Hello,
Approximately two months ago, a gravel truck dumped a load of rocks onto the front of my 2008 Lexus LS460. I`ve been working with the Lexus dealer in Richmond since that time -- overall, they have been great to deal with. While in there, I had them respray an area on the trunk that was thin and lightened with polish as well as touch up the quarter panel.
In all - the hood, bumper, fenders, deck lid and quarter panel (of course the pillar to blend) were repaired and repainted. I`ve been back once to have the continue to wet-sand. When I got the vehicle home the second time, I noticed excessive waves in the paint on the hood and heavy orange peel on the other areas. I took it to another shop who said Lexus did a fantastic job at matching the paint (a dark brown metallic) and a great overall job. It just needs to be wet-sanded (the clear is very thick) and the problem with the hood is because it`s aluminum. They state that because it`s so thin, it`s nearly impossible to properly repair and block sand without an uneven finish. They recommended replacing the hood.
I`m working with the Lexus dealer to have these areas corrected and a new hood installed.
Because the dealer is over 2 hours from me, I cannot monitor the project or give a final inspection before taking delivery and I hate to drive all the way there only for it to need more work (been there, done that! )
The dealer will/should handle all wet-sanding. I`m looking for someone to inspect the vehicle, insist upon additional wet-sanding if necessary and then perform correction to remove what sanding marks they leave behind and polish to near-perfection. Obviously, since you`ll have a crack at it while at the dealer, the paint will be fresh and correction should be easy, however, I`m sure you know that only body shop-safe polishes and water-based products may be used - no silicone, fillers, or LSP`s can be used for 60 days.
I should warn - I am extremely picky, but also fairly reasonable. The LS is hand color sanded by highly skilled tradesmen - very few can match the OEM finish and I do recognize that. I`m simply looking to as close as possible to OEM for resale purposes (and my own sanity.)
Thank you in advance.
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