Hello!


I recently picked up my truffle mica LS460 from the dealer. I finally had the chance to do one of my patented OCD detail jobs on it - clay, polish, zaino, zaino, zaino, etc. This is truly a beautiful color done up right... to the point, I noticed what appears to be orange peel that makes the rear quarter panel look like it has an L shaped crease in it when viewing from certain angles - a shadow of sorts in the paint itself. There isn't a crease - it's butter smooth and the paint matches perfectly. There doesn't appear to be any sign of previous damage and the dealership said there was no damage.

I'm wondering if they missed the LR quarter when wet sanding or if there was a repair that wasn't done properly. In short, I'm not sure who to yell at, if anyone. Has anyone else noticed a similar "defect" (my wife states you really have to look for it and to not worry about it... but alas, I worry)?

As an aside, after owning BMWs, Mercedes and everything in between and below, the LS is an amazing vehicle. Lexus is everything I expected and more!


Thanks in advance.

 

ACEVA, had the same issue with my Granite. Depending on the angle it doesn't look as smooth as it did when I first got it. Unfortunately, had hail damage in the area and had to have the whole car repainted. For the most part they did an excellent job, but that orange peel look still bothers me from time to time. They can only wet sand it so much. The only alternative is to try and redo it.

 

Yes, I've considered having that panel stripped, re-sprayed and blended.... but I'm afraid to have it redone. It may be one of those things that only I notice unless you're really looking for it. It bothers me, but I'm nervous due to the high metallic content and dark color that having it redone may even make it worse. It's such an art to match an OEM job of this caliber... I've heard so many horror stories of fighting with body shops and dealerships, having the job re-done several times. Not sure it's worth it. At least the paint matches as-is... it just has a crease/orange peel effect at a certain angle.

 

AceVA,

I'd leave it alone!!! It may wind up hurting your resale value if the repaint is at all detectable. Used car managers prefer OEM finish to a repaint any day. If you truly have to look real hard for the defect, I'd do my darnedest to just live with it.

 

ACEVA, I agree with kbinfl. But one question. What the car purchased new or used? If used, it is a good chance it was repainted if it looks like that. You might want to inquire. In that case the resell issue may not be an issue. I spoke with a dealer who informed me that they repaint/repair cars they get from auctions and are not required to inform the buyer. If you brought new probably best to let it be.

 

It's a 2008 CPO with 12,000 miles. The dealer claims nothing happened to it, the previous owner (who also owns the dealership, as I understand it) said it wasn't repainted. The carfax is clean. The Lexus history is clean.

I took it to a body shop this afternoon and they say there's no indication of previous damage and if it was repainted, it was a perfect match. They said there's two likely scenarios - an L shaped scratch was repaired and the metallic flake pattern was amiss, or as Lexus wet-sands the vertical surfaces, that just got overlooked in the process.

The estimator wasn't in, so I didn't get a price to respray and blend. I can't imagine it would be cheap if I wanted to go that route.

Maybe this falls in the "don't sweat the small stuff" category.

Thanks for the replies.

 

use a different product on the car. I use zaino and it looks great, but I would switch products before I repaint anything.

 

Good luck with what you decide to do. Maybe you can try a good detailer or wet sand.