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.
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.
I'll send you a PM shortly - thank you for your reply. I've seen your work and it's fantastic!