jms123

I banged into one of those yelllow cement poles. It chipped the paint off the bottom of the bumper and vertical line on the right which feels like a scratch. See attached image Should I just get touch up paint/pen ? Do I have to worry about clearcoat?

2016 GS-350 F-Sport Nebula Gray

dchar

That damage seems a little too severe for just touch up. It'll probably have a noticeable blemish after touch up. I would probably go to a few paint shops and get some estimates; re-painting the bumper shouldn't be too expensive.

SW17LS

Touch up isn't going to work there, you will have to have the bumper replaced/repaired and repainted.

jms123

Its tough, estimates so far $1100, $800 and $400

SW17LS

Sounds about right...

UDel

I would first wash it off thoroughly and try polishing the scratches with a little compound/polish to see exactly what is damaged and what can be fixed. Since it is low in your bumper you probably could touch it up and do some wetsanding and polishing and have it look pretty good, it would likely not be noticeable unless you know it is there and look for it. If you don't want to go that route or pay all that money to fix just a small portion of your bumper you could try it yourself and have a paint shop mix a urethane basecoat and spray it and then clear with spray max 2K clear. It would cost about $45 in paint and clear and you would need a respirator for spraying the 2K clear. You can get impressive results if you practice some and read up on it.

SW17LS

I've worked on damage on cars like that before, no way to make it look good on the cheap. The paint is sheared away in a large area, can't be touched up. Sure you could try and spray it but it's a pearl paint and it's going to look like hell.

It's a $55,000 car, I don't think that money is unreasonable to repair this damage.

Dallasguy1

Don't go cheap, usually cheaper guys are bad in matching the color. I think some filling might be required also since the shape of the bumper has changed from the place of impact.

SW17LS

If it were my car I would want the bumper cover replaced

pqn628

Both Toyota and Lexus has referred me to http://www.automotivetouchup.com/index.htm . They have exact instructions on how to repair the damage. It helps if you have a buffer.

I used it on my RX with similar damage and my brother's Camry and it turned out really good. Both cars are also pearl.

UDel

My dad sprayed his clear coat failing bumper using a mixed aerosol urethane and 2K Spraymax and other parts with a metallic flake paint he got mixed and it turned out very well, almost a exact match which I was shocked it matched so well, did not think a general paint shop could mix a Acura metal flake paint that well. He will have to use some filler on the damage but with a little research and practice you can get some very good results with a urethane spray and 2K spray which is the same type of finish from the factory, him having a buffer will help too. Paying $1100 to $800 may not be unreasonable to you but it may be to the OP for relatively small paint damage which may likely happen a few times throughout ownership. What is the worst that could happen, if he screws up or does not like the finish he is out $50 and it can then easily just be painted over by a professional.

SW17LS

Nebula Grey Pearl is a pearl coat color. So it has a base coat, a pearl coat, and a clear coat. This is not a typical metallic paint color and is difficult for a professional to match properly, let alone a person at home with a sprayer.

Sorry, i just don't get it. Its a year old $55,000+ car, I don't understand spray painting it at home to save $400-800. If a car has so little value to you, I question why one would spend that much money on one in the first place. If it were 10 years old that would be one thing, but its not, he's making a big payment presumably to drive a 1 year old Lexus. I don't understand why somebody would want to look at a poor quality repair on something thats costing them that much. Just in depreciation the thing is costing $1,000 a month right now. The sort of damage that will happen a few times throughout ownership? You guys must run into things more than I do, I backed into a pole and damaged my car one time in the 20+ years I've been driving. On top of that I've had cars run into at no fault of my own 3 times that have required damage repaired that I did not have to pay for, none of those cars do I currently still own.

UDel

A professional paint shop is going to match the color and put it into a aresol can, not the owner. If it does not match well the OP can always take it back for them to try again. You seem to be justifying spending any amount of money on expensive professional repairs simply because a car is pretty new or cost 55K, maybe you should go on the other thread with the guy with a stuck volume **** and tell him to spend the $10K the dealership wants to fix it because it is a newish 55K GS and he should not have spent that kind of money on a GS if he was not prepared to spend $10K to fix his radio ****. A GS is not a rare Ferrari, it is a pretty standard/common mid level lux sedan that is going to depreciate every day and has no collector value. It seems the OP does not want to spend $800-$1100 to fix what is essentially a big paint chip and would rather save that money or spend it on something else which I can totally understand. I got tons of paint chips in my cars, I did not spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to get the hood, roof, and bumper resprayed every time I got a few, I used touchup which was not perfect but it did not drain my wallet either. This damage is in a low part of his car, not very visible and likely to get some damage again, if the OP wants to try doing a repair himself for $50 or so what harm could it be, it will not cause permanent damage if he screws up or does not like the finish he can easily just take it to a professional and pay all the money to have them respray it.

SW17LS

With a pearl paint like this, it's not just about having the paint itself match, the way the metallic and pearl flakes lay on the surface has a huge impact. I have this color and I have attempted to touch it up in places, and I've had it professionally touched up, I know how this is going to turn out.

Sorry I just don't agree with spending this much money for a nice car and cheaping out with a DIY paint repair, I think that's silly. I spend a lot of money on my cars and I care for them accordingly, they're not "covered in rock chips and dings" like you describe your cars. All we do here is offer our opinions to people right? I would never attempt such a repair to one of my cars because I would never be happy with the result. This isn't a rock chip, this is a sizable damaged area to the bumper and in any event when my car was new I spent $1,400 on a full clearbra to avoid the issue of rock chips.

I'd rather just do nothing than hit it with spray paint myself and have it look like hell. I spot these janky repairs from a mile away and they always make me shake my head when they're on a nice car.

As for the $10k for a volume ****, of course not, and that GS is not a year old. I wouldn't however rip the **** out and put some non-matching **** in there which is a suitably analogy to what you're recommending here. Plenty of sources for a replacement radio unit, salvage sources, you can have a radio shop try and repair it, etc.

$10k for a radio **** and $400-$800 for a proper bumper respray and repair are worlds different.

UDel

Did you attempt to touch it up with a matched urethane spray from a paint shop or cheap touchup paint with a brush? Of course touch up paint won't look very good on larger damage and won't match well especially with pearl though I have seen a few impressive repairs using touchup, sanding, and polishing. A painter is going to do the same thing, mix paint and flake until they get it right though they will use a spray gun instead of a can and will have more experience spraying it and making it blend. You can get very good results by spraying, clear, wetsanding, and polishing with the method I suggested and he will have plenty of paint to practice before tackling it. I would talk to a paint shop and see what they say and methods they recommend. The OP came on here likely looking for suggestions other then paying $400-$1100 to get it fixed, he was also quoted $1100 to fix that little damage. I am giving him another option that will not cost anywhere near what he was quoted and save a ton of money on a repair he may be happy or fine with. Many people think it is silly to spend $800-1100 dollars to fix paint damage that is relatively small on a daily driver especially when it is in a low visibility area and area likely to receive more damage in the future. He may not be that picky about it being perfect and would be happier saving all that money. He has a polisher so he likely does DIY stuff to save money, I saved thousands of dollars doing DIY maintenance and fixes on my Lexus over taking it to the dealership.

Imagine if he spends $800-1100 dollars to get it professionally repainted and something else happens a few months to a few years down the line in the same general area, he will be out even more money and it was a waste to spend all the money the first time. If he is happy with a DIY fix then he can just wait until maybe he is selling it to make it look perfect if he is worried about getting as much as possible and by then he may have found someone good that will do it for much less or maybe he won't mind a buyer wanting to knock a few hundred off if they see and don't like the paint repair.

Again, he can always try a DIY method and if he is not happy and can't live with it just have it professionally repainted, he will only be out about 40 or 50 bucks for the DIY.