Mdme

The original press release said the 4RX will have self healing paint. Anybody confirm this?

macdee

Yeah, it's mentioned in the pamphlet. Not much details are given except that it's, well, self healing and should keep paint in a better shape for a longer time.

Mdme

you would think that this is a big deal and lexus would advertise it at least in promotional materials or the website but it is not mentioned elsewhere.

maybe they changed their mind? maybe it's not included anymore? wondering if anybody knows anything about it.

skiracer

i got what looks like scratches from someone's zipper on my door from the ski resort today... Argh....self healing what???

macdee

Doesn't sound like a huge deal for them judging by the amount of space dedicated to this feature
I have this feature outlined in my Japanese pamphlet, but I'd guess it should be somewhere in US ones as well. Really, just a tiny mention on a single page outlining color selections.

Here's what it reads (both Japanese and English are my secondary langs, so bare with me
Also, it's called self-restoring coating in the pamphlet.

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Self-restoring coating, protecting beauty of the car.

Main description:
Self-restoring coating, which automatically restores small scratches, which might result due to car wash etc, is implemented for all colors. Including components which easily stick to each other on molecular level, this technology keeps your car looking like new for a long time.

Small type:
Self-restoring coating is unable to repair deeper scratches like the ones by a key or a coin. Depending on depths of the scratch and outside temperature, the time for restoration can vary. In addition, it is possible to shorten the time to restore by applying warm water to warm up the coating in the affected area. Expected life for the coating is between 5-8 years. However, even after that time passes, it still would keep the paint in a better, less prone to scratching conditions, comparing to standard paints. In case of waxing your car, please don't use compound (abrasive?…)-containing waxes. Applying the available as a dealer option Lexus body coating, doesn't degrade the efficiency of the self-restoring coating.

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Hope this helps My car will be coated with Lexus body coating, so that's an extra layer of protection, and I never use automatic car washes etc, but still a real nice feature to have!

Pic below, just to give an idea of the level of importance of this feature in Lexus'es eyes.

unowned

I'm thinking of using a clay bar and meguiar's ultimate paste wax on my RX soon since I just got it. Anyone know if we need to use a special wax or different products to protect it?

RXOwner

Sounds like clay bar or any abrasive will remove this feature.

DunWkg

Meguiar's Ultimate Paste or Liquid Wax is non-abrasive. It's probably what I'll use. I know an RX coming out of the Canadian plant gets a train ride right off the bat, but I haven't decided if rail dust or other contaminants will be a problem requiring clay bar. Will test car first and maybe use a well lubricated nano-skin product. All depends what dealership may say, if they know for sure the car has self-restoring paint.

RXOwner

Hopefully these are just marks on top of the paint and not scratches!

Freds430

No special wax is needed. I recommend washing it with Dawn detergent. This will strip all of the old wax. Next step is clay bar. I do this once a year. I highly recommend Zaino Z2 wax. You can only order it from their web site. I discovered it from reading all these high end car forums. I never had heard of it so thought I would give it a try. IMO it is the best. Not only is the shine great but it last. I did a friends Acura TL. Had not seen her in a year. I said your car looks great when was the last time you waxed it and her reply was when you did it. Many friends on my advice uses it and love it. It is inexpensive and easy to apply and remove. Use multiple very thin coats.

jtrue28

CarPro Hydro2

That stuff is no joke. I use it every 3 months...absolutely fantastic if applied correctly.

Mdme

Thanks a bunch!!

RogueRX

Anybody here planning to have paint sealant on their new RX? I am planning to have OptiCoat Pro applied but with this self healing paint feature with the new RX, I wonder if it's still necessary.

skiracer

This weekend i'll be clay bar'ing and applying Paint Sealant. Heard many good thing about OptiCoat, but i personally used for the past few years Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant. Great sealant, only downside is that it requires a 12 hour cure time after its applied.

Swacer

Self Healing paint is something that has been around for some time now. Nissan has been using it on their Infiniti cars for years.

The "self healing" paint is really just a soft (never fully drying) clear coat. When heated, the clear coat will liquefy at a molecular level and will fill any surface scratches (swirls) that exist in the paint. Thus, the clear coat can heal itself. If you scratch through the clear deeply, or through the clear and into the paint, the self healing paint will not fix this.

It should also be noted that if this is like Nissan's paint, the self healing ability will disappear over time (the clear coat will eventually harden entirely). Thus, this option will not stay around forever.

One downfall of self healing paint, contamination. If your car is a dark color, and you park it in the sunlight, the paint will get very hot, in which the clear coat will becoming its most liquid state. If a bird was to crap on your car, the clear coat WILL absorb this. If the paint is allowed to dry, the bird crap will become part of your clear coat and you will have to grind away the clear coat in order to remove this.

So while the self healing has benefits, I personally hate it. And if I'm not wrong, Infiniti is no longer offering it.

EDIT:
(sorry, didn't realize someone posted info above, I'm still going to leave this here though)