New Owner Of A Used 04, New owner - corrosion warranty Options

[04gX470]

I am a new and excited owner of an 04 GX with 38K miles. The truck is in immaculate condition for a 4 yr old vehicle - except for the wheels which have what it seems like some corrosion starting to happen. Some places in the outer rim has paint chipping which is unusual since I thought alloy wheels are not painted I may be wrong. The 4 yr warranty has expired on this but I have heard that there is a 7 yr corrosion warranty? Does anyone know that it will cover the wheels?

One other thing that just happened is the front right turn signal bulb blew which I should be able to change as I have noted in this forum that its a common issue with the GX.

I am pleasantly surprised with the mileage of this model it easily gives 20+ on highway and 17 in city, I was expecting a little lower than this.

Overall I am really satisfied with the vehicle so far and look forward to keeping it a long time.

[denslexusgx470]

Hello and Welcome to LOC! Good choice on the GX.

First off, I honestly am not familiar as to whether the rims are covered under the corrosion warranty. Secondly, I am amazed at your gas mileage figures. Lastly, yes those turn signal bulbs (aka DRLs also) bust easily, but so far both of mine havent busted a second time yet (both have busted at least once) so who knows.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to post them up! =)

[04gX470]

Hello and Welcome to LOC! Good choice on the GX.

First off, I honestly am not familiar as to whether the rims are covered under the corrosion warranty. Secondly, I am amazed at your gas mileage figures. Lastly, yes those turn signal bulbs (aka DRLs also) bust easily, but so far both of mine havent busted a second time yet (both have busted at least once) so who knows.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to post them up! =)

Thanks for the prompt answer - I appreciate you taking time to answer.

Have a question - How do you care for the sunroof. Any suggestions? Any particular type of lubrication / grease needed for this. I am not sure since this is the first car I own that have a sunroof.

I am not really impressed with the CD player that came with it - its the standard version with no capability of MP3 playback. On the other hand this is an 04 and MP3 players were not common back then.

[denslexusgx470]

No problem! That's what all us GX owners are here for.

As for the sunroof, I'm not so sure if extra care is necessary. Just wash and clean, and grease it if it starts to squeak or run really rough. Other than that, just make sure it's clean so you can see out of it with the glass closed.

The radio system does not have MP3. I believe the ML (Mark Levinson does) but I'm not sure if the 05 and newer GX's w/o ML have MP3 playback. Possibly, because my 06 4Runner has MP3 playback and I only have a basic stereo in it.

[pearlgx470]

I have a 04 gx470 and had the same issue with all 4 of my rims where the paint seem to bubble up and chip,the dealer replaced all of them free of charge.
I guess it was a common problem ,because the dealer didn't even question it .

[denslexusgx470]

I have a 04 gx470 and had the same issue with all 4 of my rims where the paint seem to bubble up and chip,the dealer replaced all of them free of charge.
I guess it was a common problem ,because the dealer didn't even question it .

It could be due to area. You guys get a lot of snow in your area, so all that salt and snow could really affect the rims and other parts of the car. Here in my area, we don't get snow, so the most we get is just mud. hehe

[04gX470]

I have a 04 gx470 and had the same issue with all 4 of my rims where the paint seem to bubble up and chip,the dealer replaced all of them free of charge.
I guess it was a common problem ,because the dealer didn't even question it .

Was this done past the 4 yr warranty?

[The G Man]

Shouldnt the GX's rim be designed for snow use

[04gX470]

Shouldnt the GX's rim be designed for snow use

Exactly!!! - I recently took my GX for an $80 oil change at the lexus dealership. I would have done it myself but I thought of just going and check with them about the wheels. The service tech said that this car might have been parked at a beach house or driven in an area where they have a lot of snow. The 7 year corrosion warranty does not apply to wheels and I am out of my 4 year warranty. I am a little disappointed with this as how come a car that is just 4 years old has rusty wheels? I have a 95 maxima which is driven in snow for last 10 years has no signs of rust on wheels. I will write to lexus customer service about this.

[specialeffects]

Hello and Welcome to LOC! Good choice on the GX.

First off, I honestly am not familiar as to whether the rims are covered under the corrosion warranty. Secondly, I am amazed at your gas mileage figures. Lastly, yes those turn signal bulbs (aka DRLs also) bust easily, but so far both of mine havent busted a second time yet (both have busted at least once) so who knows.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to post them up! =)

I dont know why you are suprised my GX gives me 17.5 - 18 mpg in city.

[04gX470]

Shouldnt the GX's rim be designed for snow use

Exactly!!! - I recently took my GX for an $80 oil change at the lexus dealership. I would have done it myself but I thought of just going and check with them about the wheels. The service tech said that this car might have been parked at a beach house or driven in an area where they have a lot of snow. The 7 year corrosion warranty does not apply to wheels and I am out of my 4 year warranty. I am a little disappointed with this as how come a car that is just 4 years old has rusty wheels? I have a 95 maxima which is driven in snow for last 10 years has no signs of rust on wheels. I will write to lexus customer service about this.

Update : I contacted Lexus about this situation they said to take it to the dealer and show the wheels to the manager at the dealership. I took it to the dealership and the manager inspected the wheels and said that she will get back to me after talking to Lexus. She got back to me after a month or so and said that Lexus has "offered" to pay the cost of 2 wheels if I pay the other 2 wheels and each wheel cost $525 so I have to pay $1050 to get all 4 wheels replaced. I am thinking about not bothering with them at this point and maybe get aftermarkets later. Any suggestions?

[nc211]

The only time I've ever seen the rims of a car actually rust is due to saltwater, like someone went to the beach and drove through the surf. If that is the case, then I'd also take a good look at the fenders, specifically behind the plastic fender covers underneath. I could be wrong, but that's always been my experience. Road salt is nasty as hell, but saltwater is even worse, and for your rims to rust, says to me that something pretty corrosive got to them. OR, the previous owner could of used Bleach White tire cleaner stuff and just didn't rinse the wheels and rims down enough afterwards.

[denslexusgx470]

Hello and Welcome to LOC! Good choice on the GX.

First off, I honestly am not familiar as to whether the rims are covered under the corrosion warranty. Secondly, I am amazed at your gas mileage figures. Lastly, yes those turn signal bulbs (aka DRLs also) bust easily, but so far both of mine havent busted a second time yet (both have busted at least once) so who knows.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to post them up! =)

I dont know why you are suprised my GX gives me 17.5 - 18 mpg in city.

Honestly I only get about 13-15 mpg city, purely city with no freeway miles on those figures. Now you guys are probably using 91 octane and I'm only using 87 but I do not think it should make that much of a difference in gas mileage.
The GX should only average about the same mpg as me because I have not heard of any mileage experience being beter than the sticker mpg.

[not sure]

My last 3 tanks have been either 17.8x or 17.9x in 50/50 city/hwy in my 2004 hand-calculated. the on-board computer has shown around 20.3 each time.

Hello and Welcome to LOC! Good choice on the GX.

First off, I honestly am not familiar as to whether the rims are covered under the corrosion warranty. Secondly, I am amazed at your gas mileage figures. Lastly, yes those turn signal bulbs (aka DRLs also) bust easily, but so far both of mine havent busted a second time yet (both have busted at least once) so who knows.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to post them up! =)

I dont know why you are suprised my GX gives me 17.5 - 18 mpg in city.

Honestly I only get about 13-15 mpg city, purely city with no freeway miles on those figures. Now you guys are probably using 91 octane and I'm only using 87 but I do not think it should make that much of a difference in gas mileage.
The GX should only average about the same mpg as me because I have not heard of any mileage experience being beter than the sticker mpg.