BSpencer

I purchased a new 2005 ES330 recently, and when I went back to the dealership to pick up the mats that I had ordered, my car was hit by another car while it was parked.

The dealership fixed the bumper (as it was their responisibility), but I noticed that the paint color where they re-painted is MUCH darker and MUCH more metallic.

Is this normal? Did they use the wrong paint? What is going on here?

The color of my ES is Blue Shale Mica...very nice.

Thanks for your help.

Leets

it's always hard to match paint that's been in the elements for a few years so they probably just sprayed it with the stock color code without bothering to match the hues. That's what you call a really lazy painter. If the dealerships at fault then you need to take it back and complain until they do it correctly.

lexusk8

Welcome to CL! Leets is on point, you should go back to the dealership and question them heavily on the quality of their paintwork. Nice to hear you've picked up one of the most common traits of being a Lexus owner: Having the keen sense of spotting the finer details of our cars

Just curious, which dealership did you go to? The one in Westport, Greenwich, New Haven or Hartford? When I lived in CT, I used to take my ES (a previous '96 and current '01) to the Westport dealership, and the body shop there has always done a top-notch job with their work

BSpencer

Thanks for both of your replies. I am a 3 time repeat customer of McDermott Lexus of New Haven. They are an all-around great dealership, but I am disappointed with their work on my bumper!

Should I go straight to McDermott (where I purchased and got the work done), or should I first get a second opinion from Lexus of Westport (which I was told is a good thing to do)?

Thanks

Pheonix

They ****ed up.
Any half assed painter in this day & age @ a good shop (or a good painter @ a half assed shop) can make a color blend only the owner would know. Any good painter is going to be able to 100% match the color. I had a '93 red metal flake Corolla that got a new driver's door, + front 1/4 panel - perfect match @ 10 years old 100% outside in the Alabama sun kept fade. Then a new rear passanger's 1/4 panel 100% perfect. 15-20 years ago, ya it was hard to amtch paint correctly in the maintream repair stuff. That excuse is just that in this day & age. A completely bull**** excuse.
You're taking it in the *** if you don't have them have someone that doesn't SUCK do it right.
Don't feel like you can't walk in the door & be a completely loud, obnoxious ***-hole. Dealers & the like have service bays dedicated to screwing people out of money & act like you have no rights about it.


It's real simple. They went cheap *** on the repair job & you have no reason to not make them have someone else do it correctly.





My advise:
1) Take pictures! Digi & film! if you ahve to put it under a bright light to make sure it's obvious.
2) Take it to the most reputable body damage shop in your local area & have them do an estimate on it. (Dealers / Mechanics are NOT auto-prepair people. They don't know crap about painting)
3) The dealer get's an ultimatum:
A) Give me the moeny to have their mistake done correctly
B) You take the car to my repair shop of choice because they are incapible of doing anything
C) You will call Lexus Corperate, AND file a lawsuit against them for not corecting the damage that was @ their fault.




Calling a corp office when it comes to any type of dealer get's the point across. While end level dealers don't really give a rat's ***, corps. will.

lexsterES

I had my rear bumper painted by my dealer (2 tone) and they had to repaint it do to the unmatched color to the rest of the car. I did not see the unmatched color but was called over the phone and was told my car won't be ready for a few more days. So, yeah it can happen. I suggest you go back asap and let them know about this.

good luck.

BSpencer

Yes, I took pictures and it is SICK how the colors are so different

lexusk8

Wow that is certainly different, I can't imagine having it on a monotone car. So have you decided on going back to the dealership and discussing about the paintwork?

BSpencer

Yea, it's bad! I called the dealer today...and I'm taking it in tomorrow for them to look at. We'll see how it goes...

LeXuSrAcIn

Wow that IS a big difference.

BSpencer

Car goes in Friday for them to fix it at no charge...