When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
How do I know the OPs hood was repainted? Besides the lifting paint on the edge...... I enlarged the picture and counted the number of flakes on the hood and compared it to the fender.
BTW! My "informative" posts were not meant to be condescending to the OP.......... Hopefully everything works out!
The picture you originally posted the flake in the paint doesn't match very well from the hood to the fender. Aside from that, just the damage you described would lead me to believe the hood had been repainted.
The second picture doesn't tell us anything, paint will always look good in the shade. In direct light tells you way more.
Interesting. Not knowing any better, I would have thought bright lighting would skew details compared to more even light.
How do I know the OPs hood was repainted? Besides the lifting paint on the edge...... I enlarged the picture and counted the number of flakes on the hood and compared it to the fender.
BTW! My "informative" posts were not meant to be condescending to the OP.......... Hopefully everything works out!
No offense taken, Chuck, and I appreciate yours and everyone's input. It is a mystery to me how bad it got. I don't have any experience on how to recognize bad paint. I looked at the original photo just now on a larger laptop and you're right, in the photo it does look like the tone is off. I should add that the car is quite dirty because I'm not sure how to clean the car without making the problem worse. from the driver's seat there is a layer of dust on the hood that can give off that sort of tan tinge. Regardless, the hood may have been repainted like others suspect. A shame that this 6-inch mark is going to require the whole hood to be repainted, top and bottom, and reapply a new clear protective bra.
I was just taking the trash out and snapped a couple quick pictures of the paint close up in the garage, lots of tight reflections, good for showing the existence of or lack of orange peel.
As you can see below, this paint is quite flat without much orange peel to it. You can see the sharpness of the reflections of the tennis racket as well as the garage door opener in the roof.
There is some orange peel, but as I said, there is less orange peel in the finish of this car than any other car I've owned, be it a Lexus or otherwise. Any factory produced paint finish is going to have some orange peel, if you look at the finish of a Rolls Royce, that has no peel. But, the LS460 isn't a hand built, hand painted Rolls Royce and this is pretty darn close. The worst orange peel I had on a Lexus was my 2003 ES300.
If your car has significant orange peel and an unimpressive finish that is prone to chipping in places other than the front end, unless Lexus' paint procedure for the LS was dramatically better in 2015 than it was in 2013, I would say your car has had substantial bodywork done at some point in its life.
I was just taking the trash out and snapped a couple quick pictures of the paint close up in the garage, lots of tight reflections, good for showing the existence of or lack of orange peel.
As you can see below, this paint is quite flat without much orange peel to it. You can see the sharpness of the reflections of the tennis racket as well as the garage door opener in the roof.
There is some orange peel, but as I said, there is less orange peel in the finish of this car than any other car I've owned, be it a Lexus or otherwise. Any factory produced paint finish is going to have some orange peel, if you look at the finish of a Rolls Royce, that has no peel. But, the LS460 isn't a hand built, hand painted Rolls Royce and this is pretty darn close. The worst orange peel I had on a Lexus was my 2003 ES300.
If your car has significant orange peel and an unimpressive finish that is prone to chipping in places other than the front end, unless Lexus' paint procedure for the LS was dramatically better in 2015 than it was in 2013, I would say your car has had substantial bodywork done at some point in its life.
Thanks for the pic, Steve, that does look nice. Still some minor waviness in one or two spots, but very minor. I notice scratches on the trunk of our LS, and chips on the fenders, doors, and bumper. The hood has a small chip above the bra line. My bra, visible in the original post, goes up about 18" from the center and 24" from the edges of the hood. Does yours cover the entire hood? It would be sad if our car has been substantially repainted. That would be shocking too if Lexus CPO-ed something that extensive and that the previous owner was unaware of it (but not unheard of in these forums). Alas, I can't find any records to prove or disprove that theory.
I ordered the following paint meter. It is inexpensive but supposedly accurate enough for my purpose of comparing panels. I like that it is low-tech and works in the rain.
Thanks for the pic, Steve, that does look nice. Still some minor waviness in one or two spots, but very minor.
Of course there is. See again from my post:
Originally Posted by SW15LS
Any factory produced paint finish is going to have some orange peel, if you look at the finish of a Rolls Royce, that has no peel. But, the LS460 isn't a hand built, hand painted Rolls Royce and this is pretty darn close.
I notice scratches on the trunk of our LS, and chips on the fenders, doors, and bumper. The hood has a small chip above the bra line. My bra, visible in the original post, goes up about 18" from the center and 24" from the edges of the hood. Does yours cover the entire hood? It would be sad if our car has been substantially repainted. That would be shocking too if Lexus CPO-ed something that extensive and that the previous owner was unaware of it (but not unheard of in these forums). Alas, I can't find any records to prove or disprove that theory.
The bra I had on the GS went up to about 18-20 inches on the hood, and I still had some chipping higher up on the hood, when I got the LS I had the whole front end done, so the whole hood is done and both front fenders are fully done, as well as the headlights, full bumper, fronts of the mirrors, etc. Bottom line is, any car is going to have scratches and chips and wear. Your LS has if I remember correctly, almost twice the mileage mine has, and mine has been treated carefully since it was new, you're the third owner of yours so my guess is the previous two owners were more like a normal car owner than I am.
But, my point was all my cars were babied by me, and the paint on the LS460 has held up way better than the paint on any other Lexus I've had despite the same care being taken. The front ends of all my other Lexus cars were absolutely hammered by chips and sandblasting before I started doing the clearbra.
Question, CPO cars are typically lease returns, correct? Are any CPOs not lease returns? I would think if a leased car, like an LS, needed such significant repaint and body work then Lexus would somehow know about it, yes or no? And I would think such activity would show up on the Lexus Driver's service history. The car drives very well, is quiet, and I've admired how the gaps are all uniform. From the driver's seat, when I look in the driver's side mirror and see the length of the car reflected, I note to myself how clean the lines and body/doors/windows frame align. It is the little extra details that most people don't notice but I do because I look at that same view on a Honda Accord and remember noticing alignment of the window trim being off 1/8", enough to catch my eye....but seamless on the LS. Which brings me back to my point. If there has been that much needed body work, I would think there to be many tell-tale signs and a paper trail. At least other panels have not started flaking and peeling at locations of road chips. I had this coal-sized piece of asphalt kick up when I was driving my 2006 Tundra and it hit the driver's side double-cab, right behind the rear door. It left three small pits, almost like paw prints. I touched it up 10 years ago and the truck is still in our family. I saw the mark again last weekend and it still looks the same after a decade of being parked outside and exposure to the elements. Wish my LS paint held up like that.
The bra I had on the GS went up to about 18-20 inches on the hood, and I still had some chipping higher up on the hood, when I got the LS I had the whole front end done, so the whole hood is done and both front fenders are fully done, as well as the headlights, full bumper, fronts of the mirrors, etc. Bottom line is, any car is going to have scratches and chips and wear. Your LS has if I remember correctly, almost twice the mileage mine has, and mine has been treated carefully since it was new, you're the third owner of yours so my guess is the previous two owners were more like a normal car owner than I am.
But, my point was all my cars were babied by me, and the paint on the LS460 has held up way better than the paint on any other Lexus I've had despite the same care being taken. The front ends of all my other Lexus cars were absolutely hammered by chips and sandblasting before I started doing the clearbra.
I didn't know they offered that sort of full clear protection. I may have to look into that and see if I can pay the difference to have the body shop put that on.
Out of curiosity, Steve, although I appreciate the extent that you care for your vehicle, why be as concerned when you lease and will be in a shiny new car again soon? I can see the value of the investment if someone plans to hold onto their car longterm, but not sure why on a lease? I've never leased so am not sure if my car care habits would change if I did lease.
Steve, I just took note that your 2015 is also Nebula Grey. I didn't see any of the metallic glitter on your photos and thought at first that yours was Smokey Granite Mica.
Question, CPO cars are typically lease returns, correct? Are any CPOs not lease returns? I would think if a leased car, like an LS, needed such significant repaint and body work then Lexus would somehow know about it, yes or no? And I would think such activity would show up on the Lexus Driver's service history.
Your car is likely fine. As an example though, my dealer here repaints the hood and the bumper of almost every car they take in as a CPO to get rid of rock chips. So if your car came from that dealer, you can bet it would have a repainted bumper and hood. Its likely that the hood has been repainted, wither for that reason or a minor incident in the car's life.
I had this coal-sized piece of asphalt kick up when I was driving my 2006 Tundra and it hit the driver's side double-cab, right behind the rear door. It left three small pits, almost like paw prints. I touched it up 10 years ago and the truck is still in our family. I saw the mark again last weekend and it still looks the same after a decade of being parked outside and exposure to the elements. Wish my LS paint held up like that.
Where else than this spot is your LS paint not holding up like this? Like I said, mine is.
Remember a truck or SUV will get less chips because its higher off the ground. The bumper of your LS is about 5 inches off of the highway when you ride along at 80MPH. Its going to get chips.
Originally Posted by FatherTo1
I didn't know they offered that sort of full clear protection. I may have to look into that and see if I can pay the difference to have the body shop put that on.
Out of curiosity, Steve, although I appreciate the extent that you care for your vehicle, why be as concerned when you lease and will be in a shiny new car again soon? I can see the value of the investment if someone plans to hold onto their car longterm, but not sure why on a lease? I've never leased so am not sure if my car care habits would change if I did lease.
I hate rock chips, so for me its worth it. Plus the LS is a car that I very well may hold onto long term.
Originally Posted by FatherTo1
Steve, I just took note that your 2015 is also Nebula Grey. I didn't see any of the metallic glitter on your photos and thought at first that yours was Smokey Granite Mica.
Same color as yours. No metallic glitter in those pics because its in a dimly lit garage at night
What I meant, in reference to the Tundra, was that after 10 years the touch-up didn't decay nor spread like the LS hood. Seemed like I was re-touching the LS hood every week. The other nicks and scratches on the LS, you're right, have not worsened after initial touch-up. So maybe this indicates a repainted hood in its lifetime. Went out to the car and noticed the headlights also have a clear protector on, so that's good.
I had the car detailed in April so maybe the damage was done then when the paint was being prepped? Not trying to blame the detailer, just want to understand what happened. Normally I take great pride in my touch-up skills but I never could conceal this edge damage. I just hope they put the hood back perfectly aligned after (another?) repaint.
Depends on the quality of the touch up, where it is, the touch up paint itself. Whether a touch up holds or not has nothing to do with the quality of the car's paint.
Depends on the quality of the touch up, where it is, the touch up paint itself. Whether a touch up holds or not has nothing to do with the quality of the car's paint.
But they are both Toyota formulations (Tundra and LS touchup paint). I suppose the difference is the quality of the hood substrate layers because the Lexus touch-up paint has not needed re-touchup on other parts of the car. Seems to point more and more to the paint specifically on the hood and how it was prepped or applied and perhaps it isn't factory paint. I still feel the LS picks up rock chips more easily than our Sienna, LS 430, or the wife's ES. We've only had the LS six months and I've touched it up in five different spots, not counting the hood. I only touched up the Sienna maybe three times in four years and I cared for that minivan the same way despite not being enamored with its looks. I don't think I will continue to pick up road chips at the same rate going forward (at least I hope not), but the early incidents do make me worry about the LS paint durability.
08-27-17, 07:01 PM
