I'm 100% sure that's the reason. Body shops almost always use a high speed polisher at some point and there's no doubt they hit that area with it.

 

That would also explain why the passenger side still looks perfect, since they didn't have to do any paint work on that side.

Alas. Not sure if I can really do anything about it now unless I want to pay up. I feel like I waited too long.

 

I vaguely remember they took a long time with your car and it left a sour taste in your mouth. Tough call. Maybe give them a phone call and ask what they think to get a feeler, before wasting any time and energy going in there.

If not, you can always go to the dealership and act dumb. They might swap it out for you under the 4 year basic warranty. Just be sure there isn't any white residue under the trim. If there is, clean it off or they might see it when they remove the trim lol.

 

I had a similar issue just recently - I had a pretty nasty scratch on my rear back trim, I took a little bit of super fine polish, and barely, and I mean, barely rubbed and it left a nice white (chrome) burn mark. Ended up getting it replaced because it was such an eyesore for me. Lexus parts has them for about $570, pricy for window molding I know, but you live and learn. Certain angles you couldn't really tell, but because it was a chrome spot, certain angles it was like... ugh.

They also seem to scratch like piano black, i.e. leave hairline lines if you press too hard. I noticed all mine had fine scratches here and there probably from dealer washing, they are hard to see at least unless you take a light up close thank goodness.

I will say also, it can be a pain to replace the rear ones, the shop said they have to remove like the whole quarter window and lower trim to get the back rear out and installed and you need to order rivets as well.

 

Looking at the trim finish and the responses from this thread leads me to believe the Black Oxide coating was most likely a "cold bluing" type of process and isn't the most hardy in terms of long term wear resistance. Bluing is popular in firearms and cold bluing finishes are usually superficially cosmetic mods with very few rust resist and wear resistance properties. Cold bluing wears easily.

Hot bluing and even more so, DLC (diamond-like carbon coating) treatment, would have been the better option for retaining color and surface protection. Both will wear and scratch but less easily than cold bluing. That's the trade off of polished black stainless versus painted gloss/flat black.

Anyone PPF their window trim?

 

Kinda suspect at some point we'll have to look into rattle canning the trim and finding a good combo of primer/color to keep the chrome covered.

I am going to be super careful with the trim, and in the future I'll let any detailers know at the time of paint correction

 

I'll be honest. If they wear terribly on mine, I would be pretty tempted to replace them with the chrome ones from a standard IS if it meant they'd last longer.

 

I've been waxing mine with Meguires for nearly a year now, probably every couple of months and I don't see any discoloration so far. I'll have to keep a closer eye on them.

 

That is a viable option for sure, but I do not know if I’d go back to the standard chrome trim.

I think it would be easier to use your shirt or push the door closed using the handle. I do not remember the chrome oxidizing on my ‘06 or ‘16, but the B-Pillars are all the same. Those will degrade where touched, look at other cars on the road and you’ll see it. The few times I have passengers, I’ll use a microfiber cloth to wipe off their fingerprints. 😎

 

^^ What he said!! I never touch the black chrome part nor the plastic trim on the door trim - I only close the door by pushing on the actual door (painted) itself...

 

The B pillars are just black plastic. I definitely wax the crap out those with no problems. I did the same thing with my NX, it was the only way to keep those pillars clean, protected and scratch free. It's always my passengers that touch all the wrong places when closing the doors .