dunnojack

that's the mistake I caught.

99 vs 102 is not 5%

the taurus is 3-4 TIMES quieter.

but in real world tests, you probably can't tell much





that damn lexus paint. I thought they were supposed to use stronger paint for the hood?
Can't you have chip-resistant environmentally friendly paint?

trukn1

This is a video clip of the Lexus process for the RX, built at the Canada plant. There is a little more to the video that is not there, since it was edited to post oif the site. I watched the show whaen it came on the Discovery channel. The paint processs by itself is 11 hours(for each vehicle) to cover a 1.3 mile stretch of factory. Before ANY of the cars are approved to pass final quality inspection, the paint itself will have been inspected a MINIMUM of 1000 times. Am I saying that the paint that Lexus uses is superior to everyone else's; no. I am saying that Lexus takes their "attention to detail" to a level that FEW other manufacturer's can touch.

http://www.lexus.com/models/RX/index...iles.DISCOVERY

Here is another link I found on their manufacturing process,,,
http://lexusenthusiast.com/2009/04/3...-details/#more

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

They still are, just finished drivers ed and we drove a 2007 tarus, it was so ****ty, but htting a million curbs a day would take its toll on any car, we did have a new fusion to and it was actually decent, smelled funny though, but again, driver's ed car

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

not taking anything away from lexus wonderful paint jobs, but i don't want (or really don't care if) a car hand sanded. that can't be anywhere near as precise as machines doing it.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

finally watched the video, wow, impressive. and the taurus LOOKED great too. some of the lower trim levels with ugly wheels hurt it some, but the one in that video at least looked really good.

AlexusAnja

I just love marketing people, they're about one hair higher on the ladder of life from lawyers. Of all the cars my family has ever owned, probably the most chip resistent was our 1984 Plymouth Voyager. So, if we take that same ending statement from the commercial and apply say the Voyager compared to a Lamborghini... "the Voyager paint was so superior... wonder how superior the rest of the car is compared to a Countach... ????"

mmarshall

While the durability of the paint may be in question, there's little or no doubt, in my experience, that Lexus does the smoothest, glossiest, most mirror-like paint job among any manufacturer of mass-produced cars. While some others come close, like Audi, Acura, Cadillac, Infiniti, the Dodge/Chrysler Inferno Red (an extra-cost paint), and even Toyota, Lexus paint, for physical attractiveness, is in a class by itself.........especially with the gorgeous Matador Red.

In my auto reviews, I often compare paint jobs on other cars to what I have found on Lexus products, which I consider the industry standard. Of course, smoothness and a mirror-like finish is one thing; hardness and resistance to chipping may be quite another. Ford and Infiniti may (?) have upstaged Lexus in that area.

mmarshall

One thing, IMO, that would solve the whole problem of front-end chipping once and for all, without the use of special paints, bras or deflectors, is if manufacturers simply stopped painting front ends and used either black or body-color (preferably body-color) cladding around the whole front end.....bumper, headlights, grille, and the front part of the hood. Pebbles and gravel would simply put tiny, almost invisible nicks in the cladding instead of the nice paint or chrome. I don't know why more manufacturers don't do this.

Faymester

Excellent post (though I would expect nothing less from you )

pagemaster: two things, (1) you can quote multipule posts in your one post if you want to respond to multipule people and (2) why do you always have to put a spin on your comments such that it will (a) provoke other people to call you out on all your misinformation (causing your self to loose cred) or (b) cause others to get pi$$ed off for little to no reason?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

not really. it depends on the skills. the point of the hand sanding is to take out uneven areas or so with trained eyes. that does not mean the final buffing and polishing. a machine can't really do that good of a job, otherwise cars out there would have better paint surface than the LS, and lexus wouldn't use this specific process on the LS and not other lexus models (and at the same time with LS having noticeably better paint finish than other lexus models)

mmarshall

Thanks, Faymester. There are many excellent posts (and posters) in CAR CHAT.

Faymester

Oh, I couldn't agree more. I just concurred with what you said SO much I felt the need to say so

dunnojack

hahah

IS350jet

True. Machines (I assume you mean a DA sander) is not the way to wet sand a finish to perfection. The most perfect reflection and smoothness can only come from hand sanding/blocking. No machine can even come close. Also, the masters at Lexus that do the sanding on the LS460 are the best there is. They are referred to as "Takumi" To become a Takumi, it takes 20 plus years of specific experience. They are true craftsman at what they do and it's doubtful that many people are better.
http://www.asiaone.com/Motoring/Moto...030-97160.html

mmarshall

Yep. This shows, in the quality of Lexus paint jobs. Among mass-produced cars, for showmanship, they are, IMO, the best. As the video shows, though, they may not be the most durable.