folks

i got a 2006 IS and got recently side swiped with my car parked at location. Don't have the right insurance so won't get coverage. However, I want to get the white chip mark you see on the car taken care of. Can I do it myself and what sort of paint should I apply? As you can see, the car has many scratches, etc and live in a neighborhood where they'll keep happening. I don't mind uneven paint which will happen if I paint over the white side swipe marks. But where do i start and what paint to use?

I don't mind going to a garage to get this done too but everybody is quoting 1200 and up and i really don't want to spend more than a few hundred on this for a quick touch-up job

Thanks

I'd start by getting a professional detailer to look at it to see if the white paint is on top of your original Lexus paint. They might be able to get the paint transfer off for you to remove the white paint, but of course leaving you with any dents/scratches. Probably only a $200 job for the detailer I'd guess.

To fill in any removed Lexus paint, get Lexus touch-up paint matching your VIN at ANY Lexus dealership. $10.

There's a product/system called Dr Colorchip available thru Amazon. Do a little searching here and on Youtube and you'll see how easy it is to get better results than you're expecting. Much better than the tube of touchup paint. I also agree that a truly good detailer may be able to buff out some of the lighter damage. There's also a service called paintless dent repair(PDR) that can gently massage out many dents that you would think are only repairable by a body shop. These guys are truly artists, they often have routes going from dealer to dealer to make used cars look like new. I'd start with PDR, they may even be able to buff out many scuffs, then go on to filling in the paint. All of this will most likely be under $200 depending on how much needs to be done. I know it sounds too good to be true, but it is. I've been through this myself.

This. The rear looks salvageable, the front looks too deep to buff out.

Great advice as well.


If there's anything we can help with in terms of insurance so you don't have to go out of pocket feel free to email me: Michael@zeygerinsurance.com. Either way, good luck.

Front fender is completely trashed, no way for easy and cheap fix.

To fix it properly is going to cost at least $1200.

To try and touch it up and hide the damage will cost you $30 for dr. color chip and some time with a polisher. But, it will look pretty bad afterwards and will also really hurt your resale value.

Sorry, but pretty much all bad news

It's important to have proper insurance on a nice car.

DIY paint jobs don't usually look bad.... they look horrible. Take it to several shops and get estimates. Let each place know you will be paying out of pocket. I've had great luck with that in the past. Also check their work before committing to a shop.

I think $1200 is a deal to fix that. Your car will look really trashy if you try a cheap touch up.

I agree, a body shop is the best way to do this. However, if the OP wishes to stick to his budget and willing to accept that some damage will still be visible, a Paintless Dent Repair is his best bet. They will tell you ahead of time what they can and can't fix, very little risk. He can always get it fixed completely at a later time as money allows. This is not an all or nothing issue OP get back to us with some after pics... and the $$.

Hey POWNER! What was your outcome?

A $5 tin of turtle wax fixed all of it with about 30 mins of work and you could not even see or find the marks anymore. I'm sure the recommended products in this page do even better

Can't get much cheaper than that. As long as you're satisfied.

True testimate to the quality paint jobs these cars come with from the factory. Hell, my wife's Chevy had a very visible paint run (where too much paint collected and pooled) on rear quarter panel. 2 thumbs down for Chevy paintwork!