2006 Lexus GS300 Clear coat is peeling
This is more of a cautionary tale than a question.
The clear coat on my husband’s Lexus GS300 is peeling off. This is the
second Lexus we have owned that this happened to. The first was 2001 RX.
Lexus will not fix the problem - they 'respectfully declined to repair'. When I
traded my RX in on another, brand new 2012 RX, the dealership took $3400
off the trade in value of my old RX because THE CLEAR COAT WAS
PEELING!!!! I was ready to leave and gt a different vehicle but mu husband
knew I really wanted that matador red RX.
Once, the dealership had the nerve to say it was because we left it outside.
Seriously, that is what the service advisor said. We also had the head paint
guy at 'a' Lexus body shop accuse my husband of having the car painted
(which he didn't). Then, he said we had to have purchased the car used,
when we bought it brand new. It has been a very frustrating experience. I
have checked with friends who have Lexus vehicles that are older than ours
- their clear coat is not peeling.
Here is a picture of the peeling
12 Answers
Kangaroo10 answered 6 years ago
I had 2 Lexus with the same problem (1 gold, 1 red. I wax them regularly at least twice a year, which is why I think my clear coat lasted as long as it did). Mine were older, 15+ years, but you are describing my problem exactly. The clear coat just starts flaking off. This is not from sun burn, where it just burns through the clear coat to the paint, the clear coat just flakes off like pulling off dead skin. This happens in a perfectly good area where the paint and clear coat look fine, but the next day it just starts flaking/peeling off in spots. This is my scenario; it is hot/humid with heavy rain for a couple days, then in the morning a day or two after the rain stops, 'bam' there are bubbles or sections of peeling clearcoat on the car. The paint underneath looks fine and undamaged.
This is happening to my husband’s 2003 Lexus es300 right now, and it’s making me crazy. The car is in fantastic shape, except that the hood’s clear coat is suddenly peeling like a bad sunburn. Julie and Kangaroo10: What did you do (if anything) to repair? Given our car’s age, we hesitate to spend thousands on a pro job. I may try a DIY repair with rattle cans of automotive clear coat (after sanding, prepping, etc.). We live in Florida, so the Lexus does get a lot of sun and rain exposure, but it’s parked under a well-shaded carport at home and I hand- wash & wax it seasonally. (We’re well inland, so beach salt probably isn’t a factor.) As Kangaroo10 described, the clear coat and paint looked fine, until then Florida’s heavy summer rains began last week. Now, the clear coat is coming off in huge flakes. The paint underneath looks fine and seems undamaged. (Fingers crossed!) A neighbor told me the exact same thing happened to his silver 2004 Lexus es300 clear coat, which was garaged until he sold it two years ago.
Same problem here. Mine is a 2010 IS250 and out of nowhere it just started peeling off...
Guru9TMXW5 answered 3 years ago
So what are people doing about this? What is Lexus doing, if anything at all? I tweeted photos to Lexus, but bet I won't get a response.