KHP

I have an 09 RX350 that I bought brand new and I had the 3M protective film put on the front bumper, fog lights, headlights, hood and side mirrors and all has been well so far but the other day I was at the car wash and I sprayed a couple parts of the front bumper and the 3M protective covering starting ripping in the middle of the bumper and then the paint started coming off with the wash. Has anybody had this problem before or anything like this? I have another vehicle that doesn't have the 3M on it and I have never had this problem at all and I thought I was protecting my vehicle with the 3M on the Lexus. I took it back to the dealer I bought it from and they said that it was normal and I called BS on them and he said there wasn nothing they could do. I am thinking about writing to Lexus headquarters in Canada to see what they have to say about this as the local dealer in Edmonton doesn't seem to think they should do anything. Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated.

arima

when you say peel off, do you mean popping off where you see the primer? This happen to my BMW after I had the bumper repainted. I also have a Maxima that has taken lots of bumper abuse from parking in NYC, I have stretch marks, spider marks, scratches, and even cracks. The paint has never pealed off. This should not happen to your bumper, if its original paint. A body shop can never paint, the way the factory did, especially bumpers. I bought my maxima new from the dealer and the spoiler was repainted because it was scratched, they didn't say anything until I spotted it. I never saw my 09RX until I picked it up, to tell you the truth I never really inspected the car panel by panel. Not to be funny, but I don't think dealers throw away cars that get damaged.

KHP

I bought the RX last year and got them to order it from Japan and it was completely flawless and has been for a whole year. I have the 3M film on the front bumper and in the middle of the bumper is two tear marks from the wand wash that actually tore the paint back to the black bumper. It was weird that the 3M film would rip from water pressure and then the paint as well. Does this make sense to you and if you want I can upload some pics if you want.

metal

Could you have been backed into by another car?

Dave_S.

I have done the same clear bra treatment to my car and I'd expect to be able to remove the clear bra without damaging the paint. That said, I do think it's wierd that the clear bra would tear from water pressure from a car wash and it would have to be a lot of pressure to cut it, that could also effect your paint.
The good news is that I have had to replace the rear bumper cover on mine after a 1 mph accident in a parking lot and the body shop was able to match the paint perfectly.

KHP

This was on the front bumper and not the rear. It just seems ridiculous that the pressure of the water would have tore through the 3M and then the paint. I could see if I had it concentrated in one area for a period of time. Either way they are not huge rips but still would have liked it to be none. I am very pleased with the vehicle itself except for the paint tearing on the front bumper but I do plan on getting that repainted when it needs to be. Just thought I'd check and see if it was normal. When I was at the dealer he said that when they take the clear film off the front there is possiblity that it will tear the paint away anyways which I though was also kind of weird but who knows. I have a 3M specialist that lives next door to me and he said it shouldn't do that but the Lexus guys are out to lunch sometimes.

salimshah

I dont know if this will help, but hopefully can generate a discussion to get to the bottom of the problem and resolution.

Paint is nothing but skin with some bond to the material it is applied on. Primer usually bonds to the surface and then the paint bonds to the primer. The paint and the primer both age (breath) and the process is exponential .. breathing gets less day by day. With modern painting techniques which use ionization (Cant say if Lexus does it) helps bond better. The other technique is baking (which I am sure Lexus does) the process is accelerated. [Not too many years ago, people who knew would not wax their new vehicles for 6 months or so ... they would wait for the paint to cure].

Then there is clear coat on top. My understanding is that not all Lexus get a clear coat [I may be wrong but it is/or was; based on the color .. ref see GS forum for this discussion].

Now who choose 3M or any other clear plastic, are dealing with the bonding of the plastic to paint. If these materials stretch or contract at different rate [either by temperature variation or under force from accident etc] then one of the bonds is going to break. IF you see bubbles under the plastic, you can tell that bond between the paint and plastic has been compromised. And so on...

Back to the thread starter's predicament. Is it bad paint job by Lexus, bad 3M product, bad installation, bad customer treatment?

Among the list above, Corp Lexus should be held accountable for the first and the last. If the paint is chipping from surface not under the 3M product, then it is easier to prove that it is a paint problem.

For all dealership installed NON-Lexus options, one has to deal with the dealership or the contractor used or the warranty provided with the service/product.

So to get help from Corp Lexus, try to make your case for the bad paint job or dealership who used Lexus name to provide add-on is not helping you get the problem resolved.

Salim