Scratched Clear Coat

[redgirl6]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum, and I would appreciate any advice....

I just bought a used 2008 RX350 from a dealer. As part of the purchase, Lexus dealer agreed to paint the bumpers (previous owner was a "touch parker") The used car section of this dealership does not use the Lexus Collision repair shop. (I found this out after I tried to complain to the service department) The body shop they used made a major MESS. (large 1 1/2 inch blob of dried paint, painted over dirt, scuff plate installed crooked and falling off, paint line down entire length of bumper, sections left with raw paint, no clear coat, paint inside the car, over spray everywhere) It was shocking to see the mess they created. After a repaint...now the body shop scratched the clear coat along the edge of my vehicle. Bumper looks good, but now I have white hazing along the edge of my body where the bumper attaches to my car. It looks like they sanded my car!! Dealership has wiped their hands of this...told me to leave it, nothing they can do. Can anyone suggestion how I can polish this up without further damaging my car? I am nervous of further damage. Are there any products out there that I can polish, or wax and fill the scratches so they no longer appear white and hazy. Thanks for all your suggestions.

[cduluk]

My guess is that they never removed the bumper from the car to paint it. They probably didn't mask the rest of the car before sanding, and scuffed a few areas with the sandpaper...

How bad are these "scratches"? Are they deep enough so you can see the base coat? If they're minor and just caused by the sandpaper, you might be able to buff them out with a good compound, or at least enough to make an improvement.

3M's Scratch remover is pretty good, either by hand or machine. Can you post pics?

[redgirl6]

I think you are right...they definitely look like sanding paper marks. The marks are white, I can't really tell if it goes down to the base coat since the car is silver. A couple of sections look worse than others and are near the edge so I am nervous getting too aggressive with the buffing in case I remove all the clear coat.

Sorry, I tried to take a picture but it did not turn out clear enough to see the damage...all that you could see were the white scuff lines...

I will try 3m's scratch remover as you suggest and a good waxing once spring arrives.

I also read about a product "Mothers Sealer and Glaze" perhaps this might work as well.

Thanks for your advice.

[cduluk]

It really depends on how deep the scratches are. Did you try to feel the scratches for depth? Can you feel them with your nail?

And what do you mean by "white"? Is it more cloudy? Or literally white?

The car has a hite primer followed by silver in your case, followed by clear.

If you simly roughen up the clear it will appear cloudy, but I'm not sure if this is what you're speaking of...

The "glaze" product you're talking about isn't a perminant solution, all it will do is temporarily "fill" the little scratches. But after a little rain or carwash it will be remove... And this won't help if the scraches are down to the primer.

If the scraches are deep in the clear, using the 3m or similar rubbing/polishing compound will "help" smooth out the edges of the scratches, but you'll still notice them at a close distance. But if the scratches are very fine you may be able to eliminate them with the compound. Just use a cotton cloth with a lot of the compound on it (adding more compound as it starts to get absorbed by the towel) and rub the scratches unil you like the results. It will be VERY hard to go too deep with the compounby just doing it by hand... but if you machine polush you've gotta be careful.

Try to evaluate the depth of the scratches and re-post here. The mthod of repair really depends on how deep they are.

Personally I would sow the car to a different body shop and get an estimate and send it to Lexus. You shouldn't have to pay for this, its the old shops mistake for not being careful while sanding... its a cheap way out to not remove a bumper for painting. You'll have tape lines and "overspray/halfsray" areas where the bumper meets the body.

[HubJunky1]

I had white scratches appear on my car soon after I purchased my 07 rx350-the dealer had done a great job detailing, but what happens is that wax will accumulate in rough spots or scratches and as wax hardens and gets rained on, it turns wet. So the scratches may only appear white because they are full of wax, not because they are that deep. These cars supposedly have an extra hard clear coat that is harder to scratch, but in my experience, it only makes it harder to remove scratches. If the body shop sanded parts of your car, a good body shop (not the people you went to) can use a finer wet sand procedure to buff it out. It sounds terrifying to fix a scratch with sandpaper, but my good friend is a body shop mechanic, and he's done this to repair clear coat imperfections on my cars in the past and the rx. As for your problems, its madness that the dealer has wiped their hands of the problem-I would be writing as many letters to as many people at lexus corporate as I could. You shouldn't be on the hook for any of this.

[SLORICK]

I agree; go up the chain of command, complaining to the owner of the original body shop, the lexus used car dept., then the owner of the local Lexus New Car Dealer that the Used Car Dept is attached to. Then the Lexus Area Corporate Rep and maybe Lexus Corporation Itself. Your State Attorney General & Better Business Bureau. They may realize it's better to satisfy you than suffer bad publicity. Also, go to the Lexus Collision & Repair, get their estimate to fix, and maybe even pay them to fix it correctly instead of doing it yourself. You can then ask for reimbursement before you sue them in small claims court. Again, they may realize you mean business...State Lemon Law? Can they be forced to buy your used car back from you?

[redgirl6]

Thanks for all your replies and advice.

I spoke to the Manager at the Lexus Collision Centre and he told me he would take a look at it and fix it NO CHARGE. :D (He saw the original mess before the repaint and was shocked too.)....I am kicking myself now I did not take any pictures.

He mentioned buffing it out, wet sanding or orbital sander, but said he would need to see it in person to assess.

Still nervous to proceed any further tho...since what happened last time I brought it in for a 'minor cosmetic repair'. :(

[cduluk]

Well just wait to see what he says after looking at it...

What parts have these scratches? Front fenders? Rear 1/4 panels? tailgate?