NYU02

Hello everyone,
I have an 03 sc430 (white/saddle) got it close to a month ago and i just hit my 1000miles. I already have a ding in the front of the car by my liscence plate from rocks on the highway and a couple small scratches above my left rear tire. I am sorta mad about both of them. I saw on the lexus site there is touch up paint that they make? Would that solve my scratch and ding problem and if not how can I fix these problems?
thanks

DropTop430

There are many many good companies out there that remove dents. I have had them work on several of my cars and the dents are 100% gone. Usually not that expensive either.

I have also had several scratches removed from from hood and other places on my Silver 430. I know a great detailer that is very skilled with a wet sander and buffer, presto scrates gone. Just as long as they aren't too deep they can be taking out no problem. Its really amazing what these guys can do.

A word of caution about letting just anyone go to town on your car with a wet sander. Make sure that they know what they are doing as its very easy to cause more damage. Having said that any high end detaiing shop should have someone that can do this.

As far as the touch up paint, thats good for small linttle stone chips but not for scratches.

2SAVVY

DT430,

Can you PM me your guy that you use.. I have 2 scratches that are bugging the living daylights out of me on my passenger door and rear bumper.. I haven't found someone I can trust enough to do this job.. As for dings I have used Auto Cosmetic in Brampton and they are top notch..

Thanks in advance!

Deanski

Go to Autopia.org website and they have numerous vendors that provide great products for touch-up by yourself. Here's one: Paint Scratch

Here is one direct from Autopia University: URL=Paint Scratch ]Paint chip repairs[/URL] You need to be a member to view it, but all you do is sign up, no cost!

See my post under "Paint" and be forewarned as to Lexus dealers doing the job. You are better off finding a body shop that can do the work. Get optinions and look at results from others who had it done.

Once you do get it, I hope you get some type of paint protection film, like Armorglove, XPel, Stoneguard etc.
Worth every penny! These cars just chip too easly! May be due to brittle paint, or just design of the front. No matter, the darn thing should not chip so easy! When they do chip, it's usually a big chip as opposed to a very small one.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Regards,
Deanski

Deanski

OPPS, Hyperlink to Paint chip repair on Autopia.org:Paint chip repairs

Sorry,

Deanski

dseag2

My Silver SC430 has also gotten a few chips in front from rocks. I used Lexus touchup paint to touch up the chips and Langka to smooth out the touchup paint. I believe Langka is advertised on this website. If not, you can go to www.langka.com. The results aren't perfect, but they're a lot better than chipped paint.

As Deanski recommended, I'm having Expel installed next week to avoid future chipping. The paint on this particular car chips easily. My personal belief is that it is because of the shape and the fact that there is so much hood/front end that is exposed. I would definitely have some type of film installed to protect it.

Wald GS

iTrader: (1)

You can prevent rock scratches and others by waxing your car. By adding more layers of wax, it protects your car even more..

Deanski

The ONLY way to prevent rock/stone chipping is from the use of a paint film protection application.

Wax does not protect the paint from rocks hitting the hood/bumper or whatever. Wax will prevent bugs, and light items from sticking, and that's about it. DOn't know what wax your talking about, but if it did do that, we'd all want to use it. I use Zaino with Souveran on top.

I have Armorglove on hood, bumper, side mirrors, headlights, fender next to lights, lower rockers and door cups.

I looked at the front today, and I have one that hit the film and left a small abrasion which I will get out with plastic polish. If the rock hit the finish, it would have chipped for sure!

After several years, I'll have it removed and replaced.

Best investment made!

Regards,
Deanski

GSDan

I have also experienced the pain of having a number of chips and scratches on my 3 week old GS300 SD. For the scratches, I took it to a trusted detailer I know and had the car waxed and most came out. For the pits on the front of my fender, using Lexus touchup paint, I built up the pits over several days and then brought it to a very good body shop where they wet sanded the area. Short of having the fender repainted (which you should avoid at all cost ), it looks pretty good. Finally, I did what I should have done before I took delivery and had the 3M Film paint protector installed on my bumper, the front portion of my fenders (the killer here is had I had this installed earlier, I would not have gotten the chips because it now covers that area ), my mirrors and my headlights. Now I'm going to worry less about the "natural" things that can cause damage to our cars..particulary at highway driving.


GSDan
2003 Lexus SportsDesign
Black/Black
30% Tint
3M Paint Protection Film