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I picked this up from Florida late November. It's my first Lexus and so far I have no complaints. However after giving her it's first wash, I've noticed some weird "stains' on the paint. The most stubborn are these dark streak coming off the door handles...doesn't seem to come off. The second are around the stickers on the bumper. It has black stains all around it. Has anyone dealt with this before and what did you do?
The door streaks I have them too on my white car. Will buff it out with some polish later. Your bumper has the protection film and is known to lift and get dirt under neath it. You can take a heat gun and warm up the plastic and start peeling it away very slowly at a perpendicular angle. There is always an off-chance that it peels some paint along with it but for the most part you should be okay. Just warm it up before peeling.
Following - I also bought mine in late November and planning on washing my car tomorrow when the sun finally comes out. I did notice mine had the same dark spots you mentioned around the stickers and I'm glad I'm not the only one. I also did notice that dirt does noticeably build up in the door jam way more than my other white vehicle...
Eddie is correct. . Those stains under the door handle occur when the car is not washed regularly enough, and the dirt, grime and oils create a runoff, or trickle, that dries and stains. Polish it out and the polish wax will help prevent and minimize future staining.
That appliqué can’t be cleaned, dirt is stuck to the adhesive on the underside of the film. Best thing to do is remove it. As Eddie said, heat gun and LOTS of patience. Afterwards a good polish and wax to protect.
Welcome to the forum! Enjoy your GS! And post pics when you get done cleaning up those areas... we all enjoy looking at pics of cars!
Looks like water run off from the rain. Looks like this car sat outside in the elements based on what I'm seeing (I live in the NW so I've seen this on all white cars). You can totally polish it away with a clay bar and a high quality single stage paint polish.
Thanks for the info. I didn't even think about peeling the plastic off. There's some around the edge of the doors that will have to come off to if i'm going to peel all these sucker off. I'll rub some compound polish on the dark spots on the door handle. Hope they'll come off fairly easy. This will work perfect as I have plans to give the car a good cleaning, clay bar the hell out of it, polish it and ceramic coat it for better protection. I'll get some photos up once I get going.
The door streaks I have them too on my white car. Will buff it out with some polish later. Your bumper has the protection film and is known to lift and get dirt under neath it. You can take a heat gun and warm up the plastic and start peeling it away very slowly at a perpendicular angle. There is always an off-chance that it peels some paint along with it but for the most part you should be okay. Just warm it up before peeling.
It needs to be peeled away at an angle that's more parallel. You never want to just 'lift up' at perpendicular angle.
Congrats and welcome - pretty much everyone with a white GS has those dirt streaks coming down the handles if you aren't able to wash the car every couple of weeks. It usually comes off for me with using just a tiny bit of rubbing compound or just a good old fashioned hand buff with a soft cotton cloth...If you have a power washer, that also helps loosen up the top layer of grime.
I had some dirt stains happening around the rear bumper applique and used rubbing compound to get some of it off - however yours looks like it should just be replaced for $50 (here's a link to a reputable Lexus Dealership i've bought from selling them for competitive prices: https://www.ebay.com/itm/LEXUS-OEM-F...H/233020652904)
I would just remove the rear bumper applique and buy a new one as someone suggested.
once the dirt gets under there on the adhesive it's there permanently.
I would just remove the rear bumper applique and buy a new one as someone suggested.
once the dirt gets under there on the adhesive it's there permanently.
Remove it and never put it back one. It will get dirty fast especially on a white car. Also I find it completely useless because I don't drag things across the paint and not careless like some people.
I do like it there for insurance plus it makes it look more factory.
without one makes me think the bumper was resprayed...which was the case on my IS.
Just went over the dark spots under the door handles with some Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and that seemed to do the trick. Haven't mess with the applique. I'll probably just remove it and be done with it. I'm pretty careful with my things and I don't want to have to do this again if it got dirty again.
Side note, before trying the compound, I tried Mother's Speed Clay 2.0 to remove the dark spots...it didn't work, however, it did do a pretty good job pulling all the contaminants out. Paint feels like silk now. I've never even heard of clay bars, etc until last week when I fell into the dark pit call YouTube. This clay barring stuff is AMAZING!
12-14-18, 01:39 PM
My First Lexus and Her First Wash
