Bad Paint Is "normal" Admits Lexus Dealer

[badpaint99]

2003 Lexus ES330 - White. Numerous paint chips appeared in the low, sloping hood in the first 6 moths of normal Houston driving. Lexus dealer says its "rock chips" not the paint failure. Now it's 2007, and the Lexus bears its collected scars like the face of the Moon. Lovely, white, pitted beauty - a princess of cars with a genetic flaw. After repeated complaints to the dealer, we get the same answer. Toyota considers the paint chips "normal". Normal for Toyota and Lexus, but not my 1999 Ford F150! Driven in Houston and regularly to the Texas Hill Country for offroad deer hunts, F150 has no paint chips. None I can find. That's Ford normal. Funny, what we accept in a premium luxury car, or what passes as "Toyota reliability". Googleing "Toyota paint cips" brings up a rich tapestry of owner dissatisfaction, and the story of Toyota's water-based paint. Ford uses a solvent paint which they say "resists chips and scratches better than water-based methods". No kidding! Toyota/Lexus paint chips are "normal", and staying that way. Best solution is to forget it. Stop obcessing over the paint chips. Unfocus the eys, or take off the glasses. There, Happy now? No, I'm happy. And, I'm not buying another Lexus. And, i'm not buying a Tundra truck, either.

[SW03ES]

Its an Es300 if its a 2003, not an ES330 by the way ;)

Unfortunately the cause of this is the growing pain period with new low VOC paints mandated by the EPA. They've got it better handled now, but the issue stems from about 2001-2005/6. Its not a problem unique to Lexus, it effects a lot of brands of cars. Your Ford is not effected because of its age. The "solvent type" paint you were mentioning is no longer legal.

Not much you can do about it, mines the same way. At some point I'll have the front end repainted and have a clear bra installed. You would not have as bad a problem on a new Lexus or any other new car, although the new paints still aren't nearly as tough as the old paint. A clear bra is a must have nowadays, and Lexus is starting to install them at the factory as are many other manufacturers to combat the chipping problem.

[John A.]

I just had a 3M clear bra installed through my Lexus dealer. It cost nearly $800, but that's a small price to pay as I know the dealer will be there several years down the road and the small installer may not, in case there is a problem such as finding that it was mis-installed and in doing so, ruined the paint.

I did have a problem where I was not happy with the installation; it was not a perfectly straight line across the hood; there was a small "bump" in that line. A call to the Lexus dealer had the installer calling me, apologizing for my dissatisfaction, and arranging for a loaner car while it is being redone.

Other than that, I'm happy with the installation; it is not readily noticable and certainly will minimize any rock chips!

John