7milesout

Every time I wash the car, I notice new damage. A scrach here, a bump there. Swirls on the trunk. Etc., Etc.

I can tell you that my LS has been contacted by other vehicles twice prior to my ownership. Neither witness mark would have swayed my purchase, but might have garnered a bit of leverage.

I noticed both of those once I got the vehicle home ... and got some sleep. But it's the new stuff I'm finding that's really grinding my gears.


Pre-Ownership Contact #1: It was bumped in the rear. Very very minor damage, but I can notice it.


Pre-Ownership Contact #2: It looks like it was grazed very very lightly on the right side. From the RR fender (no scratch just slightly bumped in), culminating to the local highest damage near the gap between front and rear door. Nobody has noticed the RR fender slight bump in, but one person has noticed the blemish near the front and rear RH doors.


The Contact #2 damage could be PDR'd out. And I think I'm going to have that done.

The rear bumper would require bumper removal to fix it for real. And it's oh so slight that I'm not going to bother.

The stink of it is, I bet both of the 2 contacts were done while this vehicle was parked.


Additional damage: I found a scratch on top of one of the mirrors, I don't remember seeing before. It might have happened under my watch. Very small. Seems like there is one more tiny scratch area, not quite a door ding (no dent) but somewhat similar. And there's some kind of swirling / light clouding on the trunk. Again, only I have noticed this. I think I'm going to full clay bar, polish and wax the vehicle (focusing on the trunk) to see if this will go away.

But my blood pressure soars when I find this stuff. To the point maybe I should just quit cleaning it, and maybe quit driving it too. The interior is flawless though.



Am I the only one who's ready to strangle someone when finding this stuff?


7milesout

Tee

Well stop cleaning her up is little drastic but I feel where you are coming from. It's time to start practicing defensive parking, this will be your best defense against inconsiderate drivers that park around you. Let's face some people just don't respect other people's property and this includes their kids that lean, swing car doors far as designed into your car and haters mad you have a nice car and they don't. I seen women lay their purse/bags on other people's cars in parking lots while they dig around looking for whatever, while the metal feet scratches up the paint smh. I don't mind walking further to ensure I park in a spot away from disrespectful assclowns, it gives me peace of mind.

redlight30

Unfortunately we drive them not make them a trailer queen!

Doublebase

I've been lucky (knock on wood), the only thing that happened to my car this winter was paint swirls from a local car wash. I do have a few dings from a previous owner - which I may, or may not get fixed. As far as those dings go...I kind of figure why bother? As soon as I get them fixed I'll just get more. That's the life of a car...not a lot different than our own...they get dinged on the way.

Nospinzone

That could be part of your problem right there. In the Automotive Detailing forum there are some great washing tips, and Zach (zmcgovern) is a wealth of detailing info.

But yea, I hear ya.

caha14

Totally hear you. I agree with parking far away, since some folks can be so careless.

I do wonder how the 2004 745Li would've fared...

RodT

I agree with Tee, I park extremely far away and i never park beside other cars, I goes as far as taking up 4 parking spaces when i park .

7milesout

I call it Strategic Parking. And I do it with every car I drive. Even if i were driving someone else's car. The damage is totally unrelated to my washing procedures. We've discussed this parking strategy before and if you recall, I mentioned that The Warden would park in a foot of fresh wet mud and an inch away from the right front tire of a recently stopped and idling Caterpillar mining truck. Get out and never think about it again. Come back with a pancake of a car and just say, "oopsie." Then never think of that car again.

But she won't be inconsiderate of other's vehicles. It's just that the vehicle she drives is no more than a trash can that moves her from here to there.

As far as I'm concerned, she'll NEVER drive the LS. The wheelbase is too long for someone who cannot fathom that there exists other wheels besides the fronts and that they may not exactly go the same place the fronts went. I digress. Back to the car damage.

My 2004 performance Corolla has very little damage on it due to the strategic parking. Just scratches on the top of the rear bumper from The Warden dragging luggage across it (once). And one non scratched ding from likely a fellow "student" of hers. It's in really good shape for 186k miles.


7milesout

Doublebase

We must live parallel lives, I too have implemented a "strategic parking" technique and my wife can quickly destroy a vehicle as fast as your Warden.

What I try to do is just park far enough away from all the action...the coming and going of vehicles in a parking lot...the hot spots. I may have to walk an extra 20-40 feet, but I think it's worth it. I'm not obnoxious about it, I don't park in the very back of a parking lot and I never take up two spots (that's just asking for trouble). It's just something easy I do and so far it has paid off.

My Warden on the other hand comes home with different bumps and scratches on her car every other week. A few days ago she had a scrape going from the rear bumper to the mud flap (which was torn off). I asked her what happened...like every other thing that has ever happened...she had no idea. Ten years ago we used to divvy up the tasks to do around the house, etc, well I noticed the whole right side of hear vehicle had scratches on it from the nose, to the bumper. It was her job to bring the trash barrels in - I brought them out - she had proceeded to drag them against her car for several years. The other side was fine. She told me if I wanted the scratches to stop, perhaps I had better take care of the trash. Now my son does it.

dfrosch

Just thinking outside the box here...


Perhaps we need to invest a few bucks on those orange cones. It works for AT&T.

CM460L

It is extremely hard to keep my black paint clean and the current pollen doesn't help.

R Z

I never knew my car had some form of damage to the passenger rear trunk side. I knew the bumper had been replaced, but they said it was due to a hole where the previous owner had backed into something (So much for the camera and back up signal). I'm going to get this repaired and the back passenger door which looks worse every time I wash it.

And yes, I find more and more scratches, but doesn't deter me from enjoying every driving mile!

charlesatl

I also practice defensive parking. I park as far away as possible and just walk. I see so many people cruise around and around trying to get the closest space. You cant walk a few feet? Its paid off as my car that I purchased in 1999 has literally no damage from other selfish parkers. Plus dont get people who get mad because you have a nice car..if they want a nice car they can work for it like we all did.

baam

The thing that bothers me most is how easily the front end (hood, bumper, grill) is dinged up by road debris. I bought the car mainly for road trips (Ohio to Texas mostly) and while the ride/comfort of the car makes the trips very comfortable, I find new paint damage after every trip which really ticks me off.

I don't want to put the plastic film on the car since it's a 2007 but I would consider a bra that I could install just for long road trips. I have searched but not found anything, Anyone have any experience or suggestions?


Also, concerning small dents, when I bought this car it had a pretty good ding on one of the doors. It was low and I figured I would just live with it (didn't see it till after I had closed the deal ) but the dealer said his detail guy could get it out. I was skeptical but I watched him slowly push the 3" crease out with a long stainless rod thru a hole he drilled in the edge of the door and later plugged. Didn't seem to bother the paint and I don't see it anymore which made me VERY happy.

Doublebase

I'm surprised the detail guy could get that crease out so easily...and I've never heard of that technique before, but it sounds very cool.

As for the front end, I too have the same problem. I've read, heard, and experienced Lexus's paint to be soft. And it really hurts on the nose of the car - I have a darker color, so you can imagine how bad mine is. The only solution I could think of was to get the thing painted...only I'm sure, to have it happen again. And after I wax it, it looks even worse as the wax fills in all the divots and nicks. I will say that these aren't the only cars with this problem, I had a corvette that had the same issues.