Removal Of Pinstripe

[92Lex]

The faded pinstripe on my car is really irritating me...does anyone know how I can remove it without harming the paint? Thanks.

[SW03ES]

Is it pinstripe tape or is it painted on?

[92Lex]

Not too sure...it seems like it may be painted on. About every foot or so the stripe is faded out and the regular paint underneath is exposed.

[vevro]

I've had the same problem. The only way to remove a painted pinstripe is to sand it out. I think you should touch up the pinstripes instead of removing them.

Yesterday took the car to a bodyshop in Brooklyn and they've repainted my pinstripes for $100.

[silvermate]

i had the same problem with the pinstripe.......what i did was just re did the whole car with a new pin stripe.

over the existing one....you have to be really accurate and take ur time, but it looks wonderfull when its complete....... after about a year and half all is well with it.

and thats just if you want the pinstripe to look better......i wouldn't know what to say about taking it off, it could be under clear coat.......but i think the dealers install the pin stripes not the manufactuer, so i'm not sure <_<

[SW03ES]

Pinstripes from Lexus are purely an aftermarket thing, they're always on top of the clearcoat.

Let me ask around a little and I'll get back to you.

[1990LS400]

I removed the dealer installed Lexus logo tape pin stripe from my current LS last fall in about 30 minutes with a hair dryer and polished off the glue residue with car wax and a soft cotton cloth. A repair shop wanted $150 to have a subcontractor remove it with a heat gun.

Try using a hair dryer on it to see if the stripe comes off. If it is tape, the glue will soften up very quickly. I think I easily found instructions on removing tape pin stripes on this, another Lexus forum or with Google. The main thing is the wiggle the hair dryer nozzle back and forth on two or three inches of the stripe at a time - do not try to heat up too much of the pin stripe at once. I remember that some of the stripe came off in two to three foot sections.

My opinion is that pin stripes look better on the rounder 90-94 LS than on the more sharply defined body of the 95-up LS400. (The 95-97 is my favorite LS style of all.) But it is all personal preference.

[SW03ES]

You prefer the 95-97 over the 98-00? I don't hear that from people much.

Yeah tape pinstripes are VERY easily removed...

[92Lex]

I think the pinstripes on my car were painted on. There are sections of the stripe thats no longer present...looks like it slowly came of during car washes.

[1990LS400]

Yes Steve, I like especially like the headlight design of the 95-97 more than the 98-00 although I would have liked it better if the fog lights were below the bumper as on Euro and U.K. LS models. And the tail lights of the 95-97 do not have the sharper edges and surfaces of the 98-00 and look more integrated to me. I even think the 95-97 had the best looking wheels that have come on an LS - nicely understated.

I think Lexus got way too carried away trying to make the 98-00 LS evoke the look of the Mercedes S-class of 92-99 which was derisively called "der Panzerwagen" by Mercedes enthusiasts.

My neighbor two doors down has a late 90's S500. It is pretty weird to see the styling similarities - especially the headlights and front turn signals - when our cars are parked in our driveways.

But if Lexus is going to copy another company's styling, I would rather it be Mercedes than just about any other company - just as long as Lexus does not copy Mercedes reliability.

[1990LS400]

92Lex,

There were some small sections of my stripes missing on my LS too before I took them off.

Is the stripe on each side a "double stripe" with an "L" Lexus logo somewhere along the stripe? If it is, my bet is that it is a tape stripe. I've seen these same tape-on stripes on Lexus cars all over the U.S. so they must be widely available.

If your stripes do not have the Lexus logo, then I agree that it is more likely a painted stripe.