Lexus reportedly developing scratch-resistent molecular-bonding clearcoat
Lexus LS600h L – Click above for high-res image gallery
It's heartbreaking. You buy a high-end luxury automobile, stand back and take in the lustrous paint job. But within a few months, you're already noticing little nicks and scratches, particularly around the door handles where your fingernails routinely collide with the soft paint. Well Lexus, for one, is coming up with a solution.
By adding a new ingredient to the clearcoat that seals in the paint, Lexus' new paint process enhances molecular bonding to create a more elastic, fluid topcoat that can restore its consistency against the harmful effects of, you know... cleaning brushes and fingers. The process is tipped to debut on the flagship LS sedan, but from there will probably find its way across the Lexus range.
Gallery: Autoblog Garage: 2008 Lexus LS600h L
[Source: paultan.org]
_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg "2011 Audi A8: Live from Miami")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
DKano 8:34AM (10/07/2009)
Ok, so they just came up with this "technology"? Didn't Nissan already have this on some Infiniti vehicles?
Reply
Rick C. 10:30AM (10/07/2009)
OK, so which chemical company ACTUALLY came up with formula and methods? I highly doubt an auto company has the chemistry engineering manpower and facilities to accomplish this. Whereas a chemical research company that already produces paint (DuPont, PPG, Dow, BASF and others) already devotes thousands of chemical engineers 24/7 for issues such as this. They bought a license.
Ian B. 10:54AM (10/07/2009)
Exactly. A car company can't be involved in everything. In reality, they are mere assemblers. They buy materials from subcontractors and other suppliers, who have already done the engineering. Tires, certain transmissions, brakes, fuel system components, etc. are some examples that come to mind.
JDM Life 11:04AM (10/07/2009)
Nissan has something like it but they are very different and devevloped different also.
jpm100 12:14PM (10/07/2009)
@lan B.
A lot is done inside. Usually automatic transmissions are done inside for example.
GM developed Magnaquench magnets before spinning them off. It made a leap in making usable forms of very strong rare earth magnets of the kind used in hybrids and EVs today. In hind sight, they should have bogarted the technology.
Russ Owens 8:41AM (10/07/2009)
Yes, check out Nissan PR from 2005. http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/NEWS/2005/_STORY/051202-01-e.html.
Reply
Imag 11:34AM (10/07/2009)
Yeah - it's too bad that the paint job on my 370Z is the absolute worst paint job I've ever had on a car. Bird crap means permanent damage. My 1987 MR2 had a way better paint job.
I've heard environmental regs have degraded the paint job, but it's ridiculous. I've also heard that the 370 didn't get the "healing" paint - bummer for me.
Anyway, here's hoping Toyota can do better, and that it trickles down to the rest of us.
mugatu 1:26PM (10/07/2009)
@Imag
Weighing in on the cheap Nissan paint. I drive a silver 2006 G35 coupe and they said the paint on it was pretty thin too so I waxed the living sh*t out of it. So far so good. I even watched a tree branch bounce off it without leaving a mark. The plastic parts are another story. The front bumper has the protection of a piece of tissue paper. It went from pristine when I bought it to perforated by rocks and other road debris in 2 weeks. Infiniti should be ashamed for the thinness of the coating on the bumpers and other plastic parts. Not sure if the 370 is in the same boat but they used to share parts and manufacturing.
Sea Urchin 8:48AM (10/07/2009)
But how will i scratch Hummers now?
Reply
Sea Urchin 12:21PM (10/07/2009)
Hey Hummer is Chinese now, it is OK to scratch them now.
daleam 8:54PM (10/07/2009)
Lol sea urchin I actually thought it was funny.
Marc-O 8:50AM (10/07/2009)
Agreed, it's a little behind the curve compared to Infiniti's self-healing paint...
Reply
Isam 8:50AM (10/07/2009)
Is the Ford Taurus actually having an effect on Lexus?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dapye2U7jyA
Reply
Aprime 8:58AM (10/07/2009)
Hahaha, I was going to post this.
audi_arena 9:26AM (10/07/2009)
Well done Ford. I like how they don't claim they have some bs gimmicky new "technology" for paint, just higher quality. Then again, compared with Lexus, it's not saying much...
LesPaul1 9:47AM (10/07/2009)
@DKano
technology is always being improved, adding one ingredient can revolutionize the tech. or it can be totally bogus. If it was a prior, it would be NEW.
@audi arena
what's gimmicky? do you know how scratch resistant this new clearcoat is? Might be worse than Ford's high quality paint and infiniti's paint, or might be better.
Are you psychic? Please teach us old wise one.
Luis 10:00AM (10/07/2009)
@audi_arena yeah, because Lexus cars are crappily made and are nicknamed Found on Road Dead. Oh wait...
JDM Life 11:06AM (10/07/2009)
I will give you 100 bucks for every person who buys a FORD Taurus over a LS......lmao
Dont worry i'll wait.
tC 8:52AM (10/07/2009)
But will it be resistant to swirl marks?
Reply
Sixt9coug 4:41PM (10/07/2009)
It will primarily work for swirl marks. I work for a paint company and we have had a clearcoat on the market for several years now that works this way. I don't see why its such a big deal. I used it when i had to repair the hood on my moms Mustang just because its black and the swirl marks were a pain in the ass to deal with.
It works by essentially reflowing when exposed to UV light. Ive tested some of it by wiping a panel pretty rough with a coarse paper towel that left a TON of swirls in the paint. Put the panel outside for a few hours in the sun and the scratches went away. Over time the effect of the healing will diminish, but the clear looks great and its durable.
I wonder if they buy their product from us. It sounds like the same stuff but on an OEM level.