My experience buying a Pre-Painted Bumper from Sewell Lexus!
03-12-14, 03:13 PM
#16
They are not really clear. I can see the seam line if i stand close but many others don't really notice. I like the 3M clear bra though because it really protect my whole front bumper for 2 years. Sometimes i intentionally throw small rock to the front bumper and it does nothing.
You should consider Opticoat your car. It is like a permanent clear coat that protect your paint in several way: better scratch resistant, better shine, better UV sun rays protection, water beads, repel dirts ... It is really that good that i highly recommend.
You should consider Opticoat your car. It is like a permanent clear coat that protect your paint in several way: better scratch resistant, better shine, better UV sun rays protection, water beads, repel dirts ... It is really that good that i highly recommend.
Maybe I just had back luck but I had XPEL full clear bra on my 370Z and 3M on my 335i and both products never really looked "clear" to me. Maybe my installer wasn't good but I had air bubbles that never went away and some of the corners started lifting and waxing was a real PIA. I just decided not to go that route this time.
03-12-14, 06:50 PM
#18
Just for future reference the Painting process for most "White-Pearl" type coats is called a tri-coat process. Usually, the parts are first painted as a Solid White part, with the usual Primer and normal Gloss White Paint, then no clear coat is applied and the White coat is allowed to cure. After curing the Part is then sprayed with the "metallic" clear white Paint, then ClearCoat is applied and the part is cured again.
The Color match issue is always a challenge with Metallic because there are real metal flakes in the Paint and the way they spread or don't spread as they fall on the part impacts how the light reflects off of it. Another issue is that too much flake or metallic can also reflect more yellowish than expected. It just a tricky application but an experienced painter should have no issue getting it fairly close, but to be honest you should never expect a PERFECT match. It depends how picky you are or how much you may notice paint, but the reality is that usually Metal vs. Plastic will always slightly change how the paint looks and how it applies, smoothness and such. When ordering replacement Pearl White or repainting Pearl White color match will always be challenging, the slightest application change can make a problem, and especially when you do not have the Metal part in front of you to get an idea about how to match it even more so.
Anyway, glad you got a good match from the Sewell parts, shows they know what they are doing.
The Color match issue is always a challenge with Metallic because there are real metal flakes in the Paint and the way they spread or don't spread as they fall on the part impacts how the light reflects off of it. Another issue is that too much flake or metallic can also reflect more yellowish than expected. It just a tricky application but an experienced painter should have no issue getting it fairly close, but to be honest you should never expect a PERFECT match. It depends how picky you are or how much you may notice paint, but the reality is that usually Metal vs. Plastic will always slightly change how the paint looks and how it applies, smoothness and such. When ordering replacement Pearl White or repainting Pearl White color match will always be challenging, the slightest application change can make a problem, and especially when you do not have the Metal part in front of you to get an idea about how to match it even more so.
Anyway, glad you got a good match from the Sewell parts, shows they know what they are doing.
03-13-14, 09:23 AM
#20
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I saw this in the IS-F subforum. You can get your front plate on to avoid pointless tickets, without drilling holes in that fancy new bumper. There are similar things on ebay. Not sure if they are knockoffs or something, but whatever.
http://www.rhoplate.com/
http://www.rhoplate.com/
03-15-14, 02:49 PM
#21
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Alright this might sound trivial to some of you guys but I just can’t stand the fact the dealer drilled into the stock front bumper to put the license plate frame on. I mean I could just buy some caps, cover up the holes and be done with it but my OCD would prevent me from doing something like that.
I received a couple quotes at the Lexus dealer and some high end body shops (they deal with show cars) to fill the holes and spray the bumper. I got estimates anywhere from 700-1100. My only concern was the paint will not match 100 percent since 3 Stage Starfire Pearl is a notoriously hard color to match. I made an appointment to drop off the car at one of the high end shops per my friend’s recommendations. The shop owner even put my mind at ease by saying his painter will get it 90 percent or closer.
Well that night I was browsing around and noticed that Sewell sells the complete front bumper pre-painted for $550 with CL discount, shipping is kinda killer @ $180 for a grand total of $730 to my door. I impulsively went ahead and ordered the bumper figuring hey, if it’s factory painted it must match perfectly right? Silly rabbit… turns out Lexus doesn’t offer pre-painted bumpers They are all painted at Sewell’s body shop. Found that out the next day when my inquiry email was replied to by Sewell. I went into panic mode and requested a cancellation, This was less than 24 hours after placing the order but Sewell responded by saying sorry the bumper cannot be cancelled once it’s ordered. It’s already boxed up and ready to be picked up by FedEx. Yikes!
The next week of waiting was agonizing, at this point I already convinced myself that the bumper was never going to match the car. The day it was to be delivered I took the day off from work to stay home and sign for it. FedEx pulled up in the AM, proceeded to pull out the biggest box I have ever seen in my life. It looked like you could fit a full size coffin inside, lol. To my delight, there was no exterior damage on the box, FedEx took care of this one. Proceeded to open it up and I was impressed with the way it was packed, Good job so far Sewell. Took me about 10 minutes to unwrap the bumper from all the packing material. At last, there it sat on my dining room table in all it’s glory ready for my inspection. I inspected every inch of it, in every angle to find any paint imperfections, uneven orange peel, fisheyes, overspray ect. To my great surprise, there was none, the paint was literally flawless. The clear coat texture seems to match the factory orange peel very well.
I had removed the original bumper earlier in the morning in anticipation of a quick swap when the new bumper arrived. Transferring the old grill, fog lights, headlight washers over was a snap. Moment of truth came, I mounted up the new Sewell bumper, put two clips to hold it in place temporarily and stood back. Wow! Perfect match! I would go as far as saying it probably matches the rest of the car better than the OEM original! On a cloudy day or under florescent light, I could see a slight variance with the OEM bumper being just a tad bit lighter, on this Sewell bumper it matches nearly identical to the fender and hood which is astonishing considering those are metal panels. Of course fit and finish is identical since it’s a factory part but what blows my mind in the color match. Thumbs up Sewell, thumbs way up. Not only did I save about $300 over getting my bumper “filled” and resprayed, I now have an extra spare bumper to boot. Win/Win situation.
So in conclusion, if anybody has any doubts about Sewell’s pre-painted bumper paint quality, don’t. It’s really excellent quality and matches perfectly, I’m probably the most picky person you’ll meet when it comes to paint quality and I highly approve of Sewell’s pre-painted front bumpers. Looking at it till this day, I can’t tell it’s not OEM paint which is the best praise I can give.
I received a couple quotes at the Lexus dealer and some high end body shops (they deal with show cars) to fill the holes and spray the bumper. I got estimates anywhere from 700-1100. My only concern was the paint will not match 100 percent since 3 Stage Starfire Pearl is a notoriously hard color to match. I made an appointment to drop off the car at one of the high end shops per my friend’s recommendations. The shop owner even put my mind at ease by saying his painter will get it 90 percent or closer.
Well that night I was browsing around and noticed that Sewell sells the complete front bumper pre-painted for $550 with CL discount, shipping is kinda killer @ $180 for a grand total of $730 to my door. I impulsively went ahead and ordered the bumper figuring hey, if it’s factory painted it must match perfectly right? Silly rabbit… turns out Lexus doesn’t offer pre-painted bumpers They are all painted at Sewell’s body shop. Found that out the next day when my inquiry email was replied to by Sewell. I went into panic mode and requested a cancellation, This was less than 24 hours after placing the order but Sewell responded by saying sorry the bumper cannot be cancelled once it’s ordered. It’s already boxed up and ready to be picked up by FedEx. Yikes!
The next week of waiting was agonizing, at this point I already convinced myself that the bumper was never going to match the car. The day it was to be delivered I took the day off from work to stay home and sign for it. FedEx pulled up in the AM, proceeded to pull out the biggest box I have ever seen in my life. It looked like you could fit a full size coffin inside, lol. To my delight, there was no exterior damage on the box, FedEx took care of this one. Proceeded to open it up and I was impressed with the way it was packed, Good job so far Sewell. Took me about 10 minutes to unwrap the bumper from all the packing material. At last, there it sat on my dining room table in all it’s glory ready for my inspection. I inspected every inch of it, in every angle to find any paint imperfections, uneven orange peel, fisheyes, overspray ect. To my great surprise, there was none, the paint was literally flawless. The clear coat texture seems to match the factory orange peel very well.
I had removed the original bumper earlier in the morning in anticipation of a quick swap when the new bumper arrived. Transferring the old grill, fog lights, headlight washers over was a snap. Moment of truth came, I mounted up the new Sewell bumper, put two clips to hold it in place temporarily and stood back. Wow! Perfect match! I would go as far as saying it probably matches the rest of the car better than the OEM original! On a cloudy day or under florescent light, I could see a slight variance with the OEM bumper being just a tad bit lighter, on this Sewell bumper it matches nearly identical to the fender and hood which is astonishing considering those are metal panels. Of course fit and finish is identical since it’s a factory part but what blows my mind in the color match. Thumbs up Sewell, thumbs way up. Not only did I save about $300 over getting my bumper “filled” and resprayed, I now have an extra spare bumper to boot. Win/Win situation.
So in conclusion, if anybody has any doubts about Sewell’s pre-painted bumper paint quality, don’t. It’s really excellent quality and matches perfectly, I’m probably the most picky person you’ll meet when it comes to paint quality and I highly approve of Sewell’s pre-painted front bumpers. Looking at it till this day, I can’t tell it’s not OEM paint which is the best praise I can give.
03-16-14, 12:00 AM
#24
If anybody doesn't mind two drilled holes in the front for the plates, I'll sell them my original 2011 bumper for cheap.
any idea how much it costs to install it?
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