NeilB

Yes it seems severe, but when you consider the Lexus bodyshop says the bumper will need to be replaced because they dont want to put good paint on bad, so what (not so sure about doing the same test on the good front bumper'!)

Yes I think that you are correct. I am hoping to get a professional paint consultant to provide an assessment of the cause of failure so that the Ombudsman has an alternative to the Admiral reason for failure.

Many thanks that's very useful.

I wish that Admiral had a chief engineer that would carry out the visits and had an interest in customer satisfaction! In my case they sent a a fella from a firm called Banwells that started telling me it was stone chip damage as he was climbing out of his car before he even looked at it. He spent very little time looking at the peeling paint, in fact when I pointed out I can peel the clear coat off he said yes that's because moisture has penetrated between the clear and base coat, hee didn't try it himself. He was more interested in noting the mileage, tyre tread depths, chassis number and taking photos of the front, roof etc for his report to send to Admiral together with his bill. One of the paint companies that I have talked to suggests that the best definitive way to determine paint adhesion performance is to carry out a cross hatch test where you use a stanley knife to score the paint in a cross hatch pattern, and then apply sellotape and rip it off to see what is removed: clear coat and or base coat. The trouble is that he suggests I should also carry out the same test on the "factory painted front bumper" for a direct comparison. Sort of double or quits, then requiring rectification at both ends of the car! It could make a good post though.

Yes the logic of multicar policies sadly is destroyed by the insurers tendency to take advantage at every opportunity. Having 2 separate policies makes it easier to see when one is being leveraged.

Does anyone know if VBRA still exists? Their website, email and phone doesn't seem to be working. Someone will be in trouble if they forgot to renew their telecom agreement.

They are in good condition, checked by the Lexus dealer at annual service. I am also only supposed to eat meat 3 times a week and maximum 5 pints of beer a week.

I am really pleased to hear a resounding "this doesn't normally happen to Lexus cars!" Unlike I was told by Banwells and the paint shop PK Motors, Tunbridge Wells. I will take this further with the Ombudsman and any paint trade associations I can find. I will also use a truly independent paint specialist unlike the Admiral hires. Many thanks, this is the first time I have used a forum, it's good to hear I am not the only fool to have bought a Lexus.

I have had my RX450H from new and the car is now 6 years old. The car has been fantastic mechanically and at 60,000 miles were still on first set of tyres and brakes! We however required a new rear bumper when a van decided not to bother checking his mirror in a car park 5 years ago when it was 1 year old. Admiral, our insurer insisted that we use their approved paint shops rather than the Lexus approved shops. Now the paint clear coat is peeling off on both sides by the wheel arches and Admiral say that it is due to stone chip damage and this has been validated by their independent engineer, Banwell & Associates. The local Lexus bodyshop say its due to poor paint repair quality as there are visible solvent micro blisters, but Admiral disregard their comments. The problem is that I would have bought another new RX450H eventually, but should I now that Admiral and Banwell say this happens to all Lexus'? There is no way I am going to spend £50k+ when this could happen again. I have had BMW's. Mercs, Porsches from new and never experienced this paint flaking issue and it looks hideous and Lexus have quoted circa £1750 to repair because it will require a new bumper. Another thing I have learnt is not to use Admiral Insurance if you have a Lexus because they don't approve their bodyshops on the grounds of cost.