and repsray.

Thanks

[Parthiban]

Also although the bonnet chips have been really well sorted with no uneven surface or indents remaining, some areas on the bumper where there used to be very deep indents still remain a little but cannot be noticed as the colour blends in and matches. I am just wondering should these little deeper indents have been sorted out aswell?

I'd take it back if you're not happy, how noticeable are these dimples?

[ahmed24]

Also although the bonnet chips have been really well sorted with no uneven surface or indents remaining, some areas on the bumper where there used to be very deep indents still remain a little but cannot be noticed as the colour blends in and matches. I am just wondering should these little deeper indents have been sorted out aswell?

I'd take it back if you're not happy, how noticeable are these dimples?

The dimples are not really noticeable unless you go next to the bumper and look carefully. The colours all matches up.

[ahmed24]

just wondering after my paintwork has dried up, is it safe to use compounds and stuff for detailing like T-Cut and stuff?

[dgman]

hey everyone.

I have a Lexus IS-250 and have some serious stone chips on my front bumper and bonnet. and a few on each front side wing. On the bumper I would say almost 80% coverage of stone chips and to be honest it is looking disgusting. On my bonnet I have around 14 deep stone chips and quite a few littles ones here and there.

To cut the long story short, I know smart repair touch-ups and things just wont work. I want the front to look perfect like before. I visited my Lexus Dealer BodyShop department and have been quoted for a complete respray and repair of the bonnet, wings and front bumper. They say it will take around 3 days and I will be given a courtesy car. All this for around £800. I'm ready to go for it, but I wanted some advice from people here.

I want to make sure everything is done properly and no cowboy jobs. I'm wondering how they would do all the work, will they remove the bonnet, wings and bumper and work on it away from the car or work on the car with all that on? if working with it all on the car I want to make sure they dont scratch some other area in the process and if taking it off I need to make sure everything is put back together properly specially the panel gaps and things should be just as it is.

Also do they fill the stone chips with something or do they strip out the existing paint and level everything out? I asked them about the guarantee of the work and stuff. They claim the work is covered by a workmanship guarantee (cant remember if they said 1year or 3year) and on top of that they said I will still be covered with the manufacturers 12year bodywork corrosion warranty.

Has anyone had this sort of thing done to their car by lexus? if so it would be nice to hear your experience.

thank you

first thing i would do is check that it is their own body shop.if it is not walk away,contact some local body shops and view the repairs on cars at the said repairers and save some money.

[dgman]

just wondering after my paintwork has dried up, is it safe to use compounds and stuff for detailing like T-Cut and stuff?

why do you need to use that.

[ahmed24]

just wondering after my paintwork has dried up, is it safe to use compounds and stuff for detailing like T-Cut and stuff?

why do you need to use that.

just incase i get any fine scratch marks or anything in the future that might need detailing