Well our new RX350 is about two weeks old and we had a hit and run last night (my wife did). What fun, we have not even made the first payment yet.

The drivers rear was hit, the bumper is cracked, the little red bumper light is busted up and there are some scratches in the rear drivers quarter panel. (I will post picture soon)

Is taking this to a lexus dealer the best for trying to match the orignal looks upon repair?

 

Its a little dirty due to the snow melt...

 

aw man, I feel bad for you ! Our Lexus dealer doesnt have a body shop on site but they did recommend a couple when I needed work on our GS a while back. I used one of their suggestions for the reasons you mention and was happy with the result. You'd think any top notch body shop would do a good job but unless you frequent one, it's hard to know. Good luck.

 

Very sad.

Most probably you will need a new bumper. There is a wrinkle in the quarter panel (at least there appears to be one). If it was worse, one has to replace it. If it is minor, you have to weigh out denting (and bondo fill) or replacing the 1/4 panel. The replacement has a rip up of factory welds and is more intrusive. At the end you can not tell the difference.

Lexus dealership's typically do not have a body shop, but they work with one or two in town. I have always seen good work done by the repair shops they recommend (cheap insurance may balk ... good sign).

Let us know how it gets resolved.

Salim

 

Ouch!!!!! I feel the pain!!! Good luck with finding a good body shop. Check around and ask for recommendations. My 1st car was a Civic and less than 1,000 miles, I had a hit and run, the driver's fender has to be replaced. Until the day I sold the car, I can tell the bad body work they did....it pissed me to the last day!

 

that light on the bumper by itself is like 300 dollars. i got into a small fender bender and it was my fault, and only the plastic cover was cracked. well they had to change the whole thing, and that was painful.

im guessing your going to report this to the insurance. good luck.

 

Always feel bad to see a car getting involved in an accident... let along it's only 2 weeks old!

I think for car that new, it would be better to take it back to Lexus dealer for repair. And since it's a hit-and-run, you should report to the police and get your insurance company involved. The irresponsible driver who did this to you should be put in jail!

Tim

 

My uncle and I could fix that thing with some plaster and then repaint it, althought that orange light would have to be replaced. I have had all sorts of bumper thingys, nothing big, but the people slam into me on the bumper always get the brunt of it, while I get maybe a chip or two of paint.

 

I guess whats $500 for my deductable in the whole scheme of things... but still not fun, now I have to find a service center I trust.

 

Man that is awful.. some people desrve to get shot..(at least in TX)

 

Ever since the insurance companies went to the point system, hardly anyone stop and leave their name in a parking lot accident anymore.

 

Sorry about your misfortune with that hit-and-run driver. I had a fender-bender on a roundabout, where the guy never yielded and tried to squeeze in while I was already proceeding. My front right bumper was scraped pretty badly and at least the power headlamp washer cover was broken off (not sure what condition the washer is in).

Fortunately the police specified in their report that the other driver failed to yield and caused the accident. My insurance company talked to both of us and clearly laid blame on him. His insurance company interviewed me, got the report and took over a week to investigate. Today his insurance company called and accepted blame, saving me my $500 deductable.

I asked my Lexus dealer if they recommend body shops who do excellent Lexus body work and got a few names of shops they said were "certified for Lexus repairs" (didn't know this existed, or what certification entails). So tonight I checked on the State Farm website (his insurance company) and found that the top recommended shop from my Lexus dealer is also on State Farm's list.

I haven't had any estimates yet but feel more confident having those recommended body shops from my Lexus dealer. I suspect my front bumper may need to be replaced and like you, I certainly don't want to trust that just any repair shop.

Good luck to you-let us know how you make out.

 

$1200 is the cost.

Have to replace the bumper skin and fix the body paint/

The problem is that they have to remove the little rear window to blend the paint and doing this means replacing it with another that will not have the lexus logo (a non lexus window).

Plus the loaner car I have is a chevy minivan.. well I can not complain I guess.

e

 

another update... the bumper skin came in and was damaged, then got another from lexus and it was damaged. Now another is on the way, this time via a different shipper...

picture progress is here... its too large for me to download here.

http://www.marvsbodyshop.com/

my code is 21701 (i trust you all)

(moderator.. if needed you can remove this link if it is not allowed)

 

I should show that feature to my uncle since he runs a body shop.