I just bought my first Lexus, 98 GS400, and I bought it sight unseen because it was too good of a deal for me to pass up. The car got here and my heart dropped into my *ss when I saw how effed up the paint was. I think the previous owner didnt know how to use a buffer and screwed a quarter panel all up! The stealership told me there were a few scratches here and there, and all it needed was a wax job. I've already been heckled from all my family and friends for making such a dumb deal, so im sure i'll get some more here.

These pictures were taken a week after hitting the whole car with turtle wax Ice Clay Bar and meguires scratchX swirl mark remover. Didnt do anything but bring out the shine a bit, and make the black a little blacker, but the swirl marks are jumping out even more now! A few days ago i hit the car with Meguires Ultimate coumpound and then Meguires Cleaner wax. Looks a little better but everything you see here in the pictures are still there. Am I screwed? Is there any other way of fixing this? Please help!

 

wow looks pretty bad.... but it could be salvageable

 

Agreed..

It all depends home much clear you have to be removed for correction.

 

UC is very aggressive and may have caused more harm than good

 

Thirded, def salvagable. Might have to do some touch up paint on those etchings though.

 

Its weird because before I even hit it with the clay the metal felt as smooth as glass except for a few parts. It does still have clear coat. It just seems like the previous owner didnt clean up after environmental deposits on the paint and later ended up sealing the deal with waxing or polishing or whatever the hell he did or tried to do.

 

that just bird poo etching...where u located?

 

I scrubbed those etchings like crazy with the clay bar solution/bar and with the ultimate compound...didnt even budge. I'm in Windsor, CT exactly 2hours away from NYC.

 

If the paint is still smooth the scratches, swirlmarks and waterspots should be able to be polished out with a PC, orange pad, and numerous passes of a aggressive polish like Menzerna IP. You may even have to compound if it is really bad. No amount of polishing is going to get rid of those birdcrap/sap etchings, they are below the clear coat if your car has clear and cannot be removed. If the hood is full of them you can either repaint it yourself, have it repainted by a shop, or look around at junkyards to try to find a black GS hood without all the etchings.

Did you just apply polishes and everything by hand or did you use a machine like a Porter Cable 7424? You will never be able to correct that kind of damage by doing it by hand and need a good machine, you are going to have to apply a good amount of pressure while using a PC to make a dent in those defects. I am telling you a PC 7424 will be well worth the money especially for a black Lexus GS with soft paint. If your GS is black and pre 2001 it is single stage and has no clear coat. You can get a PC, pads, , backing plates(you will need a 3.5inch backing plate and 4 inch orange pads to correct what you have)and polishes all for around or less then $200. trust me you definitely need a machine unless you want to pay to have it polished and you can't correct all those swirls, scratches, and waterspots by hand. Unfortunately nothing will get rid of those etchings unless you repaint.

 

UDel, thanks for your reply. The PC seems to be a sound investment and I will try to get my hands on this equipment. I've been stalking these forums through the search function before posting this and have seen the fix you've mentioned before. I was scared of using a buffer of that magnitude cause i'm not experienced in using any buffer. So my cousin had one of those Home Depot Ryobi orbital buffers in his garage he let me borrow and I used that to hit the car with the scratch swirl mark remover. The rest, ultimate compound, and cleaner wax i did by elbow grease. My cousin suggested wet sanding the hood and headlights. Will that work on the hood? How difficult would it be to repaint the hood myself? I'd rather get my hands dirty than take it to someone else to do it for me.

 

Those big circular orbital buffers you get at Home Depot or Sears will not correct what you have, I have tried them before on my GS430 and they did not correct anything and all they are really good for is applying and taking off wax. The pads are way too big and it does not have enough power to correct anything other then very very fine surface swirls, they really just shake and vibrate. A Porter Cable is also a orbital polisher but it is very safe and almost impossible to burn your paint unless you just leave it in one spot for a while and push down really hard. Rotary buffers are the ones you have to be very careful with and can burn through your clear coat and paint if you are not careful because they make much more heat, there advantage is in experienced hands it takes much less time to polish cars then an orbital. A Porter Cable 7424(they have a newer slightly more powerful model now but I forgot exactly what it is called) has a good deal more power then most of those big plastic buffers you get at Wal Mart, Lowes, or Sears and it more importantly it has attachments and can use small 4" pads which are very good for correcting when you use a orange pad and a good polish like Menzerna Intensive Polish.

My paint was not in great shape either with a bunch of spots, surface haze, swirls, scratches, and a few etches on the hood. Polishing by hand and using one of those cheap Wal Mart buffers did not make any difference. I thought I was stuck with an ugly finish when you get up close to it but I then started reading how people were able to take ugly finishes to great finishes with stronger machines like the Flex and Porter Cables with the right pads and polishes so I decided to get one and it was the best investment I made for looks of the car. I will give you a short list of what I used.

-Porter Cable 7424-around a $100
-Menzerna IP-great all around correcting polish and not too expensive.
-Lake Country CCS 4 inch orange correcting pads(get at least 4 to switch out as they become soft and caked and need to be washed while polishing.
You will need a 3.5 in backing plate to attach the 4" correcting pads.

That is all you need to buy to correct most of what you have(you will not be able to correct the etching.)

There will be a slight grayish whitish haze from using IP and an orange pad so you will probably want to get a finishing polish too like Menzerna Final Polish II and some white and blue pads. If your defects are really bad you may have to resort to a compound but see if the IP works.

You definitely want to get some microfiber towels and a nice wax/sealant after your done to keep the finish looking good and protected-I highly recommend Collinite 476 for protection and ease of application. It is much better to order everything all at once and see if you can get it from one place to save on shipping costs.

You will have to put some pressure on the PC when polishing and pass over the area several times, it takes a long time but you will be very happy with the results. Keep us updated and we can help along the way if you need it.

Autopia.org is a great site for car detailing questions and information.

 

Those look like surface scratches caused by improper washing and drying. It seems like you have some rock chips and some etching on the hood as well as the usual scratches. IMHO, a PC is not a bad tool, but getting a professional-grade tool like a FLEX polisher will not only save you time, but you'll get much better results. Menzerna polishes, since that's what was suggested earlier, were designed for OEM application using a rotary. Over the years, we've all seen great results using the PC and LC pads. Once you compare the FLEX and the PC side by side, you'll easily see the difference. I can see the FLEX saving you at least 30-50% of the time it takes a pC to properly break down the Menzerna polishes and the results are quite dramatic.

So, the bottom line is, is your time worth the extra $200 to pony up for a tool that's built tough in Germany, is quieter and has less vibration than the PC, has more torque and better correcting ability than a PC?

I would also suggest spending a little more, about $10 per bottle, and getting Menzerna Super Intensive Polish and Super Finish instead of IP and Final Polish. The reason being that Super Intensive polish and Super Finish have much better abrasives in them and break down more evenly giving you much better and consistent results. They are Menzerna's flagship polishes and are industry standard for a reason: they work!

Here's a kit we've put together to take the guess work out of machine polishing for someone like you. For the price of an average detail, you can own the best tools and products on the market and do the job yourself. You won't harm the paint and the learning curve is small.

http://www.glisteningperfectionstore...its/Categories

One big advice: Get the paint measured by a reputable body shop prior to machine polishing. You don't have any idea how much paint is on the car. So get the measurements and know what you have to work with. Hope this helps.

 

It may be more beneficial to have a pro correct the paint this first time, unless you plan to do the work on a regular basis.
I'd say to just weigh your options right now. You can pay someone to do this part (I know a great guy up in your area), and do light maintenance detailing afterwards on your own, (such as using a paint cleaner and waxing every few months), or, the other option is to purchase all of the items and take a couple days to do the correction yourself. Obviously each has its own benefits.
I would highly suggest taking a look at the meguiars pc7424xp kit if you want to do the work yourself. The 105/205 combo is unbeatable. This will ship for free and will get to you in one day as well!

If you need the guy's info to get pricing or whatever., shoot me a pm

 

I will definately be purchasing a kit soon rather than having someone else do it. Plus my wifes Suburban has a slew of scratches from off-road brush that can be easily fixed compared to the mauling the Lexus got over the years of neglect. Thanks for the information, it's been very valuable, I was afraid I was going to have to drop a couple G's on a new paint job.

 

Honestly it looks pretty bad i personally would just pay a proffesional to do it right this time then just keep up with the reg stuff on your own. As you dont know the thickness of the paint you might end up makeing it worse just my 2 cents. Did you not see a pick of the car before and if you dont mind how much did you get it for?