Hi guys
First of all I'm not an experienced driver!

Very embaressing thing happened to me literally only 2 hours after I bought my 97 ES300 .. I was trying to get it into my tiny garage as slowely as possible when I heard a horrible screeching noise, i got out to discover that I wasnt in a perfect position and my back passenger door was scratched very deep by the garage side, now the problem is that my garage is built of raw red brick, and that stuff is like sandpaper clawing into my paint, by the time I was able to get the car out of the garage (moving back and forth several times thus deepening the scratches till I finally got it out you can only imagine how i felt hearing those horrible noises every inch I moved) the paint was in terrible condition and the bottom side molding was pressed inside and had long ugly scratches on it .. the whole thing looks so bad even miles away and you can imagine how upset I am .. called a touchup guy and he said he wouldn't touch it and I can't really afford paying for it to be painted.
I buffed up the scratches as much as I could with not much luck, tried Meguirs ScratchX and Quixx but they're very deep, then finally got a touchup color bottle from Lexus and tried to paint it as carefully as possible using a toothpick, but still looks very bad and inconsistant and dull, then I just waxed the car and buffed it and it looks a bit more "bearable" now but very far from perfect .. I'm thinking of buying the color and clear coat in spray cans but not sure if that will still be visible or not? but the side molding I don't know what to do about it its dented to the inside and the scratches look rather whitish which is very obvious on a supposidly black side molding
any help would be deeply appreciated .. I haven't been able to sleep ever since this all happened

 

Might as well go to Earl Shieb as use spray cans... I'm feelin your pain as I had a little altercation due to my watching a bumfight instead of watching where I was going... I got lucky as most of the black tire marks buffed off but the rest I have to live with...

 

Thanks Esucaris, but what's Earl Sheib? I forgot to mention that I live in Australia so most spray cans -even the paint and clear coat- will be very difficult to get from overseas ..

 

Ohhhhhhh lol earl is a cheap a** paint chain that might spray your tires and windows along with the body... shody work and cr** materials... I have heard of some automotive paint suppliers that claim they can custom mix and fill aresol cans with "matching" paint but I havn't personaly tried them... here is a link i remembered seeing https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=67398

 

Moheb, as you mentioned, you are not an experienced driver, but holy moly, you are an absolute master at conveying in excruciating detail how you badly damaged your 2 hour old ES300.
I was literally in PAIN while reading your description of how it happened, and thinking how I would feel myself if I were in your shoes! To have that occur at any time is very unfortunate, but for it to have happened immediately after buying and driving your new car for the very first time is sad beyond belief.
I sincerely hope you manage to get it repaired without too much expense. Be sure to let us know how it goes.

 

I was nearing a nervousbreakdown when it happened, and it got worse when I saw it in the morning light the next day ... but any ideas on what can be done to the black molding? any suggestions at all ..?

 

The molding or cladding, as it is also called, is held on with screws and/or clips behind it. Perhaps you could check at an auto-wrecker to see if you can find some to replace the one/s that got damaged, hopefully in the same color. Also search Ebay motors. And also keep a watch on CL's classifieds forum for someone parting out their car. I've bought quite a few parts that way. Or perhaps the damage can be repaired easily and since the color is black, it should be easier to match to the rest of the undamaged cladding. But if it were mine, I wouldn't try to spray paint it myself. Good luck.

 

Many thanks Lexucan
I'll try looking for wreckers and online options but i have a question: do all ES300 97' models come with the same colour and texture in molding? I just don't want to get one thats a different look ..

 

AFAIK, the only difference would be the color (some are grey, some are silver, some are gold, etc.), but since yours is black, as I mentioned earlier, it should be easier to match to your undamaged cladding than other colors would be.

 

Many thanks Lexucan I posted a request in the classifieds section in CL and I'll see how it goes, do yoiu have any idea if I buy the spray can paint and clearcoat for the door itself, would that fix it up or the color difference would be obvious? And are there any steps I need to do before sanding and spraying?

 

bump......

 

I am no expert on body work or painting, but I have serious doubts that trying to repair your door with a can of spray paint will give you positive results. IMO, unless you have the skills and proper equipment to do it yourself, it should be done by a professional.