I've noticed numerous threads regarding the misfortune some of us are having with damage to our beutiful new cars. Has anyone experienced a lot of "rock chips"? I had two on the very front of the hood. I don't recall being "pelted" by any rocks while driving. I then washed the car this weekend and noticed some small chips in the paint on the drivers door, R front fender and on the rear bumper. These aren't door dings as there are no dents and in the wrong place. I have an IS 350 in Tungsten Pearl. I contacted the salesman at the dealership, and he wants me to bring it in for the service mgr. to look at. This is my third Lexus, and I have never had this problem before. My cars has only 2000 miles on it, and has only been driven to work and home. My 2005 Hummer H2 catches every bug and rock on the road, and its paint is flawless.
Any comment or suggestions are appreciated.

 

i drive back and forth from la to sd almost every weekend.. i have yet to get one rock chip on my paint

it really depends on how you drive.. don't tail-gate, stay away from being behind cars, even if they ave in the next lane, and also.. stay a good distance from cars in front of you..
its worked for me.. no rock chips yet! 5400 miles

 

I don't think I have any rock chips yet either. Haven't looked up close in a little while but I have about 7000 miles with a lot of highway driving.

 

If you ever drive on the freeway you will certainly get some Chips your Hummer H2 is so high that the small rock just goes under the car.

 

YES!! I drive the same way...no tailgating etc....I have probably 4-5 on the hood and fenders, and countless many on the nose (bumper)of the car....(probably 10 or so)
I have about 15k miles....so the car has been on the road for a while....I feel that the paint quality is EXCELLENT, but if I had to do it over again I would have purchased the clear bra....

 

I got nailed a few times by rock, but no chips. I have maybe one or two dents caused by small pebbles in the paint, but no chips.

Rock chips are almost impossible to avoid, so why try? Just wash and wax your car twice a week.

 

I don't have the heart to look for them.. but I spotted a couple tiny chips on the front bumper. The paint seems to be very soft though. I put a water bottle on my trunk lid while I was talking to a friend, and it left scratches.. and it wouldn't remove with ScratchX. I had to get some rubbing compound for it.

 

newer vehicles not just lexus, all newer vehicles have a less polluting more environmentally sound paint, but the trade off is its softer than previous paints

The H2 doesnt have a highly exposed painted hood and bumper like the IS does with the height of its hood rocks are going to hit the lower part of it

 

The paint on our cars is very thin, I took two 1 hour highway trips and got a
chip each time.. You can tell by looking at the chip, just how thin the paint is..
That really is a major downside to owning this car.. My previous Bmw330cic's
paint seemed twice as thick, and after 4+ yrs of ownership i only got about
5-6 chips..

 

I feel your pain, my IS 250RWD has a million rock chips on the front bumper. My car just turned 3500 miles, most of my driving is HWY. Last week a dump truck travelling next to me on a two lane HWY, the truck hit a nasty bump sending a million pebbles all over thew road, guess what..
One hit my hood, another hit the windshield on the right lower hand corner and now I have a crack that extends half way acrross it.

I'm so mad, my insurance company is giving me grief because I want an OEM windshield.

I contacted the Lexus dealer were I purchased my car in regards to the paint chip/quality and they told me that two years ago all of the car manufacturers changed to a water based paint in order to comply with the new EPA regulations in the US, no more lead based paint. Install a clear bra and that problem should go away or minimized. Can you believe this crap...

Now I have to repaint my front end and install a clear bra.

 

To those complaining about paint thickness. Ask any painter...thick paint chips easier.

Also about the scratches from the water bottle. Respect your car and don't place items on the paint. All it takes is a small piece of dirt on the paint to scratch

 

Actually the manufactures started to change over in the 80's, Toyota/Lexus in 1999.

 

rock chip - no
a lot of F-ing rock chips - yes

 

i just found my first rock chip a couple days ago after washing my car.. and im not too happy about it either..