fastdak25

Well today I finally did it . I've done it on all my cars but never worried about it, but hate it on my new 3IS. I mean I got it good at work on a jagged concrete sidewalk edge on a sloping spot. Anyway i did a little research and seems like this is something I should be able to fix myself w/o taking it to the shop and spending $500+ on to fix. With the first step of sanding, is a power sander really necessary or can it be done by hand, cause i don't own one though i know they're not that expensive. Will the dealer have clear coat to go along with touch up paint? Will fill-in puddy be necessary? Here's the damage, like I said i got it good, especially towards the right side.

liqinwei26

It looks like it hurts a lot from the picture..

My gf scratched the bottom surface the day after I pick up my 3is from the dealer, I was so pissed out, but could't tell unless you get under the car. I was going to take it in a paint shop and re-paint the front lip, thanks god I did not do it, because I just had a few stone chips on my front lip yesterday

I am not sure how to fix the scratches, but I heard that if you have had clear bra on the front lip, then it will save your lip.. I am not sure if it really works though.. I talked to one guy who works in automotive paint repair in years and he said that protective film did not work

alexlude

clear bra will save against rock chips, but definitely not save against curb rash.. best thing you could probably do is have it polished out with fine grain sander, but i wouldn't do it on my own (see what a detail shop can do for ya..)

good luck..and i know how that feels, i curbed my front Carbon Fiber lip on my previous vehicle and it hurt!

liqinwei26

Agreed! I would suggest you to find a professional paint shop and get it sanded

It sounds like Clear Bra does work in some degree.. Do you know any best way to fix rock chips on the lip?

alexlude

rock chips i would just do touchup paint.. if you can feel the chip with your finger, not much you can do otherwise (that i'm aware of).

detail shops nowadays may have a special technique though...

fastdak25

From what I was reading today supposedly you can sand the area down yourself and fill in the chips with a puddy or some ****. Then you primer and paint it with touch up paint from the dealer and clear coat it.

hoosier1

Ouch...your picture looks painful. Most dealers have a team of job shop folks that repair paint, wheels, interior surfaces and glass. It appears your damage is isolated to the front surface, so they could likely sand the edge, and repaint the affected area. I would call a few dealers to see if a spot paint repairman is located in your area. You might be able to find someone that will repair the damage for less than 200 bucks.

Noeh

iTrader: (3)

Touch up repair don't last, mine started to bubble up and peel after 1 winter.

TimboIS

I wouldn't even bother, as it WILL happen again.

gocubs08

I saw a repair kit for deep scratches on Amazon color coded for Lexus colors included a bunch of stuff like sander, primer, paint and clear coat and it was like $52.99, seemed like a good project for down there where if its not perfect it will at least look good from a distance

fastdak25

you mean this? Are these kits legit? They certainly have very positive reviews.

Noeh

iTrader: (3)

Kits that involve sanding/wet sanding are hard to use. Changes are you will make it worse if this is your first time. It's much easier to 1) buff the area with rubbing compound then 2) touch up with Dr. Colorchip. It will look 90% better, but it's your best option short of refinishing the whole panel.