1WILLY1

iTrader: (9)

Very good work , I removed mine about 2 months ago, was a pain in the neck to remove the vinyl wrap , I tried paint stripper to melt it off but just made it worse

A heat gun helped alot

I installed them back as bare metal and will wer sand and polish them soon

msatc2002

was it hard to remove the strips off the car? and did you start with the back and move forward? I can't believe someone has not come up with who sells a wrap that can match that color nothing more than a vinyl tape and easy to apply. I would have bought it from lexus and redone mine. they want 538.00 for each molding. and 1638.00 installed with clips.

vinniesabo

Sorry, a little late…I can’t believe that I don’t get notifications to comments on my own post 🤣. I believe I started in the front, but I do not think it matters. The rails are very easy to remove. But as stated before, you will break most, if not all clips.

RandyV

I had documented in another thread of just peeling the vinyl cover off the rails. It revealed smooth shiny chrome that matches the chrome trim surround on the doors.

Here is my details:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...l#post10073940

msatc2002

my 460 did that. after i found ho much Lexus wanted . I carefull used a dental pick under the side edge just so i could grab it. Tedious but got it all off and then used mineral spirits to clean any glue residue. its SS so it looks just like window trim. my color is silver and looks better than the painted.

Viking89

I have a 2013 LS 460 , Fire Aget Pearl (Brown) a few weeks ago drivers side started to peel, just got my car washed so assumed it was something with the wash. Then a week later passenger side started to peel. Went to Lexus and was told no warranty(of course not) and was told to take it and get painted. So yesterday I stopped by a body shop and was told they can not paint the crome. Maybe he just didn't want to deal with it. I do not want to buy paint and paint them myself, so I would love to hear from owners that went to a body shop and got them to paint the crome. I guess I need to check with other paint shops.

Seejay

I am thinking of powder coating them. No idea of the cost of a PPC treatment, but a major portion of a non-DIY solution will be the labor to remove/replace them. Under no circumstances will I replace them with Lexus parts, since that is just kicking the can down the road. Might as well just get them re-wrapped.

DJWLDW

It's not chrome it is aluminum. And yes it is paintable. I had mine painted about 3 months ago and so far no issues. The paint shop will need to etch the surface so the paint will stick. They matched the paint perfectly. The most time consuming item is removing all the old tape.

Dennis

Seejay

Thanks for the quick reply. I read somewhere (in this thread?) that it is stainless steel, but it looks like aluminum to me. Powder is not possible with aluminum, so paint. The good results seen suggest it is aluminum, since stainless is very tricky to paint.

vinniesabo

Not sure it is aluminum, more of an alloy. Find another paint shop if you don’t feel like DIY. I painted mine a few years back and it’s still holding up. Good luck.

Ricklucy

The paint was peeling off the top panel drip moldings.
Took it to a guy that does Wrapping.
He took both of the moldings off
He scraped the paint down to the aluminum
and wrapped them. Put them back on And they look like new For around 300$
Better than Lexus replacing for Over 800.

jdanielca

what colour is your paint?