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Hi there. I recently picked up a new 2017 atomic silver. There was a small scratch from a plastic bin that rubbed against the rear bumper from the wind while parked on my driveway.
Nothing that could be fixed without a little elbow grease. I always use Quixx scratch remover because it is gentle and doesn't leave fine scratches in the clearcoat. To my surprise, after rubbing firmly but not hard, I noticed a white spot appeared rather quickly. I initially thought it was residue, but lo and behold, it was the paint that came off!
Mind you this was a barely invasive blemish. I have use this product many times on my Volvo and two Infinitys with more pressure and for a longer time and never had this problem.
It sucks because now my only option is to respray the bumper on a one-month-old car. Moreover, I guess I can't do any compounding or paint correction in the future in fear that the paint is going to just rub off.
sorry to see that. that piece clearly didn't get enough paint. good luck with the paint match. i had a light scratch on my hood that i took out with some polishing compound by hand with no issues.
My first suggestion is that you post this same thing on the detailing forum. There are some great folks on there who can probably help you have a better understanding of the failure. Understanding it first will be your best starting point so you can discuss it properly with Lexus.
Your battle will be to get them to believe there is an issue with the paint on the bumper and not that you did something to damage the paint and are looking for them to fix your mistake.
Also understand that it is a lot more common than people think for cars to have bumpers dinged up in shipping and repainted prior to sale. It's possible your bumper was repainted by the dealer. You may be able to see if it was on lexusdrivers.com when you register your car.
If you are able to successfully convince them or get them to see an actual flaw in the paint, they'll fix it by repainting it.
The only time they ever buy back a car is when they've tried multiple times to fix it and are unsuccessful.
My first suggestion is that you post this same thing on the detailing forum. There are some great folks on there who can probably help you have a better understanding of the failure. Understanding it first will be your best starting point so you can discuss it properly with Lexus.
Your battle will be to get them to believe there is an issue with the paint on the bumper and not that you did something to damage the paint and are looking for them to fix your mistake.
Also understand that it is a lot more common than people think for cars to have bumpers dinged up in shipping and repainted prior to sale. It's possible your bumper was repainted by the dealer. You may be able to see if it was on lexusdrivers.com when you register your car.
If you are able to successfully convince them or get them to see an actual flaw in the paint, they'll fix it by repainting it.
The only time they ever buy back a car is when they've tried multiple times to fix it and are unsuccessful.
Just another thought, I may just may bring the car to an auto paint specialty shop when it's gets warmer out and have that corner blended. The place where I brought my old Volvo C30 was able to repair and blend in a deep 2" scratch on the bumper. The color was a very similar "electric silver" and it matched perfectly. It looked brand new and saved the cost and hassle of a full panel paint job.
I've done a DA polish (and compounding in some areas) with no issues. Do keep in mind that bumpers typically have thinner paint.
A quick Google of the Quixx product reveals that sandpaper is included? Were you wet-sanding? I personally would never wet-sand a bumper.
No. I throw the sandpaper out. I don't even use the cloth because it's a bit fibrous. I use the cream and a smooth microfiber cloth.
I just learned that most dealerships have a touchup technician that specializes in airbrush spot repairs for unde $100 and the results are pretty impressive so I'm going to check that option and see if it's viable. I don't want to have the entire bumper repainted.
sorry to see that. that piece clearly didn't get enough paint. good luck with the paint match. i had a light scratch on my hood that i took out with some polishing compound by hand with no issues.
What kind of polishing compound? I have some clearcoat scratches on my IS's hood from using a dish sponge to scrub bugs off.
Hard to tell from the pic, but when you say "the paint came right off" do you mean the "clearcoat" came right off? that looks to be under the clearcoat (which is odd if it is)
Hard to tell from the pic, but when you say "the paint came right off" do you mean the "clearcoat" came right off? that looks to be under the clearcoat (which is odd if it is)
Apparently I rubbed too hard that it burned through the clearcoat and had paint transfer.