Hey guys/gals,

I'm having the whole left side of my Rx400h re-painted due to some vandalism. The body shop is also painting the inside door jambs so i don't have to see the masking "line" all along the edges of the body where they meet the doors.

They told me i have two options concerning the info labels on the door jambs. They can either mask them off and paint around them (which will look tacky) or they can remove the labels altogether. But they said if they remove the labels, they will be rendered useless and won't be able to be put back on after paint.

I asked if they could order new labels, but the shop stated they were not able to be purchased, and that it was actually illegal to put labels on over paintwork, since the absence of labels indirectly shows presence of paintwork when buying or selling...

I understand that the "VIN" labels on the jambs shouldn't be put back on over paintwork, but the three info labels on the drivers door jamb shows the production date, paint codes, tire pressure info etc, info that to me seems important to e able to refer to.

Here's a pic i found of another Rx's door jamb labels:



So is the shop right? I looked in the Rx400h parts manual, and there's a page dedicated to "labels", but i can't find any that look like the ones on the drivers door jamb. The top black one is the one that's pretty much custom for ever vehicle since it contains the vin and production date which vary between cars. The other two are the same for all of them.

Anyone have any input on this? thanks!!

I would have them tape them off and keep them, for sure. Otherwise, when it comes time to trade/sell the car, it will be more difficult to explain why they're not there "I'd notice this right away", than why there appears to be a tape line. With the tape line, you can simply tell them the truth without having to worry what they're thinking (if they notice at all and ask the question). But if you remove the labels, then you can bet they'll notice, and you can bet they'll probably wonder if you're telling them the whole story, or if something else happened that destroyed them.

When I bought my first Lexus, I was told by a couple of Lexus owners to make sure to check all the doors for their tags, to make sure nothing had happened to them, as it's a tell-tale way to check. Keep the labels!

If they can't save the labels or if they can't find replacements, i'll scan someone else's, edit them with my info, and have a sticker company make me some duplicates

I plan on having the car for a long, loooonnngggg time, so my biggest worry isn't resale value if they're missing, but rather looks.

I'd just mask them off too......spend a few extra minutes to get it 'perfect' & Bob's your uncle.

They attempted the "masking" of the stickers on my rx300 when they did the pass. side after i clipped a fire hydrant, and it was obvious something was wrong.

The paint was as high as the thickness of the sticker. If you ran your finger across the sticker, you would feel that the sticker was at the same level as the paint. It looked like they sprayed the door jamb with clear, then placed the sticker in the clear before it dried... It looked, odd...

Yes, the stickers/labels can all be replaced but they must be ordered and installed through a Lexus dealership. The old sticker also must accompany the request for a replacement. It works the same way as replacement VIN plaques.

You should be able to find the forms to request a replacement sticker on the Ebsco auto repair reference center. I would suggest giving them to the body shop and have them work everything out with a local Lexus dealership.

Hey, thanks! I google'd "Ebsco auto repair reference center" but didn't find anything??

I looked on the lexus parts manual page online, and think i've identified two out of the three stickers. Can't find the black one though.

The black one is SPECIFIC for that vehicle, and that vehicle only. It has the production date, VIN, and where the car was manufactured.

yeah that's the only one i'll have trouble getting.

I contacted Lexus parts (why didn't i think of this before??) and they said the bottom two they could get in about a day, but the black one would take 6-10 weeks to deliver. I'd need the old one to present (to get info from) and they'd need to make another...

I'll have to see if the shop kept the sticker or not...

I don't understand why they are painting the inside of the B pillar when the damage is limited to the exterior of the door skins...

Only to avoid the mask line around the edge of the doors (on the body).

I went to the shop today to drop off the wheels i want them to put on, and i saw the progress. They have the hood removed (being sanded down) and have the FL fender sanded down to metal along with both side doors and part of the LR 1/4 panel. They told me they're going to try to 'mist' the edges and wetsand and polish to avoid having to paint the door jams or have a sharp mask line... I don't know, they know what they're doing i guess. Should be done next monday or tuesday...

Are they painting the roof and the support beam above the doors?

They're not painting the roof, but they are clearing/ painting the 3" or so section of metal that starts at the windshield that merges into the rear 1/4.

This is what they told me they were doing:




But when clearing the top section, they'd need to mask off the door jams, which would leave a mask line that would be visible along the rim when the doors wher open. The line would look like this:



So what they're going to to is to try to 'mist' along the rim, wetsand and polish it so you won't be able to see the "line" between the door jams and where was clearcoat, sort of like a blend.

That makes sense....

i guess, the shop will work their magic!

I hope it turns out well, I'm sure it will.

Ugh me too, they've certainly had it long enough. They told me it would be done Monday or Tuesday of this week, so that means today?

Given my experience with them, they're pretty bad on deadlines. Ordinarily i would freak, but i know when i'm building/working on something, whenever i'm nagged i rush and the work comes out crappy. So i'd rather let them take their time...

I'd let them take as long as it takes to make it perfect...I wouldn't hurry them.

And don't pay for it or take delivery of it until its perfect, thats a BIG repair, a lot of paint work and it very well may have some rough or wavy points at first. If it does...tell them to keep it until its right.

When I had my bumper repainted by my shop who does INCREDIBLE work...I sent it back twice before I accepted it. Most people would have just taken it the first time...but I'm not most people.

Oh trust me, i won't accept it if i'm not perfectly satisfied. The first time i had them do work, i made them spend a few more hours with it wet sanding and polishing a few dust particels they missed.

The fact that they've had it for one month, it'd better be perfect.

I have been following along, reading about your keying incident and the repair/painting you are going through. First of all, sorry about the keying...that sucks. I'm sure I would have gone through the moon if it were my car. Second, I can't wait to hear how your paint job looks! A month is a long time to wait, so I hope it looks like it just rolled out of the factory!

--Duckman

hey thanks for the kind words- i called the shop again today, apparently its not done yet... maybe tomorrow? ugh...

Well i FINALLY got my car back from the body shop yesterday

The paint job was absolutely PERFECT, and i literally mean PERFECT! I can't find one single imperfection, ANYWHERE. I can't even tell it was painted. The finish is spotless and smooth and shiny as ever.

And best of all, NO LINES! They blended the clear so perfectly along the edges of the frame, the transition is seamless around the door jams. They said they "misted" the edges and wet-sanded and polished the door jams. This way i get to keep the stickers

And they didn't do it the fast/cheap way either- they removed the door handles, all window trim along with the door bumper "strips" that are in the center of each door, painted those too then put them back on.

The color is a perfect match to the rest of the car. I couldn't be happier!

They also replaced the windshield with a factory Lexus one, and they put my chrome wheels on for me too.

And on top of that, when i picked the car up, he gave me a personal check for $500. Maybe for being a repeat customer and for being so patient?

They did get $6,000 from the insurance. $1800 of that just for the windshield...

So here are some pics of the results

And the wheels! J

Very nice! LOVE the chrome wheels!

It's great that you found someone that would pay attention to all of the details that were important to you. Even though you had to wait...I'm sure that the finished product more than makes up for the time.

Congrats!

--Duckman

thanks! I love the wheels too, for $1300 wheels+tires i couldn't say no...

And yeah, this body shop knows how i am, how pick i am at least lol. I've been using them to do all my bodywork for about 3 years now. Sometimes i go visit them and what not, they know me by name lol.

It's a "one hand feeds the other" kind of thing. I bring them a lot of business, and they do a good job. I'll definitely be going back to them if i ever need more body work, even though they took a long time, the results are freaking awesome.

Thats great, I'm glad it turned out well!

Remember not to wax the new paint for 30 days, it needs to offgas. You can use a non-protective polish or glaze if you want, but no wax or sealant for 30 days.

Wasn't the windshield that was on there a non-OEM windshield or they had sanded off the brand or something?

Alls well that ends well.

Oh yeah, in a few months i'm gonna have the whole car cut, buffed, glazed and waxed. I like the Collinite Insulator wax, it'll give me good protection for the winter.

The windshield previously on the car was some no-name after-market one. Had the word "united" in black lettering with what looked like the work "LEXUS" scratched and polished away right above it. It was sketchy... The body shop managed to get an OEM one this time though, no idea how but i am certainly glad! I didn't trust the no-name one...

I'm thinking of getting a few boxes of donuts and some flowers for the receptionist or something, to bring down to the body shop this week. I just wanna let them know their hard work is appreciated. Think that's a good idea? And damn, the receptionist is HOT lol...

Thats a wonderful idea, I'm sure it would be very appreciated.

Customers very rarely do anything like that anymore, and its a shame...

Agreed! That's a great idea.

I thought it might be a nice thing When professors or teachers would bring donuts in for us kids when we had a big test or something, we'd always work better and be in a better mood I don't think there's anyone out there who wouldn't appreciate donuts! lol

I'll drop by one day this week.

No more parties at sketchy trailor parks...right..

I don't know about the donuts and flowers. I need to see a photo of this 'hot' receptionist first, preferrably in something with lace...

haha

Hey I don't think so! LOL. My RX300 back in 2002 when it was rear-ended, was in the shop for 2 MONTHS and I remember bringing the guys Krispy Kreme donuts EVERYDAY for those two months! Only because I bought some Krispy Kreme fundraiser card where they gave you a free dozen donuts after buying a dozen and I didn't feel like giving myself diabetes from availing the offer on the fundraiser card so I decided to use it all up on the body shop so they would do a good job on the RX, which they absolutely did. Too bad we sold it though hehe

A different shop did a good job on my CRV this time since I was rear ended back in July. Finally got it back but it was only in the shop for 1 week. The pain was the process of getting the money/check from the girl at fault..