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I purchased a 2015 Certified Lexus IS 250 in May of this year. Didn't notice any paint flaws, nor did the other people that were with me. I have carefully washed the car since I purchased it and have kept it really clean since then, but did notice a spot on the roof after a couple of weeks. About 5 days ago after washing the car I noticed a bunch of little tiny spots on the roof, almost like the clear coat is evaporating! I have no idea what is going on. I took my car to Charles Barker Lexus in Va Beach, they said it was bird poop damage or tree sap damage. I informed them that I don't park under trees and if the car is dirty, I wash it right away. Usually every 2 or 3 days. The dealership is telling me there is nothing they can do and it's acid rain, tree sap, or "other environmental factors".
I'm pretty upset to put it mildly. This is the first nice car I've ever owned and can't believe they're telling me tree sap and acid rain. I don't know what else to do. I have an appointment on Friday so they can "buff" it. Do I go to the General Manager, or who? My wife has a 2015 Acura, bird crap left on for 1 week at a time, no damage at all. Any advice is/will be greatly appreciated! Thanks folks.
It looks like bird crap etching, different species of birds do different damage. Some like the little white sploches does not do much of anything to clear coat while the reddish big splatters with seeds can eat through your clear coat in half a hour or so in the hot sun. I know from personal experience. There is really nothing that can be done other then making it less noticeable short of repainting the panel/roof. Wet sanding and buffing may make it less noticeable but it unfortunately is pretty deep into the clearcoat.
That's clear coat failure. The layer of clear coat paint that is applied above your color paint coat is basically flaking off. Once that happens, the only way to fix it is to re-paint it. You can buff it and it will shine it up and blend it in better for about a month or so until it comes right back. So that dealer is basically giving you a fix that they know will not last. When detailers at dealerships buff cars (or any crappy detailer that only cares about money), they wan results and they want them fast. So they use a very strong buffer and quickly take about 1/2 the clear coat off. It makes the paint look great and leaves a nice even finish, but the problem is that they took off most of your clear coat to get it that way. That's likely why your paint failed. I don't care how long bird crap sat on there, it should not have eaten through the clear coat on a car that new. You can see all the other small parts where the clear coat is starting to go, so that clear coat is just thin and is failing all over that area. That car is still under warranty, especially because of it being a CPO, that adds two years to the warranty. I don't know what the Lexus warranty says about paint, but I would suggest looking into it.
I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
I just re-read your post. If that spot showed up only after a couple of weeks after buying the car, it's very likely that it was there when they sold it to you, they just buffed it to blend it in to sell it, knowing it would come back a month later.
A spot like that is not created in a couple of weeks. Paint has gotten much better. It is not that fragile where leaving bird poop on there for a month or even a year will cause clearcoat failure like that.
Believe it or not there is some bird crap that will eat through new clear in less then a hour in the hot sun, the stuff is really nasty. My dad had the hood on his car freshly painted and cleared at a body shop after a accident. When we went to pick it up the place parked it outside in the hot sun to let it bake/dry more and I saw the same kind of bird crap on it that I have known to eat right through clear quickly, the reddish splatter with seeds in it. I told my dad it was going to be a problem. We cleaned it off with wet paper towels and low and behold it had already showed signs of etching, could not have been sitting outside for more then a hour, maybe just half a hour. I said I can try to polish it but I doubt it will work. I polished it but the etching was still clearly there, we took it back to the body shop and they worked on it for over a hour and made it look better but it is still there if you look for it, they said the work is guaranteed for as long as you own the car so I guess he can get it repainted if it gets worse, last I heard he is fine with it.
It could have been on the car previously though and they hid it pretty well or you did not notice it and it is now showing up again or showing up worse, I would at least see what they can do for you, the only thing that is going to totally fix it is a re spray.
I used to have an office a block from Lake Michigan, home to thousands of seagulls. I used to go out 3-4 times a day to clean my car of droppings. Bird droppings can often be harmful to paint depending on the bird's diet. I carry a bottle of QD in the car to remove any droppings as soon as possible. Frequently, an hour is all that is needed to cause permanent paint etching.
If you want to keep this vehicle for a while, why not get the roof repainted. Or, since the roof is high and not all that visible unless you are over 6', see if a body shop can do a spot correction and blend that won't be too obvious. The vehicle is only 3 years old and likely has many good years ahead of it. If it were me, that spot would irritate me daily I'd spend the money to get it corrected properly. Buffing is just kicking the can down the road, and not very far down the road.
I've would leave my black Nissan parked outside in the CA sun for months on end with bird droppings stuck to it. It would etch the paint, but never caused clearcoat failure.
Of course the Nissan was 22 mils paint thickness while the lexus only measures 5.
I agree, I would have the roof repainted. If it were just that one spot i'd recommend touchup, but it looks like its starting to fail all over the roof.
08-29-18, 04:06 PM
paint mystery
