SASK250

Guys, I need some help. Last weekend some dumb-*** movers parked extremely close to my new IS; could only walk sideways between the vehicles. Short story is they put a paint chip on the rear pillar, drivers side, about half way between the roof and where the rear panel has it’s crease. It is about the length on the nail on my pinkie finger and maybe about a third of the width. My dealer’s body shop looked at it and put on some touch up paint, then clear coat, then water sanded it. It doesn’t feel too smooth and is still noticeable, enough too irritate me. They also noticed a very minor dent, which after talking with a few sources, is deemed too small to be able to have anything done with it. If the average guy walked by, they likely wouldn’t notice this blemish but since I know it’s there it still bothers me. The other option is to paint the area. The dealer explained that this would mean the rear panel, the rear door and the roof line from A to C pillar would need to be re-painted in order to have the paint blend in (in addition to the tail lights, rear door and bumper being removed). Thus the integrity of the factor paint over a large area has been violated not to mention that the gaps/seams on the removed panels will never be like it was done at the factory.
Note that the moving company has agreed to pay for all repairs.
So my questions is: Do I re-paint or do I leave it as is (touched up by the dealer)? Although I want a “good as new” look, my feeling is to leave as is and not re-paint, thereby leaving the factory finish intact.
Your thoughts and sorry if I’m sounding a bit **** about a small “ding”

SolaraToIS

I would leave it as is. Disturbing more area will be more noticable IMO.

uthatch

I would have a paintless dent removal guy come and take care of any dent that may be there. It may be a very, very minor dent, but it's part of what's making the mark still noticable. The not perfectly smooth area that is dented is making the paint look a little different because the light is hitting it at a different angle.

So get the paintless dent removal done first. Then have the area touched-up again in the same manor as before. MAKE SURE THE PERSON DOING THE TOUCH-UP IS USING REAL COLOR-MATCHED PAINT, NOT the touchup paint from Lexus. The Lexus paint is just made by DupliColor so it's a close match, but not perfect by any means. Use paint that a body shop would...PPG, Dupont, BASF. If you don't want to buy a huge amount from a body-shop, there are lots of places to find touchup online that is made from true color-matched paint. Get a 2 oz. bottle, that's plenty for what you need.

If you use good paint, have the dent removed and the touch-up applied correctly, you can get a nearly invisible repair. You will always know it's there, but no one else will ever notice.

I know quite a bit about touch-up paint, so if you have any questions, you can PM me or I'll be glad to answer on here too.

SASK250

Thanks uthatch,

I did take it to a paintless dent guy here and he told me he couldn't do anything for it...apparently too small even for him.

I should have clarified that the dealer did mix up a half-litre, or litre, of matching paint and didn't use their touch-up pen.

I did talk to an independent body shop and they also indicated there was nothing they could do to improve what is already done.

Someone suggested putting some type of accessory, like an AWD logo plate, over the ding (and on both sides)....hmmm don't know about that!

lexudv

iTrader: (1)

I got a small chip on my rear bumper as well. Some guy tapped the back of my car and left, what appears to be a screw mark. It is fairly small about the size of a small rock chip that front bumpers usually get, but again I know it's there so I would want to get it repaired. How much did the dealer charge to do the touchup?

The guy that hit me gave me his name/drivers license/and phone, but he doesn't answer. Luckily I have a copy friend that's going to give me his info. Hopefully I can track the guy!!!

NovaIS350

post pics duder

uthatch

Oh boy, that pretty much sucks then. It sounds like you really are at the end of the road as far as touch-up repairs go then.

Usually people can get a lot better touch-up with what I described above, but it sounds like the people you went to had a good handle on what's going on already.

So on that note, unless you have a body shop that you really, and mean REALLY, trust, I would not go any further. Can you post a pic of the repair area?

SASK250

Don't know. They are billing the moving company directly.

SASK250

I don't have a digital camera so I have no pics that I can immediately post (although I did take a few pics in case the movers tried to weasel out of things). The guy who installed my 3M clear bra used to work at the dealership's body shop and does really great work; even took out a few minor scratches and swirl marks on the car w/o me asking. He's next door to the dent guy as well. He indicated that the dealership could have done a better job on the car. He will team up with the dent guy and they will take a closer look. He seems pretty confident that the area can be smoothed out a lot more than it's current state. Which is really all I'm after-just to make it look better than it's current state. I will not be doing the major re-painting work.

I'll post some pics of the car that I have in another thread (w/no chips!!)

Now I just need my garage to be built; no more frost on the windows

uthatch

Sounds like you're on the right track. If you have a guy that can do good work, he'll be able to fix you up so you'll hardly notice the touch-up area.

Good luck!