Paint Peeling And Chipping

[BruceBryant]

I own a white 2004 GX470. It was purchased new from the dealer in July 2004. The paint on the hood and bumper began to chip after 3 years. The dealership touched up the chips during the warranty period. The chipping continued. Shortly after the warranty expired, the dealership's contracted paint shop told me that the continued chipping was due to bad primer used on the vehicle at the factory. The shop said they had never seen a Lexus do this before. There were chips down to the primer measuring 3-4 inches in diameter. The dealership refused to fix the damage and blamed Lexus. Lexus Corp. also refused to fix the damage and stated I would have to file an appeal and go through arbitration. Has anybody experienced this issue or scenario? Help would be greatly appreciated.

[Steve]

I would not give up, if the dealer claims it's a factory fault then you have a claim. providing your paintwork is still covered under the paint warranty. but if you made a claim whilst in warranty then surely you should be able to claim on it as it is on going

[BruceBryant]

Thank you for the words of encouragement. This is the second new Lexus I have purchased from this dealer. I was surprised by his actions.

[Charles777]

I also own a 04 GX 470 Blizzard Perl and the paint on the hood and the roof are peeling bad. It started out like small spots on the hood and it just kept peeling and peeling. And it seems that this freezing cold weather on Long Island NY is only helping to speed up the process. I was also told by Lexus that they never heard of this, but I continue to see people complaining about this. Lexus and Toyota are having problems with paint peeling. My sister owns a Prius and her paint is peeling.

[13IS250C]

Wow. Sorry to hear of your troubles. Maybe because of where you live, salt or other ice removal chemicals could be the culprit.

Let us know what happens.

[Charles777]

I might give salt or other chemicals from the road but the peeling is also happening on the roof of my truck. I'm 6' and have to step up on the side rails to see it. I just happened to look out of my house window and discovered that the roof was also peeling. If you look on the internet it's not just Lexus it also a lot of Toyota customers complaining about peeling paint. I just feel like if you spend over $50,000 on a vehicle you shouldn't have these problems.

[13IS250C]

I totally agree.

[pj8708]

Hi Charles.

In order to better access information regarding the paint problem, I would urge you to look at our search function where you will find a large number of complaints and methods used to resolve the problem with Lexus.

To use the Clubs Data Base, first pull up the main log on forums page. At the top,over to the right is a grey colored horizontal box where you can put in your search parameters . Words such as "peeling paint - TSB re. peeling paint.

Let Becki or I what the dealer comes off with

Paul

[JBruce]

I have had no luck with my dealer on remedying the paint peeling issue. The deal continues to place liability upon Lexus since the vehicle is out of warranty. The dealer ignores the fact that I had brought the paint chipping and peeling issue to their attention on at three occasions while the vehicle was under warranty. The dealer would simply use some touch up paint and offer nothing further. I made claim for a recall with Lexus a couple years ago. The response I received was that my vehicle was an isolated instance and did not warrant a recall. If enough dissatisfied consumers articulate this issue, I am hopeful Lexus will be forthcoming and offer customer satisfaction. Thanks so much for the forum to air this issue.

[ImBatGirl]

I also own an 08 GX470. My paint started peeling during warranty but I thought it was from rocks on the interstate or something like that. Got a new windshield and when the tape was removed, large amounts of paint came off stuck to the tape. Took car to reputable paint shop and was told this was a defect. Have tried to get help from Lexus but they refuse to do the right thing. Just like the dashboard deal so I'm waiting and hoping for a class action law suit because that's what it will take.  Time is on their side however because cars don't last but I have babied this car because it cost a fortune and I plan to keep it as long as it will roll. The paint is peeling all over and looks horrible but it runs good. This is my last Lexus however due to the peeling paint issue.

[PES8408]

I also own a 2008 with bubbling and chipping on the paint.  It is located on the side of the car and not a result of a stone or car ding either.  I am taking it to a paint shop to get an opinion.  Spending $50k on this car and you should not have this kind of quality control issue.

[ImBatGirl]

Exactly and I've gone through all of the appropriate steps to get assistance from Lexus and they will not help. This is my last Lexus for this reason. I'm going to drive it until there's no paint. It's not very good advertising for them. It's pitiful when I see so many with the same problem. One paint place told me it was bad primer. Good Luck to you.

[PES8408]

Thanks for the heads up! It seems once they get you past the warranty period they don't care. It's all about business and they will wait until a class action. It used to be if you took care of your car, it would last AND look good! I'll reconsider putting so much $ in a car in the future. Best of luck to you too!

[Charles777]

I was hoping that with all of the complaints Lexus would have stepped up and done what was right and fix the problem. It seems to be all the paint with a pearl finish appear to have this problem. I bought the GX470 brand new shipped from Japan. And I took great care of it, hand cleaned mostly and waxed at least twice a year, but always kept clean. It really *BLEEP*es me off to see the paint peel like it did. I had it painted and now I see I'll have to have the rims done also, as there starting to peel. Good Luck to all of you and if there are any changes with Lexus , let the group know.

[ImBatGirl]

Was it super expensive to have it repainted? I love the car and would love to have it painted but I do think Lexus deserves the free advertising of me driving the car around everyday. Mine has always been babied and taken very good care of. I don't have 1 ding.  I plan to keep it as long as it will go. It is definitely my last Lexus though.

[Charles777]

I live in Long Island, NY and I just went to an area where there were a lot of collision shop and one shop gave me a great price and my truck looks like her old self again.  She's no longer  the ugly duckling. lol,  I got sick of looking at the hood and the roof peeling, the GX470 looked like she had eczema.  

[JBruce]

I have taken my vehicle to two body shops.  Each shop stated that the peeling was due to a defect in the primer/paint at the manufacturing level.  They each speculated that Lexus would eventually issue a recall if enough complaints were received.  My vehicle continues to chip and peel on the hood, bumper and roof.  Lexus continues to hold out on satisfactorily resolving this matter.    

[ImBatGirl]

 

Lexus is holding out until all of these cars die. I was also told it was a primer defect from a local body shop.

[JBruce]

Neither Lexus nor the Lexus dealership where I special ordered the vehicle wanted to ensure customer satisfaction.  Several times during the warranty period, I had taken the vehicle in for chipping paint on the bumper and hood.  Each time the dealer would only offer to "touch-up" the chipped area and say it was from rocks on the road.  I have purchased two new Lexus vehicles from this dealer.  Nevertheless, the dealer refused to make things right.  

[PES8408]

A friend recommended that we broadcast this on Twitter.  He says that companies hate tweets regarding negative comments regarding their products.  Maybe a campaign on Twitter regarding this topic should be initiated?

[DiabloX22]

I have been through the arbitration process twice and won both times. First was a 1991 Pontiac GTA second was a 1995 Pontiac Trans Am. Its a lot of work and headaches, but if they admit it was bad from the factory, they have to do something, they replaced my 1st one with a brand new car, the 2nd I had them buy it back from me. It depends on how much fight you have in you. I will be more than happy to tell you what I did, the most important is, get everything in writing and bring it to several dealers and independent shops stating the paint is flawed from the factory. It was a long, time consuming process. The 1st 1 they wanted to repaint a brand new car!  NO WAY! Like I said, it was worth it to me, if anyone wants to know what I did, I will be more than happy to help! 

[ImBatGirl]

I would like to know. Not sure how I can get you my email without publicly posting. Also not sure if these places I've taken my car to would put it in writing that the primer or paint was flawed. They have verbally told me but nothing in writing. They are only in it to get me to buy a paint job. We only have 1 Lexus dealership anywhere near me also. The people from Lexus that contacted me said they are more willing to help people that buy multiple cars and have all of their maintenance done at the dealership. We have bought multiple cars but we keep our cars a long time and I don't continue my maintenance there after warranty as it's not near me and I had some issues where they told me things I needed done that didn't need done.

[ImBatGirl]

I've tried twitter. That's how I got a second look at the problem but it ended up being a waste of my time. 😩

[DiabloX22]

My email is turbo_x22@yahoo.com for batgirl and any others that want to contact me. Just make sure you put something I would recognize as the subject line, its a very old email address and I get a lot of spam. I will try to help you in any way I can.  will have to find all my documents to help refresh my memory.. they will ONLY help you if you are a returning customer and bring it to them???? That right there sounds pretty F'ed up if you ask me!!!! Well I will start briefly tonight with a few pointers because I have to get up early tomorrow and didnt want to leave you hanging. Start writing a journal with dates, doesnt have to be in order YET, but just as you recall things write them down. Situations, dates, any receipts or paperwork you have, obviously the more the better. I am sure you know if you go to lexus.com and join, putting your VIN # in pulls up every service and mileage, info, stuff like that. Research, research, research! If Lexus told you that, communicate through email so all is documented. Something that quickly comes to mind is emailing them and saying, why do you only help people(what they told you) etc etc. Scan the internet for others having the issue. Read their stories, see what they were told. The more you recall write it down. Names, dates, times, anything and everything. A body shop or even another non lexus dealer. basically a person who knows paint WILL put it down on paper if you act like a customer, maybe say you have a warranty that covers it9of course you forgot it) if it isnt from neglected paint and is due to bad paint, primer etc. also start looking into that, what different types of damage such as bad primer will look like after several years. I am calling it a night. I hope you get a idea of what I am saying. Or if you just want the short version, I can tell it to you that way too,  called GM, made a complaint, they offered nothing that satisfied me. Met with the area Rep, same thing, filed with the BBB and asked for arbutration, won,won, never bought another Pontiac! LOL! Ok, im getting slap happy. I have no problem giving you advice. oh! my name is Jay 

[ImBatGirl]

Thank you so much for the tips. I'll try to get my stuff together and see what all I can find. I think I finally deleted emails but I'm not sure. I'll email you with any questions after I figure out what all I can find. I guess I'm going to go on and get a quote to fully paint the car. I haven't taken it anywhere in a good while. It's getting pretty embarrassing driving it as it is. Looks really bad!!!! Thanks so much!!