homer4598

Yep. I have a small chip in the area below the headlight that isn't covered by the clear bra. D'oh!

hguy4x

yea the paint chips easily. I figured that out even before i got my car a year ago. as homer says even w/ a clear bra, I have chips on my hood/fenders where the clear bra doesn't cover. life goes on.

ahohnstein

LOL.... I don't normally agree with the things you post Timbo but in this case...

Koz

If you are going to keep the IS for some time you MUST have a Clear-Bra. The sooner the better. I got mine 1 week after ownership and I still have one chip on the hood.

Koz

IS_Mine

Just live with them. Its part of car ownership unless you only drive your car on the weekends. If the small stuff like that gets to you then you will never enjoy your car. If it makes you feel better I got red mud on the interior of my car and I haven't cleaned it yet!

I didn't even get the clear bra on my car because I knew with all the interstate travel I do there would be no protection. Hehe I am washing my car later I should take pictures of all my chips so you can feel better about your situation.

I didn't name my car Chip for nothing.

ben_r_

No, whatever the reason is you cant change the fact that the IS (and all current Lexus vehicles as well Im sure) really do have crappy paint. From day one my cars paint has felt sub par. My mom 01 camry feels like its in only slightly less condition. Its going to take a lot of work to maintain this cars paint.

Oh and to add to it the windsheild glass is crap too! I have never before owned a vehicle that would chip so easily and with a bunch of light chips from things that did not hit that hard.

Buds

A clay bar will not remove swirl marks. It simply removes any contaminants from the paint. See here: http://www.properautocare.com/blpoiiclba.html

If you want a solution to fix the chips, try this: http://www.langka.com/

As far as removing swirl marks goes... here is a good starting point:
http://www.properautocare.com/reswwaspincl.html

combfilter

iTrader: (3)

I also like poorboys ssr3 , ssr2 and ssr1 for removing swirls.

dfw350

Just drive it till its more chipped then throw some D's on that ***** and some CANDY paint..

ben_r_

Agreed. Claying is just the first step. Use it before you do some POLISHING which can remove micro scratches and swirls.

y2ks2k

This is a simple problem with all cars today since the switched to the new paint years ago. All of my cars have chipped like a SOB. Someone said their 4 year old Honda did have problems, all 10 of my Hondas were HORRIBLE for paint chips and such. My IS has a clear bra on the hood but not on the bumper and with 6500 miles, its riddled with rocks (and note, its very rare for our roads to be rocked even in winter). Especially down by the fog lights, its real bad down there for some reason.

tcho82

iTrader: (1)

My IS has horrible paint chips ALL OVER the front end of the car, and I only have 20k miles. I'm thinking about getting it resprayed already.... It looks like someone took a sandblaster and had a field day.

My S2000 had fewer chips in the 60K I owned it. And that car was much lower to the ground.

FWIW my 00 Accord hardly had any rock chips on it in the 100K I drove that one.

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

Optimum

j|michael

I had a clear bra installed when I bought the car, but it only covered the hood and side panels. Now, at 21,000 miles, the hood and side panels look GREAT! but the bumper, where they didn't install a clear bra, looks absolutely horrible. same story as everyone.

So I'm killing a few birds with one stone. I'm having my bodyshop remove my front bumper and re-paint and clear coat the whole thing, then I'm having another shop install a full bumper clear bra for $350. If it's anything like my hood, it should hold up great for years to come. Definitely worth the $350.

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

exactly....bigger rocks are not safe (protected). then you still get rock chip (big one) and now you need to fix the clear bra.... $_$ !