bearsteve

Wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem. I have a pearl white SC400 that is experienceing yellowing of the paint toward the bottom of the car. The yellowing appears to occur only on the plastic part of the car. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

Daddy-O

Welcome to ClubLexus...Do you have any pics?

The reason I ask is because a couple days ago, I was waiting for Chinese takeout in my Lexus. A Toyota Camry pulled into a parking spot in the next row and I saw its rear bumper very clearly. It looked like most of the paint(?) on the plastic bumper had worn off and all this yellow was showing through.

After looking at this for a few minutes, it appeared as though someone had dragged something repeatedly across the top of the bumper and wore the paint off. What remained was a school-bus yellow under coating.

Could the same type of thing be happening to your plastic panels? Have they been scrubbed? Tar remover? Something?

pcmw

That yellowing is just dirty panels. That bottom panel picks up alot of tar. When you wash your car with soap, the tar smears and makes the panel appear yellowish. Take a can of "Bug and Tar" and wipe it down.... Wash the car again.... Then do it again.... wash the panel again....then wax it....

MW

Kyle Harty

iTrader: (17)

If it hasn't been done lately, it would be a good idea to thoroughly wash and clay bar the whole car, then polish and/or wax. Hopefully this would take care of the problem if it is just tar deposits, and even if it doesn't solve that problem it should be done anyway.

bearsteve

Thaks for the cleaning tips, but I am convinced it is not a tar problem. The moldings are uniformly yellowed. When I get my digital camera back I will try and post a picture of how it looks.

BananaGS

99 pearl while GS has a recall on this. The dealer repaint all the side molding for me free.

gs4to4

Do you have more info on the recall? I have the same problem with my 98 GS in pearl

alexulan

I also have buddy that has a white pearl 98 that was peeling.
Lexus paid to get it repainted under warranty.

LexusL

Is it a recall or just under warranty???

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

The TSB was for original owners only.

Copout221

I have a 99 GS and I hate the way the yellowing looks. I am the second owner and the car is 700 miles out of warranty. I am going to call Lexus and try to find out if they will take care of this for me. Wish me luck !!!!!!!

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

I have the same problem! '99 GS as well. It's just bad enough to be noticable, and it's been stable since I got the car (i.e. isn't getting any yellower). I bought the car with 4500 miles on it (55K on it now), so if the recall is for first owners, I'm screwed (what else is new...). Is the mismatch actually worth repainting and destroying the integrity of the original paint?

Until this point, I thought that the mismatch of color was due to a chip protectant that Lexus uses to cover the lower panels. No?

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Come to think of it, I've also noticed that Lex's of other colors often appear to be mismatched top vs. bottom, which is why I thought it was a protective coating. The darker colors do not appear to show it as badly as pearl white.

Copout221

I am the second owner of my GS and the dealer is taking care of it and giving me a loaner. I have an appt to drop it off Monday the 9th and they said it will take the week to finish. It is being painted by the dealers body shop and they assure me that it will be as good as the factory finish if not better plus it will match. They also give a lifetime warranty on the paintwork according to Lexus and my service advisor. If you complain enough they should take care of the problem at 55k miles. If you wait too long and lose the opportunity to get it repaired you may regret it if the yellowing gets worse !!

Copout221

I disagree, the siver, black, tan/gold, red GS's do not show this, believe me I have looked. I almost bought a silver GS400 but I love the pearl white. Maybe I should have went with the GS400 and its power !!!!!!!!!