Nick831

Hi everyone!

I have a 2006 Lexus Black GS300

Mark Levinson Navigation with Spider wheels. Just turned 50,000 miles.


I'm wondering if I should keep my car and get it repainted, there are scratches and swirls all over the car from lexus's so called "paint sealer package"

Thinking of selling for $24-25k and getting a mustang GT or keeping the car and getting it repainted with better black paint and clear coat.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

welcome to clublexus

i never trust whatever those sealer package from dealership, they are just bunch of total BS and they never work. it's absolutely not from lexus, just gimmicks from dealerships. sorry to hear your issue with them

i don't know what kind of scratches you got, but if they are light and with swirls, a good detailing is all you need to put your car back to pristine condition. i highly recommend repainting the whole car for this kind of reason. black car is hard to keep clean, and lexus paint is on the soft side so it's harder. but i have done paint correction on black lexus before, it worked very well. i just detailed my gs as well

for 06 gs300 with 50k miles (out of warranty), i am not sure if market price is 25k?

Nick831

I had it professionally detailed after Lexus scratched the hell out of it but he couldn't get the scratches and swirls out. He spent 3 hours on the paint, it shined and had great depth but the scratches under the sun look awful.

I have a chevy silverado 10 years old with better paint than Lexus... Going to go see how much it will cost to get a Mercedes black put on.

*Batman*

I wouldn't repaint it. It will depreciate the car (although if a 2006, maybe that doesn't matter).

The issue isn't the black, it is the clearcoat. The clearcoat scratches easily. However it also responds very well to a good polish. I'm thinking Menzerna or Swissvax Cleaner Fluid Strong.

The average detailer has no idea how to fix a scratched clearcoat. They often make it worse, and that is what happened to you. If you go to a good detailer, they will sort it. I would go to someone who is Swissvax certified (call Swissvax) since they are very selective and have a formal training program whcih costs a detailer a lot of time and experience to get certified. Or you could just go to Henry (Rominl) - he has a detailing shop and he may be able to fix this.

Here's a good example of how a solid paint correction can fix even the worst of clearcoat damage.
http://truthindetailing.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=4411

And after it's fixed make sure you take it to someone who know how to wash a car. I always inspect the following:
1) Do they have grid guard?
2) Do they use the 2 bucket method
3) Are the microfibers and buffing pads spotless
4) Do they allow customers to have dedicated mitts (i.e. they a fresh set of clean mitts for each car, and then store those for the customer)?
5) Do they have a foam cannon?
Or even better just wash it yourself.

*Batman*

Here's another example.
http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/fo...ad.php?t=34264

*Batman*

and a third one.

This one illustrates the Menzerna polish and the foam cannon I was talking about.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1189509

*Batman*

This link will explain in detail what the difference is between what your guy did in 3 hours and what a quality detailer does in 1-2 days.

http://www.scheerdetailing.com/Schee...Polishing.html

*Batman*

One last thing to think about. If you choose not to do an advanced paint correction but go for the repaint approach, I would suggest just re-doing the clear coat rather than the whole thing. Lexus' black finish is in much smoother and glossier than Mercedes. However Lexus clear coat is soft which is why it is prone to scratching. I can recommend 2 clearcoats:
1) Infiniti Scratch Shield - probably the most advanced clearcoat. It is a gel like clear coat which softens in the sun to smooth itself out. Scratches automatically disappear when the car is parked in the sun. It's not a miracle product, and won't avoid deep scratches, but it does resist car washes very well.
2) Mercedes CeramiClear. Ceramiclear is a PPG product used my Benz. It is a very hard clearcoat comprising nano-ceramic particles. It also does an amazing job resisting scratches and can withstand machine car washes. However the catch is that it is more brittle and so more prone to chips.

GS350Lexus

iTrader: (5)

Wow that job on the LS460 they done is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Batman*

I know. It almost seems like a shame to drive the car after that!

rominl

iTrader: (4)

like batman said, lexus paint is soft, but it's very good for polishing. your detailer did the job and still scratches / swirls, sorry to say, but to me it seems like he doesn't know how to do a good job. first of all, i can tell you if you go to one of the real detailers out there, 3 hr job is nothing. 8hrs plus is very common. and like batman said, sometimes 2 days! you can do the math what a real good detailing job can cost

look at the pictures i am attaching here, it's from the very same car. one when it came in and one when it left my garage the next day. i spent a good 10 hours on the car

i just roughly detailed my gs350 (also obsidian) last weekend. just a rough job, still a lot of imperfections and swirls. but i don't want to get the car to perfect coz' driving the car daily and swirls will reappear after few days from road debris. how long did it take me? 5 hours.

try to feel the scratches, if you can't really feel it with finger nails, more than likely they are just in the clear coat. a good detailer can likely work on it. but at the same time, if it's your daily driver, i wouldn't bother getting it to 100%. 90% is good enough. the last 10% can take 90% of the time

swtjlsy

iTrader: (6)

why if you repainted the car Batman 75 would the car lose it value?

Nick831

Where do you look locally for professional detailers that know what there doing? There are places that say they professional detail but it's just a bunch of illegals or young kids working there...

rominl

iTrader: (4)

because it's often an indication that something happened to the car before. that's why if you trade in your car, almost all dealership will use a meter to check every panel to see if all the paints are the same factory paint or if any panels repainted.

of course if you sell the car privately then everything is out of the window and it's up to the buyer to decide

*Batman*

Because in general used car buyers like cars with original bodywork, original paint in mint condition.

Also repaints usually are not as good as the original job. They can't dip the body to remove debris. They don't usually follow a 6 layer process. They don't have paint technicians who have to take a re- certification every 4 months to ensure they maintain their attention to detail and ability to differentiate hues. And they can't bake the finish at a high temperature because of damage to the interior. Re-sprays are far less durable and more likely to chip or peel than a factory finish.

This isn't just my opinion, it's the market. Why do you think people don't include in their autotrader ad the words: "recently re-painted"?