2001 Ls430 Door Corrosion / Common Problem?

[tbroskey7632]

2001 LS430 / 92,000 miles with corrosion issues on both front door panels. Detailer noticed the start of paint blisters right at the lower door panel trim line. Since I now reside 300 miles away from the dealer that I bought the car from I had him take it to an independent body shop for an estimate to clean up the blisters. This is what he found under the drivers side lower panel:

Is this a common issue with the door panels? The car is located in Western PA away from any saltwater and is rarely driven in any bad weather (never in snow or salt). I asked Lexus customer service to review the photo and they told me there was nothing they could do. It had exceeded the 6 year corrosion warranty by a year.

Any feedback on this would be appreciated.

T

[1990LS400]

That's pretty amazing. I've seen several LS cars with some rust on their sides over the past 19 years and they have all had one thing in common -- poorly repaired body damage.

Have you owned this car since new ... i.e. do you know whether or not it has had its door skins replaced and/or repainted?

[tbroskey7632]

That's pretty amazing. I've seen several LS cars with some rust on their sides over the past 19 years and they have all had one thing in common -- poorly repaired body damage.

Have you owned this car since new ... i.e. do you know whether or not it has had its door skins replaced and/or repainted?

Have not owned the car since new but purchased it from a brother who was the original owner. My brother was going to trade it in on a LS460 so the dealer did a courtesy sale and transfer on the car. This transaction made it easy for my brother and allowed me to take advantage of any dealer perks on service and future purchases.

The car has never been had any body work and unfortunately for me the corrosion is on both front doors in the same spots on the doors.

[skiplexus13436]

I have a 2001 LS430 with the same problem. The panel is rusting from the inside out.

I have owned the car since new and there has never been any body damage to the door.

The rust is coming from where the clips that hold the door trim go into the panel. That

is why the spots are evenly spaced. I took the door panel off and there is musch more rust on the inside than

outside. I had three spots that were rusting but three more were about to. I cut out each bad spot

bonded some metal to the panel from the inside, totally painted the inside and then had to bondo

the panel from the outside. looks pretty good but cannot match the paint, will have to have it

professionally painted.

Seems like all of the complaints just involve the driver's side door, no others.

I would guess that somebody missed a process where the inside of the panel is coated after the trim clips are put

in. The clips must chip off a small amount of paint when inserted and over the years the rust sets in.

Being in the snow belt surely didn't help.

You don't think of a Lexus having rust issues.

[VBdenny]

There is no rust on my 1990 LS400. You boys must be salted up.