hey everyone.

I have a Lexus IS-250 and have some serious stone chips on my front bumper and bonnet. and a few on each front side wing. On the bumper I would say almost 80% coverage of stone chips and to be honest it is looking disgusting. On my bonnet I have around 14 deep stone chips and quite a few littles ones here and there.

To cut the long story short, I know smart repair touch-ups and things just wont work. I want the front to look perfect like before. I visited my Lexus Dealer BodyShop department and have been quoted for a complete respray and repair of the bonnet, wings and front bumper. They say it will take around 3 days and I will be given a courtesy car. All this for around £800. I'm ready to go for it, but I wanted some advice from people here.

I want to make sure everything is done properly and no cowboy jobs. I'm wondering how they would do all the work, will they remove the bonnet, wings and bumper and work on it away from the car or work on the car with all that on? if working with it all on the car I want to make sure they dont scratch some other area in the process and if taking it off I need to make sure everything is put back together properly specially the panel gaps and things should be just as it is.

Also do they fill the stone chips with something or do they strip out the existing paint and level everything out? I asked them about the guarantee of the work and stuff. They claim the work is covered by a workmanship guarantee (cant remember if they said 1year or 3year) and on top of that they said I will still be covered with the manufacturers 12year bodywork corrosion warranty.

Has anyone had this sort of thing done to their car by lexus? if so it would be nice to hear your experience.

thank you

What colour is the car ? Is it metallic or solid ?? Is the bodyshop a reputable company ???

What part of London are you in?

I know a guy that does a great job and is very reasonable, is a little back street garage,

The car's colour is called Argento Ice which is basically silver. Yes it is metalic and the bodyshop is part of the Lexus and Toyota Dealership. Its been in business for a very long time.

The only prob a body shop has when doing metalic paint is blending it with the original paint so at a guess they should not reomove any of the panels and if they do it would only be the bonnet , in my experience the fade into the existing paint is the only hurdle , saying that if its part of a Lexus dealership I would'nt worry , If they do damage anything they will rectify it before giving it back to you . Just make sure that when you pick the car up , you inspect it thoroughly as once you take the car away anything you find could of happened in that short time . If you are not happy with the end results tell them there and then , don't be blinkered or excited because it looks better than before . Check it , Check it again and check it once more for luck .
Oh make sur the panel gaps are all the same too .
Regards
Paul.

Had my roof resprayed due to a stone chip...actually bit more than a chip as the impact caused a small dent also. Obtained three quotes, one of which was through my Lexus Dealership, and they were all pretty high due to all of them insisting the front and rear screens had to be removed to ensure the new clear coat ended under the glass seals.

Went through my insurance company (protected NCB) who then insisted I use their recommended bodyshop.....wait for it....a Vauxhall bodyshop

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the car went back twice...once because the finish wasn't quite up to the Lexus Standard and then again because when the cold weather came, I found out they'd broken off one of the connections to the rear screen heater. Quite a saga in the end as when putting in a brand new rear screen (their cost) it had to be re-tinted (my cost) and then they cut through the radio antenna unit which had to be replaced (their cost).

To be fair to the Vauxhall bodyshop, it was their glass removal and fitting subcontractor that caused the real problems. 10/10 to the bodyshop manager who ensured everything was (finally) completed to the high standard expected, including a final sign off by an independent engineer from the Insurance Company....and 0/10 to the guy that originally signed it off, although I doubt he's still employed there.

Tango , you don't have to go with the repairer of their choice , its down to you , if you have a body shop you use all the time then you can ask to use them because of the trust issue , don't ever let insurance fims bully you into using their own people its just that they get the cost reduced for putting the work through certain dealerships .
Regards
Paul.

I didn't really have a preference as even the 'Lexus bodyshop' was an unknown (to me) third party...just that the dealership would have underwritten it. I'd probably use the Vauxhall bodyshop again, as they went to some lengths to achieve the result I wanted without any negative push back or cutting of corners, and as far as quality is concerned I can be a real pain in the backside.
All I'd say to Ahmed24 would be to complete a final inspection of the paintwork under really good lighting e.g. striplights, sunlight or halogen lamps and if uncertain as to what to look for then take along someone who does.

sorry off-topic but i think this discussion needs to be moved out of the" Workshop"

any Moderators around?

Are you talking about Jemca?

Parthiban, no not Jemca its Hills of Woodford Lexus & Toyota Dealership

Phew, that's fine then. If it was Jemca, I was going to say don't touch them with a barge pole, but I only have the highest praise for Hills - I've had a lot of bodywork done there (and I mean a lot) and they are brilliant.

Have you been dealing with Sean? He's really helpful and is totally aware of my incredibly high standards and will make sure things are done to meet them!

In terms of experience, the biggest was when I had quite a serious rear ending a few years ago, needing replacement of much of the rear of my car and almost a complete respray of the rest of it, and to be honest you'd struggle to tell there'd been so much bodywork done to it.

More recently I had them spray and fit my styling kit, the front bumper was a used one that was not in the best condition so the first time they sprayed it although it looked fine, wasn't as good as I was going to accept, so they gladly took it in and re-did it (the fact they took it back and did it again with no quibbles is one of the main reasons I won't take my car anywhere else)

Let me know if you have any questions, and you're welcome to have a look at my car if you want to see the quality of their work but if you deal with James in Lexus service and Sean in the bodyshop you definitely won't have any problems

Thanks Parthiban for your reply. Yes its Sean that I am dealing with at bodyshop I'm booked in for next week. Will let you know how it goes.

my car is in for the job now. i am just wondering is there anything i should do when getting it back like polish or something and should i do anything in the begining to protect the new paint or anything?

Ask the bodyshop when you pick up the car on the best ways of protecting the new paint. I think you should not wax/polish the new paint.

I vaguely remember being told not to polish the car for 2 weeks or something, but can't really remember - I'd check with Sean when you collect the car to be on the safe side.......

Leave your car for a couple of weeks before you use any polish and wax...just lets the paint go off completly...

Let us know how it turns out, I've got my IS250 booked in for it's first service with Hills on 8th April, they are also fitting a boot lip spolier for me in their bodyshop so will be really interested to know how good they really are. If good I'll use them for all my future lexus needs (even though Lexus in Hatfield are closer to me, - but their service costs were £120 more than I was quoted by Hills, and that's not including the LOC Gold dscount!!! )

hey everyone,

i've just got my car back from bodyshop. everything looks superb on my bonnet and everything has been really well painted as far as my eyes can see. however, when washing my car today i noticed that my driver side foglamp housing seems to wobble quite badly, it wont fall out or anything but its just sitting in there wobbling.

Should I take it back to the dealer to sort it out or is it something simple to fix myself?

Also although the bonnet chips have been really well sorted with no uneven surface or indents remaining, some areas on the bumper where there used to be very deep indents still remain a little but cannot be noticed as the colour blends in and matches. I am just wondering should these little deeper indents have been sorted out aswell?

If i remember correctly they did say that they wont be filling anything up and that that they will only remove existing paint and level it out and repsray.

Thanks

I'd take it back if you're not happy, how noticeable are these dimples?

The dimples are not really noticeable unless you go next to the bumper and look carefully. The colours all matches up.

just wondering after my paintwork has dried up, is it safe to use compounds and stuff for detailing like T-Cut and stuff?

first thing i would do is check that it is their own body shop.if it is not walk away,contact some local body shops and view the repairs on cars at the said repairers and save some money.

why do you need to use that.

just incase i get any fine scratch marks or anything in the future that might need detailing

can't see a problem with that as the body shop would have machine polished it after painting anyway.

I assume they did use polish (not sure if it was machine or not). I did notice whitish polish like stuff in some edges that i wiped off, I am assuming that is the polish. Just wondering what exactly polish does and wont it come off over time as car is getting washed?

polish is used as the last stage after they have sanded the clearcoat.the leftover white powder is dried polish that has not been buffed off.you have to be careful about bird waste as now there is no protection on your paint,carlack it asap.

So the polish they do is not a protection? and what exactly do you mean by "carlack it" ? once the new paint and lacquer has had two weeks to dry off isnt it just like the rest of the paintwork in terms of vulnerability? as it is a new paint job I want to try and avoid any discolouring or anything going wrong with the paintwork

yes just as the rest of your paint ,no protection at all.carlack is an acrylic sealant.visit carsparkle.com for details.

That's interesting I didnt know that. So my entire body paintwork is not protected. When i wash my car I usually use a Shampoo product by Turtle Wax and it claims to be a wax and shampoo or something, So i thought that also provides the protection. How exactly do you use carlack? is it s replacement of this shampoo during wash and I just use carlack instead?

you apply with a damp cloth or foam applicator let it cure as instructions then buff off with microfibre towel.it is basically poviding a sealant for your clearcoat protecting against bird waste,acid rain and pollution.

thanks for all your advice. i am going to buy some carlack now. just 2 quick questions:

There seems to be alot of products including Shampoo made by Car Lack. Which product do I need? is it this one?: http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/sealants/car...-/prod_356.html

If i wash my car every two weeks, does it mean after the wash i should carlack it again? basically carlack after every wash? does washing the car remove the carlack sealant?

Read the guides on the ceanyourcar.co.uk site plus my reply to the next topic in this thread - Merv

There are two products that you need
carlack 68 systematic care
carlack 68 long life sealant
buy the smallest amount of sc
buy double that of lls
assuming that your paint is free of bugs tar etc,wash your car then rinse,apply sc with damp sponge or cloth very thinly over entire car and windows if you wish ,leave the dried sc for 40 mins but over night is best.apply lls in the same way straight on top of the dried sc but a panel at atime,when lls dries to a haze buff off with micro fibre towels.extra coats of lls can be applied at 24 hour intervals this will increase protection and gloss,if you find products hard to buff off then spray a mist of water then buff.after doing all of this your car will be gleaming even more than when it was new,finally i use a combination of half lls and half distilled water in a spray bottle after each wash.spay on wipe off as you dry your car.

hope this is useful.

thanks for that. great guide after i sc and lls the car, how often do i need to re-do that process? i wash my car around once every two weeks sometimes once a week? or is your method of using half lls and half distilled water mixed in spray bottle and spray on wipe off sufficient after my regular washes? thanks

should be good for around 9 months,it depends on how many coats of lls you apply,a good indicator is when you hose down after washing if the water sheets off then you know you still have protection.the spritz spray gives you an instant shine boost.

Thanks when it comes to applying the lls, I apply it to panel at a time and then buff off? do I apply panel at a time until the entire car is covered and then buff of everything at once or do i apply to a panel and then wait till for it to dry then buff off then move to next panel? also does the same buffing technique work for waxing? i am thinking of waxing after lls

coat one panel then buff when dry,the key is if you leave the lls on for a long time then it will be hard to remove.yes,same with waxing apanel at a time.a word of warning,if you are going to wax after lls you must not apply lls or spritz over wax as this will cause a clouding effect.so to clarify you can do lls+lls+wax+wax but not lls+wax+lls+wax.

ok just to make sure i am understanding correctly, after i do the sc & lls, if i want to do more layers of lls i should do it before waxing as i cannot do more layers of lls once it has been waxed, correct? but if i apply a layer of wax i can always carry on adding layers of wax afterwards and after some washes right?

i am just wondering then does that mean the technique of mixing half lls and half distilled water and spray cleaning cannot be done if car has been waxed? and if i cannot lls on top of wax what do i do after 9 months when my lls needs re-doing?

thanks

answer to first three questions are yes, However after nine months you start afresh with the sc which will clean off any wax build up.

thanks makes sense now. how about the half lls and half distilled water mixed spray and wipe technique after regular washes? should i not do that if i am going to wax it?

If you put on a hard wearing wax, technically you shouldn't have to do anything else.........

I've just bought some Collinite after reading about it on here, says on the tub that it lasts up to a year but I'm gonna be happy if it lasts 3-6 months - theoretically I'm hoping that once it's on, all I need to do is wash and dry until it needs to be re-applied

only do the spritz on top of lls not on top of wax.you see wax is petroleum based and slowly evaporates from your cars paintwork just as a petrol splash on the floor would do.so if you put lls on top of wax the evaporation of the wax causes a clouding effect.if you want durability sealant only is the way to go,also give same treatment to your wheels.have you ordered any carlack yet?

yeah i have ordered the following:

- Car-Lack 68 Shampoo
- Carlack Sealant Kit (with SC and LLC)
- Carlack Glass Sealing Kit
- Chemical Guys Wheel Guard
- Chemical Guys - XXX Hardcore Paste Wax.
- Microfiber Applicator, Round

Hope to do this mid next week as it will be two weeks since it came back from bodyshop and I'm also on holiday from work so would have quite a bit of time to spend on it and

i used to use wax alone p21s but found it did not protect against bird dropping etching my clearcoat,but i have not used collinite,does it protect against etching.