Tom558

On our recent 4000+ road trip we got some rock damage to the hood of the RX.

The body shop (not dealer) said they would apply the touch up paint for not charge if we get the paint (Silver Lining Metallic - 1J4) or roughly $400.00 to repaint the hood.

I am leaning toward the touch-up but also would like to avoid future problems - bra? deflector? any other thoughts.

oohpapi44

iTrader: (1)

It's going to happen. Can't really stress too much over it. ClearBra would likely have stopped right below where you got your rock chip anyway. Apply the touch up paint and call it a day. When you accumulate enough chips, just paint the hood.

Bra's are absolutely horrible to look at and you'd likely have to paint the hood anyway once you remove it after an extended period of time.

Mors

That is true unless you get the entire front end covered (full hood, bumpers, and fenders). Getting it fully covered is expensive (I just got a new car and had it done, and am glad I did - you can't even tell it's there). Granted I haven't driven it near enough to determine any value yet nor do I know how long it will hold up. People say it costs the same as or even more than getting your front end resprayed, but what they fail to mention is that you have to live with that for years until you get it resprayed. Paying up front for a clear bra should keep your car looking better than without one.
Please note though I remember reading something about putting a clear bra on after a respray. I don't remember exactly if they say don't do it or if you just have to wait a number of days before getting it covered. Either way, a reputable shop that installs PPF should know.

oohpapi44

iTrader: (1)

True, but the beauty of silver is that it hides blemishes extremely well. Reason why I only go Lexus Gray or Silver forever.

Suggest spending the $15 on touch up and be amazed at how well it you don't notice the chips. Yes it's hard to live with a defect but the discussion of soft Lexus paint has been and will be had for eons to come.

Murphy's Law in that you will get a rock chip on unprotected surface the day after you clear bra.

No way to drive the car completely in a bubble so just accept that chips happen and there is a remedy when the chips become too numerous to deal with.

Mors

Correct. I had an 2002 Lexus RX in gray and it hides scratches and pits well. I now have a black one - that's why i got the bra.

UCSB

Just get a quality clear paint protection film (PPF) ... what many are calling a clear bra ... it will greatly reduce the damage. My brother is a very high mileage freeway driver and we installed one on the front of his car about 50k miles ago (two years) and there is not a single major flaw. It looks new. When you buy the product, you usually have an option of something like 18" or 24" on the hood. You can cover everything, but that gets expensive and is really not needed. Don't worry about the slight line where the PPF ends, you will quickly get used to it and no one else really cares.

If you are the kind of person that likes to do projects like this yourself, it is reasonably easy if two people work on it. You save about 50% doing the work yourself and total costs is about $300 - $350. The hood is the easiest part to do and only costs about a $100 if you want to give it a try. The bumper, front of fenders and mirrors are the other areas that most people also do.

The dings in your picture would not have occurred.

rayaans

Clear bra is a waste of time. Its unsightly getting part of the hood done, expensive getting the whole hood done and when a stone does fly up and hit the hood, it will leave pitting all over the hood which is very noticeable. Just touch it up and then respray when needed.

raylor4

We use the special brass flow tip that comes with the Lexus touch-up paint. It doesn't blob like the brush.
The paint flows into the chip like water into a pothole. If you don't like the result, you can wipe it off while still wet.
Ray A.

kitlz

One of the many discussions on clear bra on the RX here. I had a millenium silver 330 before the tungsten pearl 450h, basically the same color. I wish I had a clear bra on the 330. The amount of chips on the bumper and hood was bad. The black 300 had a front mask. The hood took the brunt of it. But it wasn't protected like the bumper. How many chips do I have on bumper and hood of the 450h? None. This is full hood, bumper, side view mirrors and A pillars. There's maybe three or four spots where the film is damaged but no signs of damage to the paint underneath after more than four years. I wouldn't get another vehicle without a clear bra.

Tom558, sorry to see that damage. Get the chips touched up professionally. Metallics and pearls are tricky with the flakes. Then look into getting a clear bra. It can be installed over the spots after waiting a few weeks to let them fully dry. Shop around, you can probably get it done probably for less than the cost of two hood repaints. I'd recommend seamless so there's no lines. But it's more expensive. Good luck.

AZJoe

I had a similar incident on way home from 5K service. Large stone kicked up by truck hit hood in 2 places and then windshield. There was a slight depression in the hood. I was planning to get it done professionally later this year after we do some extensive traveling. After some coaching I "played" with touching it up myself. The touch up paint from Lexus was a great match - fire agate a dark color. I wet sanded, polished applied a clear coat etc. It looked pretty good, but I knew by baby had a wound. I continued on trying to make it better.... Should have stopped. Oh well I planned to get it done at dealer endorsed shop anyway.

I have a clear bra on front quarter of hood. After I get it fixed, I may try to get a full coverage bra.

UCSB

When we put the PPF on my brothers car two years ago it created an interesting test case. The new car was actually an exact copy of his prior car. Both silver. He sold his old car to my daughter. It was two years old with about 50k miles on it. She was living in San Francisco at the time and her employer gave her a secure garage parking space in the downtown office building where she worked. She parked the car and used it very little; city lifestyle. Seven months ago she went to Sweden and has been in Europe since then. I have the car covered in my driveway and drive it occasionally so it is not just sitting. My brother comes over and parks right next to the car and of course we compare them. It is not just about the big hits. There are countless little blemishes that add up. Both cars have similar mileage with the older car having about 10k more miles. There is no comparison between the two cars. It is not just about getting out some touch-up paint and fixing the old car. It can not be restored; to many small hits in the paint. The front of a car takes a range of hits and for some drivers they really add up. Just repainting the front-end and hood may or may not be a good choice. For some paint colors / processes it is tough to get a great match. Costs vary around the country, but here in the SF area a quality repaint on the front-end/hood/fenders of a car is going to be expensive. The PPF is also shiny and provides a nice looking surface on the front of the new car. I would agree that if you really hit something hard the PPF will fail. I haven't seen that yet, but I know it occurs.

Here is where we have picked up touch paint: http://www.automotivetouchup.com/

They sell the primer (helpful when you hit bare metal like in photos above), paint level and clear coat. On colors like Starfire Pearl they sell the base color and the top color paint. I have their four level system for my Starfire Pearl 450h, but have not gotten a ding to try it out yet.

I have not tried this stuff, but 3M sells a spray on PPF. It might make sense if you are going on a long trip (like the 4k trip in OP) and just want temporary protection. Just spray it on and remove it after the trip ... it is pretty cheap ... something like $25 a can. I think I saw it on Amazon and the 3M site.

vlad_a

Sorry to hear. Unfortunately, paint appears to still be an Achilles' heel of Lexus vehicles. I know exactly how you feel. When I bought my first Lexus, an '01 IS300 back in 2000, I got 2 huge chips within 1,000 miles. Dealership applied touch-up paint, but there was little it could do to cover it up. A couple years later, due to an unfortunate set of circumstances, the hood was replaced and painted by the body shop. Needless to say, the paint was far less prone to chipping. My '03 IS300 has been wearing a bra (Colgan Customs) since the get-go. I may not like the way it looks, but the hood will chip almost immediately if I take it off. Three is still one chip under it (caught a big rock somewhere), which is what stopped me from switching to clear film.

Surprisingly, the 2010 Prius we had was not chipping. Could be because a big part of its nose is made from plastic and hood does not wrap around in the front. Or the paint is better.

When I picked up our RX in Philly, I put masking tape on the bottom part of the hood to avoid chipping while driving it home. Then I picked up a bulk roll of 3M clear film, 18" wide. It was a bit of a pain to apply, and in some spots were not perfect, but it looks great overall. At $70, it was a good investment.

germangs

Hi,

I'd like to find more information about the hood deflector installed on your RX. Any help from it, does it distract visibility or produce any noise while driving?
I don't see them many installed but it could be a substitute for a clear tape bra installed on the hood.

diverchris

I have a silver RX and I have the 3M tape installed. My personal opinion is the hood protector only looks good with a dark paint.

rsutoratos

I have a red rx, have it installed. It has a slight whistling noise.. very low but noticeable.

It seems the US does not sell a hood deflector as factory item, I got mine off ebay, at the time there was only 1 guy that sold it..

I think this was the one I got, its not made by lexus, i think it as "form fit"
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2010-2015-LE...CiMypw&vxp=mtr