I'm having this issue as pictured.

Anyone with this issue?

My RC-F has like 8k miles on the odo. I first noticed it at around 6K miles and I thought my RC-F had picked up some "small pieces of wet toilet tissues or some white paint from road construction". But upon closer examination it is the black paint across the black bumper behind the massive grill peeling the black paint thereby revealing its original white paint.

My front end looks like a Dalmatians dog with black and white spots! 😢😤 LOL

I did not hit anything.

Dealer is fixing it under warranty. So will wait and see.

Picture attached.

 

Off topic question, is that aftermarket fog lights?

 

yeah I was wondering the same thing.


as for the paint, I suspect you got sandblasted being behind some truck or something and it resulted in the initial damage that got worse over time.

 

^^^This...it sounds like something got progressively worse from debris hitting the black bumper. At warp speed, this would be easily done.

 

I have a nice big license plate there to block most but glad this was brought to my attention b/c I wasn't even thinking about that area...pretty sure mine was opticoat'd there but will double check with my installer/detailer today to verify.

 

Something doesn't smell right. That black part should be just abs plastic so there's no way any paint should show underneath it unless someone had reasons to mess with it. The license plate bracket actually drills into it. It's all plastic.

 

IDK, all I know is I first noticed it and thought I had picked up some wet toilet or tissue paper somewhere on the road. Or worse some white paint somewhere. But it was neither. There are no other damages on the bumper or hood or fenders or anywhere else. Otherwise the Lexus dealer or HQ (not the original selling one) would turn down the warranty claim.

I bought the car in SoCal from a major Lexus dealer as a Lexus Certified Vehicle with some 20xx miles on the odo. I drove it home in SoCal in stop and go traffic and parked it in the garage for about a month, then I had it shipped to MS via fully enclosed trailer "WHITE GLOVE" service essentially non-stop fron my SoCal home. Meaning I saw them load it unto the fully enclosed trailer on the upper deck most forward position. I flew from SoCal to MS (where I fly into and out to work) and met with the driver 4 days later to unload and take delivery. The RC-F was at the same position as before when they left. Believe me, I looked over the car with a microscope and no damages.

The flaking/peeling black paint is rather thick. Sort of like the entire black paint on that bumper just delaminated and separated itself from the bumper. Maybe a manufacturerING defect? Behind the black paint is white in color. IDK why it is white. I mean if it were black also, then I would not probably even notice it.

So the Lexus dealer body shop took the entire front end off in order to access that black bumper behind the massive grill. I saw it today as I flew into MS and the RC-F was not ready yet. Picked up a loaner.

There was prior accident or repair? ???? I doubt it. The Lexus dealer body shop took it apart and did not see any evidence of. Besides they determined it would be covered under warranty. Who knows? I know for sure I did not hit anything.

Also the prior owner (nor I) even had a chance to install the front license plate yet!! So no modifications or drillING holes into it were done to that area at all.

One possibility though......I'm thinking. Those high pressure hand held car wash striped the paint off? But the grill was ok, it is the bumper behind that got stripped? IDK? ??

 

I wish I had found some amazing after market fog lights! !! 😤

These are deer horns/whistles as I'm trying not to hit Bambi when Bambi is out and about.

 

Interesting details...

I did some research and found that it is all ONE piece / part of the bumper...

If there is no evidence of the White Bumper being re-sprayed and then that area being re-painted black.. I would hate to think the OEM Black part of the bumper is flaking away with soo little miles..

Their solution will have to be to paint it black for you, as there is no part # to replace, as far as I know..

Does the actual rectangle piece behind the grill, detach from the bumper ?

Joe Z

 

There's nothing to "flaking away". It's like looking at a black lego piece and having it reveal purple after scraping it on cement ground multiple times. It's all black plastic. Somebody f'ed with his bumper and it makes sense because he is not the original owner.

 

Ok. Thanks for the input.

When I went in to pick up the car earlier this Monday, the car was not ready. I was told they couldn't find "a part" for replacement. I actually saw my car and found the entire front end was taken apart in order to get to that bumper. At the time they were not sure how to locate "that part" on the diagram. They said it was not really there on the "diagram ". IDK ??

Anyway, I looked at the exposed front end and that part of the bumper was taken off already and only black foam remaining attached.

Maybe they do need to repaint that part versus just ordering a brand new bumper part? Should I insist on ordering a new bumper part instead of repainting?

 

I think you should examine that part with them, to determine what exaclty happened here...

Also, if the part is not sold seperately, if you order a new bumper, then the bumper will need to be painted white to match your car...

Or if that rectangle detaches from the center bumper section.. Have them order a new bumper just to replace that part on your current bumper

Joe Z

 

The Lexus dealer body shop said this is unusual and had not seen anything like this before. They do not have a solid explanation for it except to say that "maybe" the bumper got blasted with some small rocks at highway speeds. But this is still unusual in the sense that no other parts of the "front end" showed any damage (none on the hood, none on the massive grill, and none on the front bumper. And there is absolutely no evidence of any prior body shop work of any kind. Unless whomever did it was THAT GOOD and did not leave any evidence.)

Anyway, I was told that the part that was peeling was taken off and repainted and put back. The "repainting" was a "process" and that took a while to do.

I checked the car in last Friday morning and just picked the car up this morning (Friday). So it took a week to "repaint" (but they had to take the entire front end off in order to get to that part to take off and repaint).

I examined the car and looks like they did a professional excellent job.

Pictures attached.

 

Agreed... It is a highly unusual situation.!

Either way I presumed they would be repainting it to that satin almost flat black finish..

It came it pretty nice from what I can see...



Joe Z

 

I'm just happy all worked out well.

For the whole week I had an almost new 2016 ES350 loaner. While it was very smooth and nice and everything, but I couldn't wait to get my RC-F back. The RC-F overall just feels tighter and more solid, if that makes any sense.