When I purchased my AWD 5 days ago, of course the car was in pristine waxing/washing condition on the lot. There were some visible dings and chips, but nothing to get excited about.

Well, we've had a good amount of rain since then. And what do I see yesterday all over the passenger side doors? Rock chips. Hundreds of them. In the right sunlight, it looks like a car in winter with unwashed salt all over the place.

Look, I know its used. And it's black, and it'll never be perfect. Not even close. But this looks like it got sandblasted, and it was covered up by the dealer. While I know buying a used car from a dealer is buyer beware, if something is concealed and not pointed out, I think I have a beef. What do you think?

 

Won't fall under the lemon law rules b/c its not a safety/use issue.

But.. if you make a stink about it you may get some help from the dealer. Depends on how stand-up they are. Or how serious they think you are that you'll sue them if they don't follow through. I'm sure a small claims court would be more sympathetic to you than a dealer, especially after the $ you've dropped.

What do others think

 

Wax it again to cover the spot?

 

Dealerships love using filler/tinted waxes to hide these minor imperfections. I got pretty lucky with my used black car in that it's pretty perfect everywhere except for the front bumper where it appears the previous owner was a nasty tailgater.

At the end of the day it's caveat emptor with used cars. I ask them to wash it thoroughly and present it to me stripped of wax before dropping signatures. It's important that a car be clean and viewed in the sun before buying it. No small claims court is going to rule in your favor over the condition of the paint on a used car, it will be argued that you had every opportunity to inspect it for any length of time prior to purchasing it.

Get a porter cable and compound and you'll be surprised how much you can actually buff out, especially from a black car without any of that sparkle nonsense mixed in.

Where did you buy it? I got mine from a Toyota dealership and they even had a PDR guy in the day I was picking it up going over the whole car to massage out every little ding for me.

 

My font bumper looks like I tailgate all day (but don't). It's covered in tiny chips all over it and bothers me to high hell. Anything you recommend to cover them up best as possible? I've thought about the compound but never tried it before. 90-95% of my driving is on the freeway, I guess it's just something that is always going to be there?

 

I disagree re: small claims court. If the original poster is from MA as his profile states, I know for a fact that their courts are very liberal toward the consumer.

 

My front bumper is COVERED with small tiny chips from rocks. I drive mostly on the highway too and from work. Is there any cheap easy fix aside from getting repainted or new bumper?

 

^ try Dr. Colorchip. search the forum.

 

The problem is dr. color chip fixes a *few* chips. Not helpful when you have 10+

 

I agree with lex326, Dr Colorchip is a good product but it can only do so much. Mine looked better after using it but you would have to repaint and then do a Clear Bra to make it perfect.

 

ic.. i guess it really depends on how far you are willing to go.. i'm sure it wouldn't make it look perfect, but seems like a great substitute if you don't want to paint the whole bumper or shell out $$..

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...olor-chip.html

 

+1, i did a complete repaint of my hood/fenders. now just waiting for the clear bra installer to come back from vacation. after that i won't have to worry about rock chips anymore!



for me, i just claimed the rock chips under my car insurance. paid $200 deductible and got a $2,800 2 stage paint job. i'm not complaining!

 

Don't your premiums go up by claiming under insurance? Did an appraiser have to come out and approve the claim?

 

The dealership wont help you at all. Its a "visible" thing that you didnt catch due to whatever they had done to hide the imperfections.

Dealers are not a "buyer beware" sign, then what are private parties? Its all the same when its said and done.

 

I did that with my Camry. Some rocks are huge enough to rip through the clear bra too. And to make it worse the bugs don't clean off of the clear bra. But to end my clear bra days is the fact that after I remove the clear bra it look like 2 finish on the hood. The clearbra part looks clean while the none clearbra looks different.