Advice on Paint - 2003 Lexus IS300

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philliptmurphy

New member
I purchased a 2003 Lexus IS300 for my daughter to drive and decided to go ahead and do a full detail on the paint. I did a test section on the hood and was very please, so moved forward. Here is a before and after of the hood test section...

IS300_Hood_Test.JPG



Once I moved to other sections of the car, I noticed some spots that were not coming out. I called the previous owner, and wouldn't you know it, the hood had been re-painted, so was newer, and in better shape.

No my problems. The process I was using - wash, clay, polish with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound, polish with Klasse all-in-one, top off with Klasse Sealant Glaze - works great at getting swirl marks and scratches off, but in the direct light it has some tiny spots. I am presuming this is due to some sort of sap or water spots. Here are a couple of pictures.

Paint after polish...
IS300_Paint_After_Polixh.JPG



Trunk lid before polish
IS300_Trunk_-_Before.JPG



Trunk lid after polish. Hard to see in a picture, but notice the tiny white/clear dots around the spot light below the sharpie (sharpie just there to help camera focus).
IS300_Etching.JPG



Should I risk polishing with something more aggressive? I have tired to remove them with the ultimate compound, a Porter Cable DA, and an orange pad, but it ain't happening!

The other option is to leave them - they are not really noticable unless you really look in direct sunlight, but they bother me a bit!

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks.
 
Philliptmurphy -

Wow ! Beautiful work !!!

I love Lexus paint, they always do so much more to give you a perfectly clear surface to work with..
And this paint is almost or already 12 years old !! You killed it !!

Were you running the machine on Speed-6 ? Did you put enough downward pressure to help ?
Dan F
 
Stokdgs said:
Philliptmurphy -

Were you running the machine on Speed-6 ? Did you put enough downward pressure to help ?
Dan F
Click to expand...

Thanks Dan. I was using speed 6 with downward pressure. I went over several sections several times - meaning add polish to pad, go over section 5-6 times, add more polish, repeat. You can't feel these spots, so I am not sure what is going on.
 
The Guz said:
Looks good. I have those same dots on the roof of my car. It's the original paint. It reminds me of what Mike Phillips from AGO calls solvent pop. I saw them after polishing the car.


Maybe this is what you are seeing.


Seeing Dots! Help! - Pinhole or Solvent Pop? Common Paint Issue - Page 3 - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information and link. After reading that entire thread, I'm convinced this is what I have. The pattern is too consistent to be environmental, in my opinion, and the dots are too small to have been caused by water drops.

Such is life - at least I know not to try and polish them out!
 
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