hypervish

Hey, I have a ton of rock chips on the hood of my RX300. Most of them by the grill, but there are a few all over the hood. I take a 2000 mile road trip nearly every month which is why I have so many rock chips. I've decided that I want to try and cover them up, as the rest of the RX look's like new. The paint and body is perfect except for the hood.

Also, what are the other spots on the hood? I had the car washed just prior to this, so the stuff you see in the pictures is the actual paint, or lack thereof.

Here's a few pictures of the damage. What can I do to fix this? Preferably, something that is cheap, please! lol

jbjones85

iTrader: (20)

I would try dr. colorchips as a start. $30 and it worked decently well on my SGM IS350. Other than that your only other approach would be have the bumper/hood re-sprayed and then have a clear bra put on (not cheap)

hypervish

Ok, thanks! I'll look into dr.colorchips.

DunWkg

What a painful array of rock chips!! In the first photo the chips make sense to me, they travel front to back. In the next photos they seem to travel left to right or right to left. Did you change the angle of the photos? The one photo it looks like a cluster of pellets hit you. Where or how did you "earn" all these badges of honor?

hypervish

I didn't change the angle after taking the picture but I took the pictures at a slight angle.

I "earned" them during my road trips, I take a 2000 mile road trip every month (sometime every other month) to Michigan & Chicago from New Jersey. Stupid road construction and I'm sure some of it is from tailgating a few truckers who won't move the frig over a lane even when it specifically states no trucks in passing lane.

The bumper is still in perfect condition, no rock chips/marks or anything. Just the damn hood.

The few rock chips on the grill, can easily be fixed with paint thinner revealing the chrome underneath.

Let's say I can't fix or at least cover up the rock chips, how much would it approx.. cost to have just the hood painted? Again, that's last resort and hopefully I don't have to do that. I'm not looking for them to be seamless and disappear, but rather just filled in some black color so they aren't visible from far away only up close. As of now the rock chips have taken off the paint it seems and it makes it look ugly.

SOARER5

jbjones85 is right on the money. No matter which option you choose, everything will be temporary. You can get brand new paint and road debris will still chip your paint. Applying a clear bra is the only real solution. With some effort, I was not able to puncture 3M plastic with a key.

The other misc spots is etching in the clear caused by water spots or acidic bugs sitting on the paint too long. Compounding might remove or blend the spots with the surrounding area depending on how deep.

hypervish

Ok, thanks!

Yeah, I don't mind if it's temporary because Dr.Colorchip is cheap. But I agree that there will certainly be more road debris een after.

I'll try turtlewax rubbing compound or something along those lines. Thanks for the tip!

99rx

iTrader: (6)

Compounding it won't do anything. I didn't realize it was that bad when you posted the pictures of your headlights. Dr. Colorchip will cover it up a little bit, but ultimately, you will need a front clip respray to make the paint color watch correctly. I would recommend this because after you do this, you can apply a 3m clear bra and not have to worry about the rock chips anymore. So look in to local body shops who have a good reputation. DO NOT GO to a Maaco or one of those cheap places for paint on a Lexus.

hypervish

Yeah, it's pretty bad. Damn road debris.

First I'll try some rubbing compound, and a clay bar for the water spots, and bird crap spots. Hopefully it will fix that.

I'll then try the Dr.Colorchip for the road debris damage as you suggested to me a few weeks back. I'll update the thread once I do it. It may be after winter. As I'm sure there will be more damage on the hood from salt trucks, and more road debris. lol

I don't think I will get it repainted, I feel like it may be more than I'm willing to spend. I could always go to a salvage yard find a hood and use that instead, because at least that way it will still be OEM paint. But that's the worse case scenario.

Thanks for the help!

99rx

iTrader: (6)

Oh, I thought those were deep rock chips. The compounding will remove most bird stains and water spots.