What’s up CL.

I have a 2013 GS Fsport. Black. Recently the paint on the hood has been fading. What’s strange is that it’s in the center directly under the engine cover area and approximately the same size. Makes me think the engine heat is causing it. Has anyone else noticed this?

 

Could it be that part of the hood was previously painted/repainted after a repair?

 

I Checked for the usual paint lines and there is none. Looks original. But that could be a possibility. I’ve had the car 2.5 yrs. It is my daily and stays outside but so has all my cars. Just wondering if anyone else experienced this.

 

If it's not something on the surface of the hood, it's defiantly a repainted hood. Factory paint would not have this issue, Lexus have a very high quality factory paint job/inspection.

The cheapest fix would be to buff/polish the hood, then ceramic coat it to protect the paint.

My 2013 GSh has 107k miles, been outside it's entire life and no paint issues other than a couple rock chips.

 

I have an early build '13 (April 2012) and the paint is perfect on the hood except for a few nicks/rock chips. Is your car parked in the sun for extended periods of time? Any previous body work or paint work? Parked or left exposed to chemicals/gases/industrial areas/public areas?

That's certainly not a common issue on the GS...

 

It's most likely been repainted without anyone knowing. My previous car was an Infiniti G37. When I went to go inspect it, you couldn't tell the passenger side fender was repainted until down the line I was doing a bumper swap then I took a closer look and noticed the paint was slightly off. Previous owner of your car most likely had it repainted and sold it without mentioning it to the dealership. My only conclusion.

 

It could simply be grime, dirt, road film build up that's resting on the surface of the paint. Least expensive thing to try is a cleaner wax like Meguiars. If it's simply sitting on the surface, the cleaner wax has solvents to dissolve the chemical residue and micro abrasives to remove light swirls and restore shine. As a bonus it also protects for a few months. I've used this for decades and my paint and clear coat have never failed... no exaggeration. But I used it 2-3 times a year. Today I use more advanced products, but I still swear by, and recommend Meg's Cleaner Wax.

 

I would definitely clay bar that, then compound it and polish it out. It doesn't look like anything is wrong with the paint, just looks like you parked under a factory tower or something and the fallout is now attached to your hood.

 

A little tough to tell from the picture, but it looks like clear coat failure. If that's the case, the only way to fix it is a repaint.

 

Before you clay bar the surface, try the cleaner wax. The clay is better suited for light surface physical contaminants. For heavy road film, a detergent wash, followed by a cleaner wax that contains solvents and abrasives would be better.

But we're all just guessing at this point since none of us really knows what's going on with your hood (but I do suspect fallout and road film).

 

Does yours have the liner underneath to protect it from the engine heat? I feel like it covers the exact area on your hood that looks blurry in the pictures. Unless I'm seeing something different.
If it is just on the surface you can compound, polish, and buff it out.