btanchors

Hello everyone,
I just purchased my second Lexus - 2017 GS 350. It's replacing my old 2003 GS 430.

I will be taking delivery of the car in a week, so I don't have it yet. However, I downloaded the owner's manual and read about the car having "Self-Healing" Paint, with a warning not to use abrasives on the finish.

What does this mean exactly? Is it safe to "Clay bar" the finish? What is recommended for an off-the-shelf wax (synthetic or otherwise)? For my other vehicles, I've been using Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax 2.0.

Bear in mind I am a "casual" owner when it comes to caring for my car's finish - I'm not interested in spending hundreds of dollars for exotic waxes, nor do I want to spend days at a time polishing. I generally wash and wax within a day's time. I have been clay baring the finish once a year.

Will this regimen be OK for "Self Healing Paint" or is a totally new approach warranted?

k20trick

iTrader: (3)

Yes, it is safe to clay bar a new car, clay remove above surface contaminants stuck on the paint. Your car although new will be transported from point a to b, most likely will be railed to your location. Well things like rail dust, iron, pollution, will be stuck on the paint's finish.

Meguiars sells a good clay kit off the shelf and comes with quick detailer as lube. Be generous with the quick detailer as that will lubricate the surface as you glide the clay across the surface. Let the clay do the work for you don't need 10lbs of pressure, and kneed often as this will ensure you are using a clean side of the bar.

I really like Meguiars ultimate liquid wax, it lasts long and offers great protection, however you should be fine with any quality wax. You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on exotic waxes to get great results.

This is a great approach!

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

The most gentle way to care for that kind of paint and all paint is to use a chemical decontaminating product as much as possible and only clay bar if absolutely necessary.

The two most common contaminants on paint are iron and tar. Iron contaminants are the small orange rust specs that embed into the paint from brake dust,rail dust, and other iron found in the atmosphere around industrial areas. Tar specs are self explanatory, you'll usually get a bunch of them inside your wheel barrels over time and lower parts of the car on occasion if you live in areas with lots of construction.

For iron, use Iron-X or Ferrex (or a similar product by a different manufacturer).
For tar, use Tar-X, Tarminator, or 3M General Adhesive Remover.

These chemicals make your life VERY easy and either eliminate the need for clay bar altogether or reduce the claying time tremendously. The less you clay your car, the less you're marring (scratching) the finish.

On the self-healing paint, I am guessing they say to not use abrasives (polish/compound that removes a small layer of clearcoat) because using such products will strip the top self-healing layer and change the properties of the paint.

Although a clay bar is not abrasive on its own and does not remove paint, using it too aggressively and too frequently/improperly can raise the chances of clay marring/scratches/swirls...all of which will require some amount of polishing to correct. I am still not sold on self-healing paint because all the previous examples by other manufacturers proved to be a gimmick and not actually work as advertised or intended. The only true self-healing material I know of as of today are the self-healing PPF films such as Suntek, XPEL Ultimate and 3M. Some manufacturers of paint protection coatings are also developing or have already developed products that claim to be self healing, but the ones we tried so far are not that impressive. We are currently testing FEINLAB's self healing coating that was installed by their sales rep and so far it's been doing a great job but we need more time to truly test how long those self healing properties last.

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

I do want to note that in some cases, a clay bar is absolutely necessary. If your car ever sat at a body shop or was in any kind of environment that had paint/chemical overspray, the 2 chemicals mentioned above won't be of any use. If you have actual paint overspray or fallout that hardens and does not easily dissolve, you would need to use a claybar. Sap, cement specs that harden are also tricky to remove properly and can cause permanent or serious paint damage and should be handled properly (pressure washer for cement and pray to god it works, and hand sanitizer for sap works amazing).

SW17LS

Having had both non self healing and self healing Lexus paint, I treat them the same.

k20trick

iTrader: (3)

I believe Lexus recommends staying away from abrasives found in polishes/compounds so it's not the same.

SW17LS

I understand what Lexus recommends, I'm telling you what I've done. I haven't polished it out because it hasn't been necessary, but in reality I don't see much of any difference in the paint. I've had some light scratches, I've polished them out by hand as I always have, no issues. It needs a light swirl removal down low on the doors and quarter panels, I intend to polish it out with my machine as the have all my other Lexus cars.

I think it's mostly a marketing gimmick. In casual care I would say treati g it the same is fine.

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

We have worked on theoretical "self healing paint" from a few manufacturers... all of which were completely swirled and scratched. All of which corrected just like "normal" paint.

I don't personally believe any of the self healing paint claims as I have yet to see an OEM finish behave in such a manner than would benefit the owner.

SW17LS

I agree 100%

JDR76

I machine polished my GS and put a ceramic coating on it. I have way more faith/confidence in that than I do "self healing paint".

2008GS

Guys while we are speaking on the topic of paint protection, I use a silicone "blade" to remove the water off the paint after washing. I have seen a big reduction in wax protection, life, and beading since using the "blade." I use Meguiars products. Would I be correct to assume the blade is striping the wax off through friction?

nathantse

"self-healing paint" is a flop. I see tons of 16+ RXs that claim to have it, but it is still easy to get swirls.

imo I'll treat your GS like any normal car. Proper techniques when it comes to washing and detailing.

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

I have not heard of a water blade stripping wax. I used to use those probably ten years ago ALL the time to dry my cars and never had an issue.
The main reason you shouldn't be using the blade to dry a car is because there's a much higher likelihood you're scratching and swirling your paint compared to towel drying or the best method is using forced air to dry the car without touching it. If your car is a light colored metallic, you might not ever see the damage the blade is causing to the naked eye but on darker paint you'll definitely see it.

I agree that self healing paint so far has been a big flop. The only thing I've seen that self-heals are a few brands of PPF products but even those lose the self healing property over time, especially if you don't maintain them religiously and properly.

onepercent

I got a new 2019 GS 350. I have hired a car detailing guy from yelps to put PPF on my hood. He seems to be an experienced person based on the reviews and I have seen examples of his PPF wrapping work. I didn't read the manual at the time and did not tell my detailing guy about the self-healing coating when I gave him to car to put the films on. Before he put the film on the hood, he used his special light to do inspection on the hood and he saw a light scratch on the hood probably from the dealer preparation before delivery. He said I would not be able to see the scratch under normal lighting condition. He must be a over-zealous car detailing guy and he said he used some polishing compound to remove the scratch. When I heard about that, it really feaked me out as Lexus does not recommend using any abrasives. I have yet to see the car in his shop, and he swore to me that the clear self-healing coating remains "intact" except the scratch is gone. I am not sure how much damage he has done to the self-healing coating. Is there a way for me to see the effect on the self-healing coating with the clear Xpel fim on. This is my first Lexus and I don't want the car to suffer from unnecessary damages on my blend new Lexus by a over-zealous detail guy. Thank you very much for sharing with me your experience on maintaining and care of this self-healing clear coating. To be honest, I wish Lexus just put the regular clear coat on instead of this self-healing coating.

charley95

I have an 18 GS with Xpel all over it. I wouldn't worry one bit about the self healing paint. I've yet to see any Lexus paint self heal itself. For any micro scratch on the surface, the Xpel will completely mask it. Mine had some stubborn scratches on the drivers side rocker panel from someones leg rubbing against it getting in and out of the car when I bought it new. I polished as much of the scratches out prior to Xpel being installed but couldn't get all of them out. After the film installation it completely masked them. You didn't mention whether you were going to cover the nose?! I would strongly recommend covering it. The Xpel is a fantastic product and I have no complaints with mine. It almost has more gloss than the paint itself. I'd cover as much as you can on the car.