Paint Fading On '04 Is300 "electric Green"

[Dan da man]

Does anybody have the same issues as me: Paint fading (clear coat is almost gone)on the roof and hood of my 2004 IS300? Color is electric green matellic. I live in the south (Houston, Texas)so the heat may be a contributing factor. I must say that I have never had a professional hand wax/buffing done on the car. Just wondering if there was defect for this color. I took it to Lexus and they said even if there was a defect in the paint, they still wouldn't pay to have it repainted since it's out of warranty.

[pj8708]

Does anybody have the same issues as me: Paint fading (clear coat is almost gone)on the roof and hood of my 2004 IS300? Color is electric green matellic. I live in the south (Houston, Texas)so the heat may be a contributing factor. I must say that I have never had a professional hand wax/buffing done on the car. Just wondering if there was defect for this color. I took it to Lexus and they said even if there was a defect in the paint, they still wouldn't pay to have it repainted since it's out of warranty.

First, have you had this car since new? If so, clear coat doesn't last past a few years and any auto needs a professional exterior detailing once a year, especially in a harsh, hot, humid climate like yours with salt air as well. Even though the car is seven years old, the paint shouldn't be fading unless there has been some repainting done improperly after some damage. That is why I asked if the car was yours originally. Has it had any damage that has been repaired in those areas you mentioned.

[TA in KC]

Even though the car is seven years old, the paint shouldn't be fading unless there has been some repainting done improperly after some damage.

I think so too. Although a much more neutral color, the original diamond white pearl exterior of my previous 92 LS still looked like new when I sold it at 19 years of age and 192,000 miles. I never did much besides wax it twice a year- that kept it looking great.

[Dan da man]

Does anybody have the same issues as me: Paint fading (clear coat is almost gone)on the roof and hood of my 2004 IS300? Color is electric green matellic. I live in the south (Houston, Texas)so the heat may be a contributing factor. I must say that I have never had a professional hand wax/buffing done on the car. Just wondering if there was defect for this color. I took it to Lexus and they said even if there was a defect in the paint, they still wouldn't pay to have it repainted since it's out of warranty.

First, have you had this car since new? If so, clear coat doesn't last past a few years and any auto needs a professional exterior detailing once a year, especially in a harsh, hot, humid climate like yours with salt air as well. Even though the car is seven years old, the paint shouldn't be fading unless there has been some repainting done improperly after some damage. That is why I asked if the car was yours originally. Has it had any damage that has been repaired in those areas you mentioned.

[Dan da man]

Actually I probably misspoke....its the clear coat that is fading (almost gone completely from the hood and top. I'm the original owner..there has never been any previous damage or repainting to those parts. I will insert pics in my next post. thanks.

[pj8708]

Actually I probably misspoke....its the clear coat that is fading (almost gone completely from the hood and top. I'm the original owner..there has never been any previous damage or repainting to those parts. I will insert pics in my next post. thanks.

A new clear coat can be applied after removing the old. A body shop/auto paint shop can do this. But there may be some underlying damage/oxidation to the paint that just normally occurs over time from sun and UV rays. Find a good auto shop and also talk to a detailer before you make a decision.

[Dan da man]

Here are some pics of what my car looks like with the clearcoat fading...might give u a better idea what I need to do.

Thanks!

[cduluk]

Damn... that's unfortunate. :(

That definitely shouldn't have happened, even if you never waxed the car once. There's clearly a defect in the clearcoat.

The only way to repair properly is to completely sand the damaged areas down to the base coat, prime, color and re-clear the entire car, possibly blending into the sides... All of the defective clear needs to be removed or the new clear will begin to peel/etch when the remaining factory clear continues to degrade. And the only way to remove all of the factory clear is to get down to the color coat as well.

Can you take closer pics of the damaged clear? It's hard to tell how deep the damage is. And if you rub water on the damaged clear, does the fogginess go away? If so, you might be able to get away with just a wetsand and re-clear. It's an older car so longevity isn't really a factor.

And are you COMPLETELY sure those parts have never been blended or cleared? I only ask because often if let's say a bumper gets damaged, in an effort to save time making several paint samples, a shop will color the bumper and blend into the hood and fenders to hide the color differences. Most likely they wouldn't even tell you about it. If any damage occurred on the front or rear 1/4 fenders, they'd have to blend along the pillars and clear the entire roof.

[Dan da man]

Here are some pics of what my car looks like with the clearcoat fading...might give u a better idea what I need to do.

Thanks!

Here are some close up pics of the top of the roof and hood of my car. It was in an accident, but it was on the right side. Damage was done to the right front qtr panel and both passenger doors. When you put water on it, you can't see the fading of the clearcoat on the hood. Westside Lexus is the ones who did the repairs. You may be right that they blended the colors onto the roof and hood.If so, does this mean they did a bad job??

[LEXIRX330]

Have you ever had someone detail that car with a buffer that didn't know what they were doing? It looks like some one used a compound or a buffer on it and burned the clear up. My mom had a Avalon that dad had some guy detail and the car looked good when he got it home but in no time you could tell that the clear was damaged and a few years later it was horrible. My money would be that either the shop that did the work had someone buff out the whole car and someone used a compound or buffer or it was detailed by someone who did the same.

[cduluk]

I'd bet on poor body work. I don't see how factory paint could fade like that... At the factory, the paint and atmosphere is VERY well controlled. It's more likely that a body shop used cheap clearcoat and didn't prep the area well before blending. Odds are, they greatly reduced the clear to do a simple clear blend, and with heat and age the clear deteriorates leaving behind what you see here.

I'd take the car to a body shop so they can closely examine the area and determine what happened, and see if the car can simply be cut or if the clear needs to be sanded and re-cleared.