Black 2001 Lexus ES300 Restore Horror!!

This black Lexus ES300 is the second car from the same client. They had previously brought me a silver Mercedes and were extremely happy with the results, so they wondered if anything could be done to this car.

So here it is before washing it










I washed the car inside my shop using 100% distilled water.


After washing with Meguiar's Hyper Wash, I clayed using Meguiar's C2000 clay


While inspecting the paint, it was obvious a lot of work was going to be needed


What do you think, can this paint be saved???


On my lift


Up close


Polishing test on hood






My assistant Stephanie tackled the interior while I worked the exterior


Look at the trunk lid


50/50 Polish test


Huge Improvement


After all the paint was polished using my Flex VRG3401, I rinsed the paint with distilled water and my Kranzle pressure washer


My 60 gallon water tank that holds distilled water that is generated daily at my shop using a commercial water distiller for 0ppm water.


Clean now but still needs polishing with Prima Amigo and waxing with Prima Epic


Blowing water from the crevices


Wiping it down


Cleaning with Pre-Wow



Prima Epic has been applied using an LC Black Pad on Speed 4 of the PC


Final shots the next day



The paint isn't flawless but was greatly improved. So much that I had parked the car in front of the shop and the customer drove up with his wife in their Mercedes. He walked right past the Lexus not realizing it was his. I told him that was HIS car, and he was blown away. His eyes lit up, his jaw dropped, and he was giddy. Considering the owner is a very conservative first generation Korean man, I found it quite refreshing seeing him being so expressive, lol. Products used were Meguiar's M105 compound, Prima Swirl, Slick, and Epic. Main polishing tool was the Flex, although I used the 7424XP and Makita Rotary at first before settling on the Flex as the best tool for the job.

See it on FaceBook with comments

 

Awesome turnaround!!

 

Very nice save! That gen ES looks so much better than the current model.

 

Epic job!

 

Really tough looking job, amazing what good detailers can do to a car in such a sad state, great work!

 

SAFE! Amazing job Richard! :thumb:

 

outstanding work, that was in really rough shape

 

Looking good!

 

great job!

 

Nice turnaround!

 

MKI MR2!!!1!!!!!!! :gidiup:

Great work on the Lexus!!

 

what are those 'dots' looking things on the corrected side?

 

Great turnaround Richard!!! The last picture looks amazing!

 

Thanks!!! Great eye you got there! It's a 1988 that I bought a few years ago with 68,000 miles on it. Was one of my childhood favorite cars!

Rock chips, sand blasting, neglect, bird poo, etchings, you name it, it was on there.

Thanks!!!

 

That thing is beautiful! I really want a MKI...

This is my baby, '92 with bunchs of miles :headbang:

 

Beautiful MR2! I wanted black!! But can't really be choosy on a 23 year old car with 68,000 miles on it, lol. The interior was all original and most of the exterior as well. It was in an accident due to no brakes and dry rotted tires, so it had a salvage title, but damage was minor. It just failed SMOG but just needed a new cat and to fix an exhaust leak, and all is well. Pure joy to drive again!

Here's a shot when I first moved into my shop...the only time it has ever been empty, lol.

If you can't see my license plate it says "2OBSSSD"

 

I love the MKI in white, especially with black rims. Mine has issues... it may take pictures well, but if you got up close to the paint, you'd pass out. The previous owner(s) never cared about it. And I'm not about to buff it all out and turn all my pads black because of Toyota's silly single stage paint job. So being a detail nut, and a speed freak, I really can't decide between a nice paint job, or the gen3 turbo swap............

Holy thread jack, my bad!

 

Beautiful turnaround Richard. I can't believe he walked by this car and didn't realize it was his..

Priceless...:worship2:

 

It's ok, I don't get to talk to too many AW11 enthusiasts, lol.

Thanks Pat! Yeah I think his expectations were pretty low on what could be done to his car, lol.

 

Great turn around Richard