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Have a 2010 LS. Getting on the freeway this morning, I started hearing what sounded like a kazoo. Found that the paint or decal was coming off the metal strip that runs from the hood to the trunk. See the pic. Anyone else have this issue? Fix it with superglue or have the dealer fix it?
I took it to the dealer. They weren't any help. The service writer said it wasn't common, but he knew the rails would have to be completely replaced. Sounded like he's seen it before.
Called Lexus and had to spell out drip rails for the lady to understand. She couldn't help.
Got a quote from a paint and body shop. They'll remove both drip rails, paint them to match and reinstall for around $540. I'll probably end up going this way.
Got a quote from a paint and body shop. They'll remove both drip rails, paint them to match and reinstall for around $540. I'll probably end up going this way.
You might want to shop around a little. I just recently priced the same thing at a very reputable auto body shop near me. They gave me a written quote of $143.69. Labor of 2.8 hours was $117.60, and paint, supplies and tax made up the balance.
I just googled paint and body shops in my area and went to the highest rated. It looks like 7.4 hours total, 2.0 to remove and install and 5.4 for painting and clear coat.
Edit: BTW, I did send Lexus a bit of a nastygram. Got a response that they have been getting lots of nastygrams and it may be a while before they respond.
On the way to the dealer yesterday, the laminate loosened even more. It was flapping in the wind and eventually broke off. While the chrome underneath looks good, it doesn't match the chrome on the doors. It's quite a bit duller. I may end up pulling it all off, but I probably wouldn't leave it unpainted for too long.
Heard from a Lexus CS named Michelle. Lexus isn't going to do anything to help. But she said that if a lot of people have this issue, they may offer some support. I referred her to this site.
If you have this issue, I urge you to contact them.
Originally Posted by Nospinzone
You might want to shop around a little. I just recently priced the same thing at a very reputable auto body shop near me. They gave me a written quote of $143.69. Labor of 2.8 hours was $117.60, and paint, supplies and tax made up the balance.
Talked with 4 different shops. Got the impression that the cheaper ones were not removing the drip rails. They were just masking and painting. The expensive shops were removing them and coating them with self-etching primer, normal primer, paint and clearcoat.
Originally Posted by RandyV
Here ya go. A problem that turned into an upgrade.
The last two shops that I visited actually suggested this. When I mentioned that it didn't match, they said to polish it until it does. The last shop said they could do it in an hour for $65. Here's how it looks:
Good suggestion Randy. I have nebula gray pearl color LS. This would give contrast visual against gray and matching visuals to chrome window border and door handles. Once exposed, any possibility for corrosion?. What type of material is that?
You'd have to remove the drip rails to re-wrap it. I don't think that's hard to do. But it involves a few different plastic clips that could break in the process.
If I was going to remove them, I would have them painted rather than wrapped.
My opinion is that Lexus should have painted them too. I'm really disappointed that my 8 year old flagship with less than 70K miles had what amounts to paint peeling from around the windshield. Shame on them!
02-12-18, 11:33 AM
A different wind noise
I have nebula gray pearl color LS. This would give contrast visual against gray and matching visuals to chrome window border and door handles. Once exposed, any possibility for corrosion?. What type of material is that?