Just given the big flat area of that repair and the fact that it's on an edge of the panel would mean touch ups would be harder and they wouldn't last as long.

I've actually never had to touch up anything on my LS in 42,000 miles. Knock on wood.

Do other people have similar experiences with their LS460s outside of the front end with chipping?

 

Hood was definitely repaired/repainted. Look at the panel gap at the top of where the paint is pealing, the hood is not straight as it should be.

 

Really, 213374U? I'm not sure if we are seeing what we want to see. The gap is pretty consistent in person and on both sides. It could be the angle. Look at the later photo in the shade, the gap is consistent and just looks large because of the zoom. It very well could have been repainted but I don't see a gap discrepancy in person and believe me, I can spot gap differences in the trunk lines of the car in front of me at a stop light.

 

So the LS will be going into the body shop tomorrow. The appraiser couldn't tell if the hood had been repainted before. Should be done by the end of the week.

My paint meter also arrived! It was inexpensive at $20 but is a good comparison of paint thickness between our used 2013 LS and 2006 ES 330 that was purchased new, factory paint, and never repainted before...all original scratches too in all its glory. The ES measures consistently in the yellow range, ~225-250 um, across the hood, roof, doors, and trunk. The A-, B-, C- pillars are a little thinner coats and just entering the ~200 um green zone. According to the instructions, green is supposed to indicate original paint and the ES is close to the border of green/yellow.

The LS is consistently ~200 um all around the car before the magnet detaches. So the thinner the paint, the stronger the magnet can bond to the sheetmetal before the pulling force overcomes the magnetic attraction. Nice little device. New formulations and techniques probably allowed Lexus to apply finer, more uniform layers of paint for the LS. However, the consistently thinner paint is also probably why I notice more chips than previous cars that had ordinary, but less delicate paint. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a reading anywhere on the hood...because it is aluminum!

I also wonder if thicker sheetmetal could attract the magnet more and produce a false indication of thinner paint. However, the ES has heavier doors than the LS so I would say the LS has thinner and lighter, but higher-strength steel doors. Here's a video link. I cringed every time that ball-peen magnet hit the paint. I

 

The reason the paint is more uniformly slightly thinner on the LS is likely because the body is hand sanded, where it isn't on the ES.

 

That makes sense, Steve.

213374U, I was thinking more about what you said about the gap and decided to take measurements this morning. The hood of the LS tapers at all four corners but it is consistently ~4mm for the middle section on both sides with a ~3mm gap at the corners. For more precision, I would need a micrometer. From a gap standpoint, the hood is pretty well centered. I just hope it stays that way after repaint.

 

They won't remove the hood to paint it, it'll be the same.

 

The circled is what I was talking about, could be the camera though

 

What you're seeing is the touch up paint on top of the normal paint along that edge.

 

You're correct, looking at the rest of that edge it's not nearly as straight as the OEM painted sections above and below it.

 

Yeah thats what originally threw me for a loop was the bubbled look of it, thats what made me think clear bra, but it dawned on me that it was touch up paint.

 

Yes, yes, you're both correct on the illusion created by the poor touch-up job by yours truly. I agree, it is not my best work.

I first noticed this on Father's Day while admiring the car in the garage. Here is a photo from July 9th of the initial touch-up. Then after every car wash I had to redo it. Then after a while it started to become really uneven.

 

Did you ever take a picture before the touch up?

 

Unfortunately, I did not think to take a photo before touching the car. However, I do recall it looking very much like the photos of the initial touch-up above except the line was more silver and the glint was what caught my eye.

It's funny, as the body shop was doing another inspection this morning (to make sure windows, doors, trunk, etc all work), they circled the focus area with a green marker and then proceeded to use an orange marker to circle existing road chips. Immediately they identified three existing road chips (one on fender, two on passenger door). There are more but those are the ones nearest the area being worked on. Sigh.

 

I should also add that the July 9th photo shows wider gaps because I had opened the hood and let it rest on the lock but not completely closed. I was trying to keep the touched-up area flat and level as it dried.