Hate for my first post to be a complaint but I'm so disappointed and I need some advice what to do.

I bought a new 2010 LS460L a few days ago. The car is great except for the orange peel. I did not notice it when I bought the car because it was dirty and by the time they cleaned it the deal was done and it was dark so I did not notice the horrible orange peel until the next day.

I was under the impression Lexus wet sands the 460, well if they do they missed my car. Has any of you had the same problem and if so what recourse do I have. Should Lexus give me another car? Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

BTW, the color of my car is smokey granite mica.

 

After looking at numerous Lexus LS460's (including my own, of course) - I've found the hand sanding thing to be a gimmick. There is less orange peel than other vehicles but it's still there, but I've found the orange peel to be more noticeable on the darker colors on the LS (I have truffle mica) -- I had to have paint work done to the hood, bumper and fenders due to a gravel truck dropping rocks on the front... I'm having a heck of a time getting the texture matched right.

I don't know how much clear coat Lexus sprays on and if there's much room to wet-sand. Might be best to contact Lexus.

Good luck!

 

do you have pictures for it? almost all cars i have seen, even exotics, have their problems. for mass production car, i have to say the LS probably have some of the smoother paint already. i do see some orange peel, but mainly on the bottom side of the car (toward the bottom of the fenders or doors).

having lexus give you another car would be a far stretch, i don't think that will fly. maybe you can talk to dealer and see if they can do anything about it. but a lot of time i would would trust a good detailer instead

 

i agree on the orange peel.. i remember someone promoting that they hand wet-sand it during production.. boy i don't think they were right..

I was waxing the car this past weekend and so so much orange peel towards the rear panels.. i was shocked...

 

don't sweat it... at least if you have orange peel you have a good coat of clear coat paint that over time will wear down. better more than less.

 

Most production cars suffer this fate, some more than others. Unless I was buying a $1M Rolls (and that ain't going to happen in my lifetime), I always look at a new car as a car almost complete, with a few minor steps remaining. The final polishing stage has to be done either by a pro, or in my case anyway, as a do-it-yourself labor of love.

 

Here are two pic's, the orange peel looks even worst in person.

Is the effect in the paint or the clear coat?

 

Don't get me wrong, but since when is a painted metal surface supposed to reflect like it's glass? Those pictures look perfectly normal for a painted car to me.

 

i can see your point, but just like drcomputer, i think they look pretty normal. the 2 stage wet sand process makes the paint finish better, but i don't think we should expect complete mirror finish. compare it to other lexus or other brands (mb, bmw, audi, etc...) for that matter and you can see how much worse they are.

not trying to find an "excuse" for lexus, but the ls is still arguably one of the best finish on mass production cars i have worked on. it has decent amount of clear, i have polished quite a bit on one of my clients' car and it's still good

 

Thanks for the information. I still feel like my previous 4 GS cars I've owned looked much better and I expected the LS to be even smoother. Guess I will either live with it or have is wet sanded.

Is the orange peel effect caused by the paint or the clear coat?

Thanks again!!!

 

I just picked up a Black 2007 and it has the finest finish of any car I have ever owned, Mercedes included. The exterior fit and finish is just suberb and it has 60k miles on it..

Its hard to see any peel from your photos, but I would say from this angle its normal, have you compared it to others on the lot? you need a point of reference to see if yours is high or low.

I clay bar'd mine, polished it and then hit it with several coats of high grade Carnuba.. and it looks as good as new comparing it to the 2010s on the lot.

 

A few decades ago they used laquer instead of the acrylics and other quick-drying gimmicks.

Laquer could actually be rubbed out with 1200 or 1000 grit wet or dry paper then rubbing compound to truly look like 'glass'...unless you had an early 70's Chevy then there wasn't enough paint on it to do this. The Buicks and Cads had all kinds of paint to work with.

All the serious show cars had laquer finish, sometimes several coats.

Whit

 

Pics look good to me. But perhaps it can't be seen on a pic. Perhaps your car was damaged and repainted prior to delivery.

 

Thats what I was thinking. How can I tell if it was painted due to damage?