I had a small bump in my car and chose to get it fixed at Lexus Bracknell rather than the insurers approved repairer so that it would get the best repair possible. It also meant I got a Lexus IS220d as a courtesy car. They replaced and sprayed the rear bumper and sprayed the middle section of the boot plus replaced the lights on one side.

The newly painted area was a sort of orange/brown colour and noticeable different to the rest of the car even in the dark. Also the coloured coat under the laquer had an orange peel effect. Aside from the poor workmanship it obviously hadn't been properly checked. The assistant body shop manager was very apologetic and it was booked in again two weeks later and I got his Toyota Auris as a courtesy car.

When it was repainted this time the colour match was a little better but the paintwork was now a dull pinky/purple colour and not the bright metallic red of the rest of the car. The assistant body shop manager had checked the car himself but in the morning daylight when I picked it up it was obviously wrong. I spent several minutes checking the car from every angle to make sure I wasn't going mad. What annoyed me was that the manager didn't say anything even though it was clearly wrong. I do wonder if he was waiting to see if I'd accept it. When I pointed out it was the wrong colour he was again very apologetic and it was booked in for three weeks later. The first time I closed the boot afterwards I noticed another problem. The bumper had been mounted wrong and was too high in the middle. Each time the boot was closed it hit the bumper and scraped paint off.

By this time I was no longer working 1 mile from the dealers but 50 miles away in Swindon. This made dropping the car off on a monday morning difficult. To their credit they did allow me to instead drop the car off on the friday evening and collect the courtesy car then. Sadly it was a Toyota Prius and I couldn't get the seat comfortable so I've had back-ache. I have an 84 mile a day round-trip to work and doing it in a Prius wasn't much fun. This time they had the car for over a week and got a paint specialist in to help them mix the paint.

It was dull and had been raining when I picked the car up this evening but this time they appear to have painted it correctly! It's taken them at least three attempts and they've had the car a total of 11 working days. I'm pleased its finally done and I have my car back but it's not been the usual Lexus experience.

My advice is when you get your car painted, even at a Lexus dealership, check it very carefully and don't settle for anything less than a perfect repair.

I just checked the car again to make sure the colour matches in bright sunshine and it does. But I noticed the IS220d lettering is wonky. It's obviously been put on without the aid of masking tape and it curves down. They've realised their mistake towards the end and started to curve the letters up again so they're in a wonky V shape. I really don't understand how they could have made such a mess of this work.

Important thing is that the pain colour matches! Im sure id be frustrated with the level of inconvenience you've experienced though.

On another note as you comment on the Prius, whats the Aurius drive and feel like? Im liking them alot.

I had exactly the same problem with my old red IS when it was vandalised.

When i went to pick it up the boot lid had dark patches on and the manager swore blind it was my eyes seeing things.

I begged to differ and in the end it was found that the painter had used grey primer instead of white and the red colour is transparent

All my paintwork is done by someone i know and trust now

Sounds like a good move.

The bodyshop manager told me that the IS220d badge is attached into holes so its unlikely to be wrong but he'd look into it and see about ordering another badge.... hmmm. As each letter is seperate and they're not in a line I'm not convinced.

Sorry Kazi I forgot to answer your question. It had a 2.0 turbo diesel and was slow compared to my IS220d. It was also a lot noisier without the sound insulation of the lexus. The car was not comfortable and was pretty basic and boring to drive compared to a lexus.

I imagine the petrol ones will be the same then, shame as I like the look of them. Road noise is something that in other cars ive driven and noticed alot. Think this would irritate me. Cheers Javadude.

Here we are. It actually looks more of a mess when you see it in person. It's not the end of the world but all it would have taken to get it straight was a little care.

You could have smiled for the camera mate

That is a bit of a joke though - just a thought but if this is new paint that you aren't supposed to polish for a few months then surely them having to remove the badges is going to damage the paint again?!

Hope they get it sorted anyway, it's taking the mickey a bit now!

I can assure you there is no locating pegs on badges, looks like someone was ****** when they fitted that.
I'll order a badge and show you how they come

haha I didn't feel too much like smiling when I noticed it. I find it funny now though. It sort of sums up the whole experience.



Does the Lexus badge on the left have pegs/holes? From whats been said on clublexus.com about de-badging either that or the (L) does. I did think about removing the Lexus and IS220d and just leaving the (L) but I'm not going to bother if there are holes to fill behind the Lexus one.

That's a joke I can't believe someone could try to offer you that back as a product of their service.

Hope you get it sorted...

Jamie

Thanks.

I've written to the centre manager so that they can look at whats gone wrong and improve their processes.

Lexus Bracknell have been good in other respects although I've not used them much. Usually I use Lexus Reading which has been excellent, has always exceeded my expectations and is owned by the same company.

thats crap,were they p d or was the sun reflecting off the paint

you shoud'nt expect that from any garage

As far as i can tell from my EPC illustration none of the badges have locating pegs

Thanks

I just found another post on www.clublexus.com that says there are holes behind the Lexus and the S and 0 of ISxx0 though. Odd having holes behind just some of the letters on the model. The S and the O don't even look the same level on mine. I think I'll just leave it with badges and wait for Bracknell to sort out the IS220d badge.

That badging is appalling, how could anyone let that go, far less a professional body shop.

On the holes, it looks like the S and the d are on about the same level but nothing else is. IMHO whatever you do leave the badges as they are, as was said earlier if you try to take them off the paint will possible come off with them. Leave it to the bodgers who did it to sort out.

Right i've just looked at a brand new badge and the is no physical way it can be fitted incorrectly

Firstly there is two locating pegs on the back (one on the 1st "2" and one on the "D")

The badge also comes encased in a cardboard template and the badge is taped to the cardboard with a strip of masking tape across the face of the letters.

So basically to fit it all you need to do is

1. remove the foil from the adhesive
2. locate the 2 pegs and press it onto the panel
3. remove the masking tape and cardboard surround from the face of the badge which is holding it straight.

Job done

so going of what you have said chris, they have just tried to save a few quid by trying to re-use the old badge

quite possible but only they can answer that one lol. a badge is only £15 anyway so not much of a saving

So they probably filled and sprayed the car. Didn't leave the holes and either cut off the locating pegs or reused the old badge. Quality job

I had a very apologetic manger on the phone today. He agreed with everything I said in my letter and was pleased that I'd detailed everything so that he could address the problems. He said that the staff involved had now received further training. A new badge is on back order and they will arrange a convenient time to fit it once it arrives. The colour recipe for Mesa Red is now correct on the national database so others shouldn't have that problem at least.

i ordered and recieved one yesterday

UK stock - (2) eta 02/06/07
Belgium stock - (4) eta 04/06/07
Japan stock - (94) eta 08/06/07

The 2nd. Cool. Not long then