mark168

I have a September 2013 IS350 F-sport that has a little over 10,000 kilometers on it. 2 months ago i noticed that 2 portions surrounding my sunroof has "blisters" on the paint. It is right beside the rubber gaskets. Representatives from Lexus Manila took a look at it and said that "external factor" was the cause of the damage. If it was due from "external factor" like chemical or bird crap, will the damage grow over time?

I don't have a picture to show now since it is very hard to take a good shot of it but i will have a professional photographer take pictures of it so i can post it here. I am very scared that the blisters on the paint might be rust forming under the paint since it is getting bigger. Hope someone can enlighten me on this.

Thanks guys!

magne

External factors does not cause blisters under the paint.
It can cause scratches and marks on and in the paint. Bird droppings will eat away the clear coat on the paint, if left there over a period of time.

If this is a classic rust blister, I would take it to a body shop, and make them verify what it is, and what may cause it. And take the case back to lexus. If they still don't go along with you, make the case public, and try to take your comlaint to lexus japan.

Rsnic

When it comes to warranty issues paint is a huge pain. Everybody points fingers saying that it's not their fault. This is where the body shop is your friend. If its a reputable body shop they can tell you what caused it by just looking at it.

Something similar happened to me. On my passenger side rocker panel there is a small section where it looks like touch up paint was applied. I bring it in for the 5000 mile service and the guy at the service counter trys to give me the run around saying its a "drag mark" from someone putting something into or taking something out of the back seat. From there i got the service manager and their body shop to both look at it and they agreed it was touch up paint. While i'm leaving it as is for now (because once you start repainting there is huge potential for more problems down the road) its atleast noted in my service record so that at anytime i can go to the dealer and have it fixed under warranty.

So my advice to you is get the service manager and the dealer's bodyshop involved to find the cause, i'm sure they'll be willing to work with you from there to remedy the problem.

mark168

Hi Rsnic,

You are correct that a reputable body shop can easily tell what caused the paint problem by just looking at it but the problem is that when i brought it to the local dealer her in the Philippines, they gave me so many bull**** explanations. They want to sand and buff the portion. I asked them if they are 100% sure it wont get bigger and they said they are NOT. I asked them what will they do if it gets bigger again after sanding and buffing, they said they will just repeat the same process. Is that right? I find it very stupid. The paint shop who took a look at it easily identified it as rust from under the paint because it is getting big and the shape of the blister is "webbing" which according to him is 100% rust but local dealer keeps on saying it not. I challenged them to strip the paint but they declined.

Rsnic

Most dealerships use a 3rd party body/paint shop, that's who you need to bring it to. But it sounds like this is something you need to escalate further until you get an answer. Start with the service manager and deal with the dealerships paint and body shop or go to a completely different dealer because you don't need to have your car serviced at the dealer you bought it from. If that leads you nowhere then talking directly with Lexus customer service to remedy the problem is the next step.

From what it sounds like without pictures the fix would be to sand all the way down to the bare metal to remove the rust then repaint that section while blending it in with the surrounding area. But i am not an expert with paint, maybe someone with some more experience could give you a better answer.