Given that my dealer has now touched up this "paint erosion" twice, I asked them for the permenant fix, which of course they don't have.
The dealer has offered to reinstall the 3M lower to cover the effected area at a cost of $165+tx.

I don't think this is a permenant fix, nor do I think I should be paying for it.

I am also skeptical that the 3M will properly fit in the lower location. Maybe it's flexible nature will allow it mould around the changed curve of the lower position?

Btw, I have seen two 2014 IS for sale on Lexus used car lots with the paint erosion and bare metal clearly visible!

 

Salt doesn't soften paint. Corrosive salt-water isn't going to harm your paint. It needs a void in the paint to get under it and corrode the metal.

 

Dam makes me want to check on mine as well...

 

That's where the chips come in. Chips + salt water is the key recipe here.

 

Now that there is some snow on the roads again, I can show you guys what accumulates in this corner during the winter and why it doesn't surprise me that this area is so vulnerable. The pictures speak for themselves. The brown slush is a concoction of snow, dirt and salt.

The brown streaks on the door and wheel flare show why the PPF is important. The aerodynamics on the car is such that lots of debris passes by here. I wish the PPF was another 1/4 inch lower though.

 

I am in Wisconsin and Keep my vehicles long term. I am also a Master Detailer and am overly fussy with my cars. I have the 3M on both rear doors, and just yesterday applied it to my rear quarters that take a beating as well. There are no mud guards available and in my opinion they would cheapen the car. This was the other option. 3M pro paint protection film. Applied in both sides.

 

I hear you -- PPF is crucial in those areas and actually IS is not the car that has this problem. The past generation of Subaru WRX has this problem as well and their paint is even softer to aggravate the problem.

As indicated from your pictures, the lower body side panels/rocker panels are also very vulnerable to debris and stone chips. In the past, the 2IS had a similar situation but the way the rocker panels of 3IS curves makes it worse. One solution is to install PPF. A pre-cut kit is available. I have PPF installed on rocker panels and so far so good except a cut in the PPF at one crease -- must be a really sharp stone chip. It didn't occur to the PPF of my previous 2IS rocker panels.

FYI, there is no PPF installed on the rear doors and the surrounding areas for 3IS sold in Japan. The road conditions, the amount of salt and the cleanliness of the roads all contribute to the need of PPF in North America.

 

The lower body panels/side skirts are also a good candidate for PPF. The Proform Design rocker panel kit for 3IS (PFle0031v) has great fitting.

 

Update to my rust issue... so as you might have guessed, the touch-ups didn't hold and continued to rust. After discussion with the service manager, he submitted a warranty claim to Lexus to get the entire panel repainted. The door was also then slightly adjusted so that it would "stick-out" more so that debris would be less likely to impact the leading edge of the rear quarter panel. Custom paint protection film was then applied to the door and quarter panel with wrapped edge and extending all the way down past the rocker panel. I was very hesitant to have this invasive work done on the car and feared for a body shop record, but I also knew the rust would keep getting worse otherwise.

In the end, I was very pleased with the final product. The repaint was a perfect match but they did need to do some blending on the rear door. That's a good thing because the rear doors have lots of clear coat damage in this area. I'd give the paint job a 9.5/10. There was a small amount of overspray but 99% of people wouldn't notice (I'm just OCD). The whole process took 3 weeks but I had a brand new NX F-Sport fully loaded as a loaner. I was told the warranty claim totalled a jaw dropping $2600 CAD. Overall, couldn't be happier that the rust is resolved permanently. Note that the fix was applied to both sides of the car but the driver's side was not as bad so I haven't shown it.

 

I read this thread so yesterday when I was washing my car, I checked the rear door frames and I also noticed that the paint is worn off, about 3x3 mm spots.
Since my car is 2014 and I have the extended warranty, which doesn't cover any paint damage or corrosion, I was thinking I should apply some rust proofing and a thick layer of touch-up paint, before it gets worse.

computerwi - has the rear door adjustment made it better so less dirt would accumulate there? If it makes a noticeble improvement, then maybe I should ask the dealership to do the same when I take my car in for maintenance. Or can I do this myself? I haven't checked where the door stoppers are or how they work.

 

@raghza, Sorry didn't notice your post until now when another thread popped up.

Unfortunately, no. Dirt still builds up in this area. I'm not even sure if the door was adjusted to be honest. It would be impossible to notice visually. The panel gaps on both sides of the car feel uniform though.

The 3M is holding up for now. The dirt build up is the real problem because small grains of sand and gravel get stuck in the panel gap between the inner door and the rocker panel. They grind away at this vulnerable area over time. I'll post back in the spring to update if it held up through the winter.

 

I knew this was going to happen eventually and unfortunately it happened today after I washed my car. I have a MY 2014 so I'm not too sure if its still covered under warranty but I'll give my local dealership a call. I think the only other thing I could do is touch up the paint.

@rL-gT, In the similar thread below you mentioned a Lexus submitted a recall but on the NHSTA website it referenced 0 recalls for the IS. Also, you said that there was a TSB for the rust issue, would you be able to link me the TSB?

FYI, similar thread: Rusting issues for those in the North

 

@truu I think this is what you're looking for

 

Thanks @Sasnuke. Looks like I won't be covered since it would be under the "Comprehensive Coverage" which is only 4 years. I'm going to try to finesse it under "Corrosion Perforation" which is 6 years but by definition, "Any body sheet metal found, under normal use, to have developed a perforation (hole through the body panel) from corrosion due to defects in material or workmanship." it most likely won't be covered.

The other option would be doing it myself by removing the film, repair paint, and reapply new film slightly lower.

 

Called my local dealership and long story short, told me to bring it to a body shop.