I bought my gx470 almost 2 yrs. ago. The passenger side door had the size of about a 5 inch diamater spot with the clearcoat pealed off. No sign of any damage other than it missing and flaking. I thought I noticed it in the front, but it was so minor that I did not think about it again. They fixed the door before selling it to me. Within 4 months. The clearcoat just kept peeling off and now it is about 5 inches long. Not a single mark to ever even suggest
a paint chip. And around the grill after a couple months, I could see little blisters start to form and then pop and turn into little rust spots. About 15 of them all around the edges of the grill.

I am a very nice person to deal with and I spoke to techs, salesman, and a manager. One salesman said he heard that some of the gx470's had defective paint. Do you know the other guys including the manager said they were paint chips. Are you kidding me. I said that how can that be when the side door had a huge section of clearcoat peeled off. And how could rocks choose just around the grill to do that too. Why were there not as many rock chips all over the front bumper, etc.. So I want to know if anyone knows something about this.

I am getting ready to take it to a paint specialist and ask for their opinion because this is the 2nd lexus we purchased from them and I am actually stunned that they would give me such a bull excuse. I just dont believe it, but I am no expert. And time goes by, I only have 1 more year left on the factory warranty and want to get this taken care of because it is not fair.

 

I have an 03 GX as well and the same thing happened to me on mine. Since I bought the car CPO about 6 months before it happened, I took it to the Lex dealer and they repaired it for free.

The service manager at the dealership was able to rub clearcoat off which to him suggests that its a defect and not from anything else.


Good luck

Ken

 

Having worked at several dealerships during my younger years it is not uncommon for a dealership to hire a "mobile" paint repair company to address things such as paint chips, minor damage, rust spots etc in order to get the car ready for sale. Although they charge far less then a body shop, the problem with the mobile paint repair companies is that they do not have the advantage of being able to bake the paint and clearcoat at high temperatures. Rather they use a heat gun. Unfortunately the usual result is the paint and or clearcoat ends up cracking and or pealing after a couple of years. Considering you bought yours used there is a likelihood this could be the reason for the clearcoat peeling and chiping in a certain area. Either the dealer did this during the reconditioning process or the previous owner made repairs prior to trading it in. I have never heard of a paint issue from an original owner of a 2003 GX. Ask the dealer if they performed any paint repair work on the truck - they are obligated to tell you. Based on your recent discussions with the dealer I suspect this is not the case or they would have addressed it (unless they are just total skum bags) so I am leaning towards a prior owner repair.