I myself would not take the car anywhere the dealer sent me. I'd give the car to the dealer to get fixed, and let them give you a loner until it's fixed properly. Then, don't drive it off the dealers lot unless you inspect it and approve the job. It's pretty hard for anyone to know or judge about how much buffing will take off the clear coat. I'd think once was enough on my car!

 

Gosh, I wish it were that simple. The dealership is a 6-7 hour drive from home!

 

I could be damages from the long transport from the factory to the dealership. My next move will be speaking to Lexus corporate. Good luck.

"Vehicle or Dealership Experience: 1-800-255-3987 (Option 4)"

 

Couldnt have been during transport. After the factory, they plastic wrap it all and it should leave the factory without any imperfections.

This was caused during dealer prep, where they have to wash and detail the car before giving it to you.

 

agree, more than likely it's the dealer wash

 

I would hope that you could work out a plan to get your car to the Lexus dealership at your convenience, and let them correct the problem.
Working with Lexus Customer Care maybe they could even deliver a loner to you at your home, and take your car back to the dealership to correct the problem?

It sounds like you may have hard decisions and choices to make. In any event I would let the dealership take the car and correct the problem.

 

I would suggest you try posting something to the Automotive Care & Detailing forum (found under lexus special interest forums). They may be able to give you good advice if you can't get satisfaction from your dealer or Lexus Corporate. Hopefully, they can help with your question about the effects of buffing. Good Luck, I hate to see someone, expecially a first time buyer, have a negative experience like this.

 

Well, no sloution as of yet to my scratched up RX. The latest has been , the Lexus dealer contacted me (per my contacting Lexus customer service) and advised me that here's what they would like to do, they want me to take the vehicle by the local Toyota dealership, which is owned by the same company that owns the Lexus dealership 350 miles away. They said that the General Manager of the Toyota dealership is going to take a look at it and then he would consult with the GM of the Lexus dealership. So I take it over yesterday about 11am, and of course its raining out, but a quick wash and the lighting in a detail bay would suffice to look at it. That was not going to work for him, I need to schedule to drop it off so they can wash it and take a look at it and consult "THE" best paint guy in town from a local body shop to look at it. In the meantime I will need to drop it off Tuesday and they will provide my wife with something to drive while they do this. Man, I am at the end of my freaking rope with this paint issue, and our new Lexus. I am seriously tempted to take time off from work, drive the 350 miles to the Lexus dealership and tell the GM that either he provides me with a new one that is not all scratched up or he can keep mine. This has been the biggest pain in the Azz I have ever endured with a brand new vehicle, and a Lexus at that.

 

Well here is where we are at now. The GM of the local Toyota store had it washed and looked at it and said ....Yup...Its got fine swirls, all dark colored vehicles do! He then had the best paint guy from a local reputable body shop come over and he looked at it and said that he would not touch the car with a buffer. He said that buffing it any more will only make it worse. He applied a glaze of some type that helps to mask teh swirls but they are still completely visible. He also stated that over time, the swirls will become more evident since they are already in the clearcoat, and that I will have to keep applying some stuff to it. I am anxiously awaiting a call from teh GM of the Lexus store as to what happens next. I need some advice, am I in the wrong for expecting to have this vehicle replaced with a similar one that is NOT scratched up? To me that is the only solution that is suitable to us. I will not accept having the vehicle painted, and cannot live with the fact that our brand new Lexus since day 1 has a damaged paint job from head to toe and I just need to live with it. I mean for gods sake, even the Piano gloss plastic trim that seperates the front and rear doors is scratched with swirls. Chime in folks, I am at a loss with this ordeal!

 

Have you looked at other new cars on the lot (either at Toyota or Lexus) that are clean, with dark paint, and see if they too have swirls? Since I'm a desert rat, we have only had light colored cars, but those who have the black ones out here definitely have fine swirls up close, whether BMW, Mercedes, Audio, Lexus etc. Playing devil's advocate here, what's the difference between having them (swirls) now, vs later if it's inevitable as others seem to suggest? Again, just playing the evil emperor.

 

This is not our first dark colored vehicle, and if a car/truck is cleaned properly , then the swirls are not an issue. If you drive a dark colored vehicle through a car wash that has the big brushes that rub up against it , then yes swirls will be an issue. I guess it just bothers me to no end, to know that the paint was compromised before I ever had a chance to take good care of it, if that makes sense. I have owned the vehicle for exactly one month, have been unable to even wash it because of this paint dilemna and anytime I look at it with the sun shining on it, all I see is swirls.On a funny side note, as the Toyota GM was stating that all dark colored vehicles have swirls (which I know is BS), a 2 year old Mazda, dark navy blue in color pulled up and parked right next to our Lexus , it was cleaned up and being delivered through their used car dept. It had no swirls of any kind on the paint. When my wife said.......why doesn't that mazda have swirls? Hey didn't reply.

 

again, can you show us pictures? all we have now are words from you. the paint guy's opinion is very weird. first of all, what he put on is nothing but grease/filler, they are like bandages, that's bunch of bs.

and if the swirls / scratches are just in the clear, then a good buffing / polishing will be all a good detailer needs to make it mirror finish again. when he said buffing will put more swirls on the finish, that's true if the person doesn't know what he's doing. go to our detailing forum and you can see what kind of amazing work detailers can do. i am a detailer myself and i have worked on a lot of cars with tons of scratches (including my car as practice). as long as it's not deep to the base layer paint, polishing can always get me to incredible finish. i am going to pm you and show you some difference

of course, on ALL paints (not just dark colors), over time and careless washing, etc... swirls will develop. dark colors just make it more visible. that's just how it is.

again, without pics and seeing it up close, i can only speculate. but i am having doubts on all these comments coming from the GM and the paint guy

 

When I pick up a new car I walk around it looking for dings and paint problems. I can't help but wonder if it's so bad why you never noticed it at time you took delivery,especially it not being your first dark colored vehicle?
You appear to be a stickler for detail based on your posts. I'm sure the dealer had the car prepped and nice and shinny for you. I know when I pick up a new car the dealer encourages me to check it out thoroughly. I believe when I picked up my last Lexus a year ago I even signed a paper that the car passed my inspection. I wonder if you signed anything of that sort ?

Also I guess you live hundreds of miles from the Lexus dealer which would have been all the more reason to go over the car in detail. After driving hundreds of miles home on Alaska roads, I wonder if you then washed the car, and then saw the swirls? I've been to Alaska a few times and know the roads can be very bad in both summer and winter, and the seasons between.

I hope your dilemma ends to your satisfaction. It's a real shame you did not see the problem at the time of delivery, being the swirls are so bad. It could have saved both you and the dealer a lot of aggravation.

 

I completly agree with you, it would bug me to all hell if my new car had swirl marks, I have a rx in smokey granite and if not carefull it will swirl, I only use microfiber on it since I bought it and no car washes. Usually they have you check the car when you pick it up and if its up to your satisfaction im not sure if they are responsible once it leaves. Just a side note my bumper had a scratch on it about 1 month after I purchased it, when I went in for my 1 month check I pointed it out, they sent it to detail and they made it even worse. They had the whole bumper repainted at no cost and it looks good as new.

 

i am not sure if that's 100% true