Keyed Gs400

[MrDog2000]

So my 2000 GS400 (Platinum silver) got keyed while I was at work. I've only owned it for 6 months, and bought it partly because it looked nearly new. I thought it was one of the homeless people who walk through the parking lot to get to the free breakfast place. Then I laughed and said to my wife, "homeless people don't have keys do they?" I guess it was someone who was jealous of a ten-year old Lex.

Anyway, tried polishing compound, did nothing. Tried rubbing compound, did nothing. Tried Nu-finish, helped a little bit. Tried NIxx, worked the best. Of course now I've sanded away part of the clear-coat.

Has anyone had experience having just the clear-coat freshened? I need to get the front bumper fixed up anyways.

Your ideas are appreciated.

[cduluk]

Oh i feel your pain, my Rx was severely keyed this past summer, hood, fender, entire drivers side... It all had to be repainted, took over a month to do but it came out great.

Are you sure the scratch is only in the clear and not through to the color coat?

If the scratch is indeed only in the clear, the whole area can be re-clear coated. They'd just lightly wetsand the entire area, and spray. After several coats the imperfection in the clear will be filled. But there's no way to re-fill the scratch with clear without clearing the entire area...

But if the scratch is through the clear and into the color, re-clearing the area won't work, as you'll always see the primer below. You'd need to color and clear and blend the entire area.

Speaking of which, where is the damage? Is it only on the bumper? If so, i'd just have the entire thing re-painted. I just had my local body shop paint a bumper and they charged me $200, but i've been customers of theirs for a while...

Can you post pictures?

Definitely do whatever it takes to get it repaired right, because if not you'll forever be annoyed by it... :(

[VBdenny]

Having never been keyed yet but some moron in a handicapped van figued it was better to park about two feet from my door and put a huge dent in my door. They give them a 20' space and they park 2' away, go figure.

[retvethogrider]

Perhaps the handicap is not physical...many people just do not care. I have an 11 year-old RX3000 I bought new. It does not have one ding. But then I park it in the south 40 at the mall, grocery store, etc.

[cduluk]

I try to park FAR away in parking lots too... The best way to park is parallel park since there's no one next to you <_<

[retvethogrider]

I know, but then they back into your front bumper and cave it in...perhaps we should just put a Lexus emblem on our forehead and walk to the store.

[BarryW]

If your car was keyed, then it is vandalism and if you carry comprehensive insurance it can be fixed for a small or no deductible, whichever you carry, and does not count as a claim against your insurance as far as rates are concerned. At least that is the positive side!

[cduluk]

I know, but then they back into your front bumper and cave it in...perhaps we should just put a Lexus emblem on our forehead and walk to the store.

Heck, it's cheaper to buy and repaint a new bumper than it is to repaint the entire SIDE of your car due to one little quarter sized dent and chip in a door (due to paint blending etc...)