cflutist

I'm not sure this is a detailing issue or an issue with the 2014 RX models, but has anyone noticed that the paint (Nebula Gray Pearl) is rather soft?

Mods, please move if I've posted in the wrong forum.

After finding a 2-ft long light scratch on the passenger door from hubby brushing along bushes in the roadway around our neighborhood I found other scratches in the door handle wells on both driver and passenger sides (I don't have long fingernails either). Has this happened to others from normal wear and tear? Or is something I've noticed more because we do have a darker color paint?

We are taking our 2014 RXh into the local Lexus dealer for its 6-month servicing next week. Is this something that I can ask them to "buff" out? Or will they create more of a mess and I should just learn to live with it? Hubby says it is barely noticeable but it bugs me because it is on my passenger door (he does most of the driving).

vlad_a

Cheryl,

Give it a nice wax job. The light scratches will disappear and everything will be back to normal.
You could have professionals take care of it as well.

t2014rx

^^ totally agree. When I took my RX to the auto body shop they told me Lexus is known for their soft paint. I had a scratch from the rear passenger bumper to front wheel well area that looked pretty deep, lucily they were able to buff and wax it out. I can't see it at all and it looks like new agin. Good Luck!!

tlavergne

I was told by the detail guy at my dealership that they make the paint soft so it can be buffed out. He compared it to BMW which uses very hard paint. He said that hard paint is brittle and leads to chips that need touch up paint rather than buffing. Makes sense but I wish it was a bit harder and didn't scratch so easily.

rayaans

Lexus paint is soft compared to the German manufacturers like VW/Mercedes/Audi/BMW etc.

You can think of the softness in two ways. Firstly, as a bad thing, as it scratches easily. Or you can think of it as a blessing that its very easy to correct.

vlad_a mentioned a wax job. Let me explain that a wax job is not going to fix those scratches. Pure waxes are for protection and do not add shine, gloss, depth, whatever you want to call it. Pure waxes are used to simply protect the cars paintwork from road grime, iron particulates, tree sap and the worst culprit, bird droppings.

What you need is a range of polishes. Polishes add the shine to the paint and remove defects including scratches. Id recommend the Sonus hand polishing kit. It includes a sonus applicator, Sonus Restore polish and Sonus Final Finish polish.

Use the firm side with the restore polish and then use the softer side with the final finish and watch those scratches completely disappear or atleast look much better.

cflutist

Thanks for the tips, I'll let you know what happens.

kitlz

Cheryl, please check out the automotive care and detailing forum. Everything related to caring for your Lexus is in there. Plus we have great sponsors that will readily help. You can PM them. One of my favorite guides is from Detailed Image. Click here to take a look. It includes everything on how to properly wash and wax to product recommendations. Scratches are not unique to the RX but tend to be more visible on darker colors.

ericsan13

I'm going to get the opti-coat treatment for my next car - this should fix that soft paint problem...anyone else try it yet?

kitlz

ericsan, you're better off searching the aforementioned automotive care and detailing forum. You'll find many threads on OptiCoat. This search found 77 references to it.

wbbqhs

I did the stupidest thing ever to my 2014 RX a month ago - I used the hard side of a kitchen sponge, all over the side and back doors, and the rear bumper. It was a disaster. But the detailer fixed it and it is like new now. The detailer told me that they can't promise it will go away on the rear bumper as it is plastic. But it turns out it worked just like on the metal surface. I guess it proves the point that paint on the 2014 RX is indeed "soft".

For those who don't know already or think is not serious as you think, don't ever let a kitchen sponge go near you car!

vlad_a

Clay bar is your friend! Kitchen sponge - not so much.

I also did something dumb this weekend. I stopped to get gas and managed to hit the edge of the gas tank opening with the pump nozzle. That chipped the paint. In all the years of driving, I have never done this before. I guess you can't protect the paint from everything. Need to get some touch-up paint now.

cflutist

vlad-a

Ouch, that hurts, so sorry.

So I showed the scratches to the Lexus dealer at our 5K servicing, they put wax on it so it is not as noticeable. But the indentation in the paint for 2' is still there. So when you say buffed out, does that take the indentation out too?

kitlz

Cheryl, generally the rule is if you can catch the scratch with your fingernail, it's not going to buff out. You can try using a wax to temporarily fill it in. Take it to a body shop to see what they say. Good luck.

wbbqhs

Go to a body shop as kiltz suggested or alternatively go to a professional detailer as I did. The place I went is called Shine Factory but I think they are only in Canada. I am sure there are places similar in every major city. Before that I also went to the dealer but they don't seem to have much experience on the matter, and they quoted a much higher price.

t2014rx

From what little I know about auto body work from my previous personal experiences. Cheryl, if you can still see the scratches take it to a reputable auto body shop (hopefully with trustworthy personal references) and they should be able to buff out the scratch. I was worried about my scratch as parts of it my fingernail was to catch (as Anita mentioned), but they were able to sand-buff (?) it out and waxed on top to give it the shine. It's not even noticeable anymore, like it was never there. Probably helped that the paint is soft.

I believe that buffing would not remove the indentation, but a paintless dent removal expertise could probably take it out for a pretty penny. I have had the dentless paint removal used once on a small dent on my 4Runner and I couldn't tell there was a dent there when completed. It's incredible what they are able to do now-a-days.

Good Luck!!