Hi guys,

What is everyone's opinion on the quality of the 3rd gen GS paint? Does anyone find theirs to be brittle or more subject to stone chips and road rash than previous vehicles.

I drive my car very sparingly and even after a month I have noticed a lot of new stone chips. I guess because we have sloping hoods and are very low to ground the situation is not helped.

As for clear bra's I don't bother with them anymore after a few bad experiences with removal peel.

Anyway I guess my question would be does the GS suffer extreme road rash more so than other vehicles due to a particular paint process in the mid Y2K's?

Compared to my LS430 the paint seems very different. Maybe some new environmental application process or something?

 

Lexus has always had excellent paint on their cars, but I do know what you mean. I feel like my 3GS paint is much thinner than my old SC400's. You practically had to huck a boulder at that thing to make a chip in it's armored shell of paint. Still, the paint on our cars is great compared to most cars of their time. I got the SunTek front mask on my car when I picked it up, and I do notice a considerable amount of scuffs from rocks and debris on the film.

 

Yeah, I agree. Glad you share my opinion. My LX470 paint is practically impenetrable.

 

I'm glad someone asked this question since I just bought a dual action polisher and am committed to NEVER go to a carwash again unless it's a self service so I can just spray it down to get any heavy crud off before I do a waterless/rinseless wash myself. Is this paint considered hard or soft? I've read different opinion on the web.

 

My understanding is that Japanese cars tend to have softer clearcoats, which means they pick up defects more easily but the defects are easier to correct. German cars tend to have hard clearcoats, so they're more resistant to defects but correcting any defects they do get can be a pain in the ***

As for the paint quality, I haven't had any issues with the paint itself (bubbling, fading, etc.). I do have lots of rock chips on the front bumper, and a few larger ones on the first ~6 inches of the hood. Of course, my windshield also has plenty of rock chips, so I can't really blame the paint for getting chipped when the same grit and rocks can damage glass. It probably doesn't help that California roads are are terribly maintained, so there's plenty of loose grit on the road

 

3rd Gen GS paint is garbage, I don't know about other models or new models so I can't say but this gen sucks, our 08 Benz has superior paint quality and super thick. I have bubble rust on my gs hood, not one but my previous ones as well.