Do All Is200/300 Have A 'thin Paint' Job?

[japthree]

Reading the used car section in Auto Express a couple of weeks ago pointed out that a couple of issues are: the lacquer on the alloy wheels coming off and the relatively thin paint which is prone to scratching... a cousin of mine has an astral black IS and there are loads of scratches on it - a lot strangely under the door handle on the door... could a complete re spray / repaint be a feasible option? It's a shame Lexus / Toyota didn't use a 'thicker' type of paint???

[Parthiban]

Usually the light scratches under the door handle can be removed with a strong cutting polish.

A respray with the same paint wouldn't remove the problem, it would just happen again. The only way to get an improvement would be to use something like ceramiclear for the clearcoat........Tango on here used it on his front end I think and seems to be pretty happy with it.

[Chris.S]

and usually scratches under handles are caused by rings

[Rob]

isnt the black a normal paint and with no clear coat??

[Parthiban]

isnt the black a normal paint and with no clear coat??

My bad, yes it is, didn't pay attention to the fact it was black

What would happen if you did put a clear over the black? Would it not "stick" properly as the black is supposed to be a final coat?

[w77]

It's hard to maintain a black car scratch free anyway because any single scratch will show unlike other colours like silver. Scratches under the door handles are mostly caused by your finger nails and like what Chris said caused by your ring so should be careful when opening doors.

I think my Is200's paint is much better than my previous merc C class. The merc was only 4 years old that time but it's had a countless rust spots on the exterior. The front end also looked as if it was sandblasted. My IS200 is 8 years old and no sign of rust on the bodywork and just a few stonechips on the front.

[ColinBarber]

It isn't the thickness of the paint, the water based paints that Toyota use aren't as strong as the solvent based ones. As has been stated earlier, black doesn't have a clear coat so is even more prone to chips/scratches.

Rust certainly isn't something you see on a Toyota/Lexus very often. The body panels are multi treated to stop that. The same cannot be said for MB a few years ago, they cut costs all over the place and as a result their reputation suffered.

[Andy-R]

Isn't the paint supposed to be environmentally friendly? that's why they use it, on a car that does 20mpg

[Parthiban]

Isn't the paint supposed to be environmentally friendly? that's why they use it, on a car that does 20mpg

Something along those lines

Doesn't everyone use water based paints now though? Mercedes has definitely done a better job with their paints as they are pretty tough.

[deckie77]

I doubt that lexus used water based paints when 200's came to production, (maybe the very last of them may have had it)as water based is a recent thing.

No problems to clear coat / lacquer over Black as thats what i've done on my bumpers & kit after having them painted. I used solvent based paint as i could still get the colour mixed in solvent, but was told by the company that supplied my paint that they would no longer be replacing solvent based colours once stock ran out, will be water-based from now!!

But your right about the alloy wheels japthree, the 5 spoke alloys are notorious for flaking lacquer / paint.

[Steviewevie]

Japanese cars usually have pretty soft paint in general. German cars normally have pretty hard paint.

[kev dood]

Thought all IS's were water based paint with an antichip thingy on the front sections - its in the manual somewhere near the top/beginning (online IS manual).

But, the front it mega prone to stone chips. I remember years ago someone complaining that you only had to sneeze near the car and the paint would chip off!! ha ha

[Parthiban]

Thought all IS's were water based paint with an antichip thingy on the front sections - its in the manual somewhere near the top/beginning (online IS manual).

But, the front it mega prone to stone chips. I remember years ago someone complaining that you only had to sneeze near the car and the paint would chip off!! ha ha

Anti-chip is only on the doors below the bump strip.......it's the bit that looks really orange peely, not even sure why it's down there as can't say I've noticed a lot of chips in that area on our other cars........

[starkey444]

Thought all IS's were water based paint with an antichip thingy on the front sections - its in the manual somewhere near the top/beginning (online IS manual).

But, the front it mega prone to stone chips. I remember years ago someone complaining that you only had to sneeze near the car and the paint would chip off!! ha ha

I had a metallic blue IS200 from 2000-2007 and whilst I loved the car, the three biggest let-downs were the fuel consumption, flaking alloys and the awful paintwork. Even when it was only a year old, the amount of stonchips on the front end were astonishing. I'd never seen a car chip so easily (and I dont do lots of motorway driving or racing through gravel!) I talked to Lexus on a couple of occassions and even had the paint thickness tested by the Bracknell dealer, but they said it was all up to spec.

Eventually traded it in for an IS250 about 18 months ago (couldnt be bothered to argue with private buyers about the state of the paintwork) and I must admit the IS250 is (so far) looking in far better condition after 18 months than the IS200 ever did.

[hodaz]

If you dont look after diamond cut alloys of course there going to flake! I'm sick of the motoring press going on and on about this. Its the same with TT wheels and a few other cars.

But yeah I agree that the front bumper does really attract stoen chips, the black paint on the door pillars on my silver car is very badly scratched, a whoel car that colour must be a total nightmare!

[kam05]

Black cars look nice (when waxed/polished), but a real PITA to keep clean:

[kev dood]

Parthiban - not quite true. Thats stone chip which is the ripply bit on the bottom, but the front bumper, bit (or maybe all) of the bonnet has a "special" treament, according the manwell.

Go to New Car Features, Body, Rust Resistant Body and then Anti-Chipping Application in the online manual - Sorry, didn't post a link as not using online one and pain to save PDF etc!!

There are 3 different types of paint treatment in different areas of the car. None at the front really work though eh!! :)

[ColinBarber]

I doubt that lexus used water based paints when 200's came to production, (maybe the very last of them may have had it)as water based is a recent thing.

Toyota have been using water based for years, started around 1998-1999 although not all vehicles at that time.

[Parthiban]

Parthiban - not quite true. Thats stone chip which is the ripply bit on the bottom, but the front bumper, bit (or maybe all) of the bonnet has a "special" treament, according the manwell.

Go to New Car Features, Body, Rust Resistant Body and then Anti-Chipping Application in the online manual - Sorry, didn't post a link as not using online one and pain to save PDF etc!!

There are 3 different types of paint treatment in different areas of the car. None at the front really work though eh!! :)

I didn't know that, haven't looked in the manual but I'll take your word for it - yep it clearly doesn't work then does it!

[Steviewevie]

According to the diagram here, at the front of the bonnet there's "soft-chip primer". So maybe the outer paint is no stronger but the primer is supposed to be better at resisting chips and hence not exposing the metal ? Just guessing.

[kev dood]

could be as that sort of appears to be the case!