For those of you who have purchased a new 3IS recently in the last few years, how satisfied are you with the paint quality upon pickup?
Have you noticed any minor or major imperfections on your paint or had paint fixed by your dealership on a new car?
I just brought home my new car and noticed a super tiny dimple or pin hole in the clear coat by the rear door. It's the size of a sand grain at most so I'm not going to bother bringing it up to have the dealership fix it, but I was surprised to see that in Lexus quality. Now had it been bigger or more noticeable I probably would bring it up and see if it's even worth correcting. Overall I think the car's paint is far better than my last Ford Mustang that had lots of imperfections.
Also as soon as I saw my car in person at the dealership I could tell right away that the rear quarters had a bit of orange peel, but also noticed it on most the other cars. I had 2 loaners for a week, one was a 2022 IS 350 and UX model and both had the same orange peel in certain areas. Is some orange peel pretty normal now a days on a new Lexus? How do you determine a specific imperfection or amount of orange peel is past "acceptable"?
This is my first Lexus so I'm not familiar with the quality that should be expected and interested in what more seasoned Lexus owners think.

 

Little bit of orange peel on our made in Japan 23 IS350. Little bit more on our made in USA 23 ES300h.

A smoother finish would be nice but ultimately I find Lexus paint to have some of the best depth and shine under $100k. I had an Acura RL that had paint as smooth as glass but it didn’t have the depth and luster that Lexus does and looked more boring and dull. I had a white Lexus LS430 that still looked incredible when I traded in at 100k miles but the LS had some pretty expensive paint.

the dimple hole is probably worth getting fixed though and they will prob do it under warranty

edit: not the best shots to show the surface quality but here are two from the five month old ES I took the other day after a rain

 

Would you still address the dimple hole even if it's the size of a grain of salt? I'm just worried that the dealership will make the area look worse by trying to fix a very small dimple.

 

Depends on the hole and color I guess. So long as it’s not looking like it’ll break through and rust and is already hard to see maybe just leave it.

 

This is a 2019 but the paint is fantastic compared to the 2018 Acura TLX I came from. The car had an SB for thin paint that was peeling almost from the dealer. Lots of orange peel and imperfections as well. My 2019 IS300 is more thoroughly painted and although has a tiny bit of peel, that is easily corrected if you want it to. I am an enthusiast detailer and thought about wet sanding it but I don't really mind it all that much. The paint on the 21+ IS is great from what I have seen.

 

What causes the super tiny dimple or "crater" I have in the clearcoat?

 

Orange peel is super common among cars, especially modern cars.

 

I'm not referring to orange peel. There's a tiny dimple in the clearcoat. Basically looks like if a needle poked the surface and is only visible at an angle. No clue if the dot is missing clearcoat entirely or maybe a bubble popped there during the clearcoat process leaving a thinner layer of clear there. I've never seen this before so I'm just wondering if I can let it be and the paint will be fine.

 

Do you have a pic? You could probably put a dot of touch up there and it would be fine.

 

I have a 21 is350 fsport and it has orange peel I can see it in some spots, the paint is also very thin it chips so easy the front is already dinged up from driving. Coming from an 07 es350 that had some of the best paint I have ever seen it was amazing, and durable.

 

Very good overall and no orange peel at all. Only things I can pick apart on my 2023 is a rough spot on the upper door jam, the size of a needle head. And some of the paint around the door jams and inside the fuel filler are lighter in color than on the exterior. I know many manufacturers don't paint the "insides" the same as the outside, but it still annoys me that there are two different colors.
My 2020's front bumper pitted quite a bit over three years, but the freeway I used was brutal with gravel trucks. Once I stopped driving that route, the pitting stopped. Not sure if it could have held up better or that's just what happens.

 

you could fill the tiny hole with touch up paint in a syringe. That way you're sure to get it in the hole and not put too much...

 

Some orange peel on my new IS 500, certainly not the worst. My body shop's work has about the same amount of orange peel - not a noticeable difference from the existing paintwork.

Sounds like the "dimple" could be an imperfection during the paint finishing process or something like that.

Maybe try using some clearcoat from a touch-up paint kit and compound/polish over it after it dries.

 

The uncertainty with this method although a great one is that the hole is so small, literally the size of a needle head, that it's impossible to tell if the hole is exposed paint or if the hole is depressed clearcoat which gives it the dimple appearance at an angle. Putting touch up paint on top of clearcoat even as small of an amount through a syringe would make the spot stick out more I would think.

 

Hijacking my own thread here, but has anyone noticed water trickling down their trunk deck spoiler when leaving the trunk open for a bit?
The strangest thing, it hasn't rained at all since I got the car but every day when I go in the trunk for something and leave it up for a bit, water trickles down the spoiler at the same damn spot on the driver side edge.
It's been doing this for 3 straight days and I'm stumped (pic below)