Terrible Paint Fading

[Naugled]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum. I was wondering if you ever got any resolution from Lexus on your fading paint issue.

I have the same problem. I have a 2000 topaz color LX470 that has always been garage kept. I live in the north east and my truck has horrible paint fading issues. The clear coat is in perfect condition. It has a nice glossy look but under the surface the paint is faded and blotchy on the hood and the roof. I've owned many cars in my life and I am 100% postitive this is not a wax issue.

I haven't discussed this with a dealer yet, only because they are so far away.

Fading away in New York

[bendrealestate]

I have a 99 LX470 and my paint started to fade last year on the hood. It has spread now all over the car - front to back. It looks terrible. I just took it into a paint shop and they said the paint was too thin causing the paint to fail. Their quote is for over $4000 to repaint. I'm contacting Lexus tomorrow to see what they have to say. This is an expensive automobile and I don't think we should have this kind of issue. The color is smokey topaz. Can anyone give me any advise as to who to contact????

Thank you

[bridgeoflions]

I have a 99 LX470 and my paint started to fade last year on the hood. It has spread now all over the car - front to back. It looks terrible. I just took it into a paint shop and they said the paint was too thin causing the paint to fail. Their quote is for over $4000 to repaint. I'm contacting Lexus tomorrow to see what they have to say. This is an expensive automobile and I don't think we should have this kind of issue. The color is smokey topaz. Can anyone give me any advise as to who to contact????

Thank you

Hi. I am curious to know what Lexus said about your problem. I have a 2000 LX470 and I have a very similar problem....started on just the hood, spread to the roof and now is on the sides. I have had two people look at it. I was hoping to just have the roof and the hood painted, but they said it was spreading and that it was a problem with the manufacturers paint. My car has been garage kept, maintained inside and out. Seemed the problem for me crept up....very light fading and then very very quickly got very blotchy. It looks so cheap, just awful. I would very much like to know if Lexus did anyting about it. My dealer said too bad, not under warranty. This was a $70k car

[bridgeoflions]

I have a 99 LX470 and my paint started to fade last year on the hood. It has spread now all over the car - front to back. It looks terrible. I just took it into a paint shop and they said the paint was too thin causing the paint to fail. Their quote is for over $4000 to repaint. I'm contacting Lexus tomorrow to see what they have to say. This is an expensive automobile and I don't think we should have this kind of issue. The color is smokey topaz. Can anyone give me any advise as to who to contact????

Thank you

Hi. I am curious to know what Lexus said about your problem. I have a 2000 LX470 and I have a very similar problem....started on just the hood, spread to the roof and now is on the sides. I have had two people look at it. I was hoping to just have the roof and the hood painted, but they said it was spreading and that it was a problem with the manufacturers paint. My car has been garage kept, maintained inside and out. Seemed the problem for me crept up....very light fading and then very very quickly got very blotchy. It looks so cheap, just awful. I would very much like to know if Lexus did anyting about it. My dealer said too bad, not under warranty. This was a $70k car

[jay_]

Hello LX owners -

I own a 2000 model in the same color with the same horrible paint problem - garage kept and waxed. I find it hard to believe Lexus does not know there is a problem with this paint. I just happened to take mine to a paint pro today and he said there is an issue. My Lexus dealership (actually their DOM) said they would pay for half. If they are paying for half in my mind they are admitting an issue. Has anyone seriously contacted a lawyer?

I truly think we should ban together to get this resolved.

Anticipate your comments.

Mike

[waanderslx]

i got the same problem on my 99 Lexus lx470. I always wax my car and take car of it and the paint began to fade in all different areas. I'm going to call my local dealership today and see what they say.

[waanderslx]

I called Lexus and a got a dumb blond. She was like well what do you want me to do? So i said maybe you should get a different job if u don't understand me and hung up. Second time i called got a really nice guy, listened to every word i had to say. He mad a complaint for me and they will call me back within two business days with what they will do for me. I'm praying for the best. I got Isuzu to pay for my new paint job back in the day.I'm hoping Lexus will at least pay for a part of it.

[John470]

I wasn't even looking for this topic, but our 2000 LX470 (champagne color) is fading/blotchy on the rear quarter panels. We keep our vehicle waxed and the clear coat is perfect. My wife has asked the dealership about it twice while having it serviced and they always tell her to go to a paint shop, it's not there problem. She was wanting a 2009, but when a manufacturer won't stand behind a $65,000.00 vehicle when they know there is a problem, why waste the money.

For what it's worth, when we had a LX450, the transmission started making a noise. The dealership said they could change out the entire drive train for $10,000.00 and maybe that would fix it. We drove it until the tranny gave out and an independent transmission shop rebuilt it at a reasonable cost.

I love the cars, but they're dealership just talks a good talk. There's doesn't seem to be anything behind it.

[waanderslx]

Went to the dealership today and showed them the car..the guy offered to paint the entire car for free! He couldn't believe how bad the paint was on a once 65,000 dollar car. He knew i took car of my truck by the fact it doesn't have a scratch on it and looks brand new other than the paint. He told me he has to call the Lexus headquarters and get things set up with them first, then he will call me im hoping for the best.

[waanderslx]

everything is set up im taking it to get painted on the 18th....Lexus never fails to satisfy me..One of the reason i only drive toyota's

[Jangell]

Sorry...Duplicate post

[Jangell]

Does anyone have any photos of the bad pant that they can post...I tihnk I have the same issue with my 200 lx 470

[jay_]

Went to the dealership today and showed them the car..the guy offered to paint the entire car for free! He couldn't believe how bad the paint was on a once 65,000 dollar car. He knew i took car of my truck by the fact it doesn't have a scratch on it and looks brand new other than the paint. He told me he has to call the Lexus headquarters and get things set up with them first, then he will call me im hoping for the best.

what lexus dealership painted your car?

[Jangell]

SO...My saga has ended...And Unfortunately it has ended poorly.

I went tothe Dealer (Lexus of Seattle)...They took one lok at the car and said UGH...you have a problem.

They gave me the Lexus number 800 25LEXUS so that I could start a case.

I did this with the customer service rep (Very Pleasant)

Received a call back from a specialist two days later who asked me some questions (His name was Jose Martinez). He told me he would investigate further...Well later that day he called me back and left a message...Tried to call him back but he was busy...He asked the Rep ont eh phone to let me know that they were not going to do anything about it.

For what it is worth...During my initial conversation with him he did not give me the sense that Lexus would do anything about this...

Factors that he said they would be taking into consideration were

Lack of service at the dealership (I usually take to toyota dealer)

I am the second owner ofthe car

Must admit that I am pretty dissapointed in the decision...they did not even see the car to know wha tthey were dealing with.

My issue is clearly a defect.

[TexasChiliS]

My 1998 (Brown) stayed in the garage 90% time until 2003. Was waxed on a regular basis. Once I started commuting with it - it started fading. I mentioned this to the dealer several times when in for service, and asked if there were issues with this color. They said they did not know of any. After I had to have rear bumper repaired, I asked Lexus body shop about this and they said "yes, Lexus had an issue with this color, and we repainted several of them under warantee"

After very generous help from my dealer managers, Lexus says "too late" but offered to split a $7K paint job. With a 170K miles now - not worth it. Any suggestions?

[NicLX470]

For some reason I do remember seeing a post on some other website that the smokey topaz color was recalled. I think that is the only color that is fading horribly. I have a 98 in the green color and it looks just as new as when I got it. It sits alot in the hot sun here in the Houston area. They should definatly fix it even if its not under warranty anymore. That is what a recall is for right?

[lx-470]

In '04 I almost purchased a '00 470, Topaz color, but noticed the fading color on the hood and roof. I asked the local dealer and they said that they had lots of problems with that particular color, and if brought to them w/i the first 6 yrs warranty period they would repaint the car for free. However, based on his response, I decided to go with a different color, Mineral, which has held up well.

[knklx470]

I too have a 99 LX470 Smoky Topaz with the same problem. I took it to the dealer for servicing and they acted like it wasn't their problem and didn't know what was wrong with the paint. About a year ago while in for servicing, I asked for a paint shop referral and the customer service rep said he would get back to me when I picked up the car. Never got a reply from him. A few weeks ago while in for 95,000 servicing, I asked again (different cust. rep) and did get the name to their authorized Lexus paint & body shop. I went in today for an estimate and the guy was in disbelief! He said in all his years he never saw a car with this bad a problem. In his opinion it is defective paint from manufacturer. His ballpark estimate was for $6000-7000. He recommended I call the Lexus Corporate office. When I got home, I immediately did a Google search and found this site. I am going to call the corporate office Monday. Thank you for all the posts.

I have been driving around with this embarrassing problem and will probably continue to do so since I can't afford to pay $6000-7000 for a paint job. It just recently rained and now the clear-coat is peeling like a bad sunburn.

I would like to post pics but can't figure out how to do it. When I click on the Insert Image icon I get asked for a URL.

[cdescher]

I too have a 99 LX470 Smoky Topaz with the same problem. I took it to the dealer for servicing and they acted like it wasn't their problem and didn't know what was wrong with the paint. About a year ago while in for servicing, I asked for a paint shop referral and the customer service rep said he would get back to me when I picked up the car. Never got a reply from him. A few weeks ago while in for 95,000 servicing, I asked again (different cust. rep) and did get the name to their authorized Lexus paint & body shop. I went in today for an estimate and the guy was in disbelief! He said in all his years he never saw a car with this bad a problem. In his opinion it is defective paint from manufacturer. His ballpark estimate was for $6000-7000. He recommended I call the Lexus Corporate office. When I got home, I immediately did a Google search and found this site. I am going to call the corporate office Monday. Thank you for all the posts.

I have been driving around with this embarrassing problem and will probably continue to do so since I can't afford to pay $6000-7000 for a paint job. It just recently rained and now the clear-coat is peeling like a bad sunburn.

I would like to post pics but can't figure out how to do it. When I click on the Insert Image icon I get asked for a URL.

This is a known problem for Lexus. I owned a 99 with the same paint color and had exactly the same problem. They repainted the car for free. It was a lot harder for them than they thought it would be. It took about six weeks to finally get it back, but they did provide a loaner. The way they described it, the pigment gave out on the paint.

[deadmilenko]

Hello LX owners -

I own a 2000 model in the same color with the same horrible paint problem - garage kept and waxed. I find it hard to believe Lexus does not know there is a problem with this paint. I just happened to take mine to a paint pro today and he said there is an issue. My Lexus dealership (actually their DOM) said they would pay for half. If they are paying for half in my mind they are admitting an issue. Has anyone seriously contacted a lawyer?

I truly think we should ban together to get this resolved.

Anticipate your comments.

Mike

I seriously agree with Jay. We need to look at getting a total head count on how many of us there are the have paint fading issues.

I have the same issue with my 2000 LX470 with the paint on the roof mostly. What is the color you ask? You guessed it Topaz Grey. Huge fading issue looks like crap for a $70,000 machine. This is my second Lexus that I have owned and after this one I am not impressed.

I read another topic in here about a paint fading problem on a 2002 I believe, and Lexus apinted it for free.

I am going to start a topic so we can get a head count.

[mvy]

My 2000 lx470 smokey topaz getting a complete free paint job at lexus dealer right now.

[deadmilenko]

My 2000 lx470 smokey topaz getting a complete free paint job at lexus dealer right now.

MVY, tell us how you managed to get your 2000 LX470 painted form the dealer for free. There are many of us with the same problem with the 2000 pigment in the Topaz Gray paint not holding up. What is your secret? How long did it take? Who did you talk too?

Where was your paint fading at?

[mvy]

My 2000 LX470 is in the shop right now for a full free paint job, as I had fading smokey topaz paint. However, please give me about two weeks and I will give you all the details. I simply don't want other forum members bugging my dealer until I get the car back. I hope you understand.

[deadmilenko]

not a problem

[mvy]

Not sure about this, but I did hear the dealer will only give the free paint on smokey topaz, (maybe other colors?) if it is a one owner car, car was serviced at dealer regularly, and dents and other scratches are not included.