Excessive Corrosion

[thlsu]

I have a considerable amount of rust and corrosion under my 2004 LX470. My mechanic went as far as to call it a "rust bucket." The vehicle only has a little over 30,000 miles on it. I know that the vehicle has a 72-month/unlimited mileage corrosion warranty.

Lexus has now refused to cover several parts that have broken as a result of corrosion/rust. Lexus claims that any corrosion or rust as a result of road salt is excluded under the corrosion warranty.

Has anybody else made a claim for repairs, etc. under the corrosion warranty? This would mean in effect that there is no corrosion coverge for any Lexus driven in the Northeast, Midwest or anywhere else where salt is used on roads.

As a second point, they also want $950 for the 30,000 mile service. Does this appear to be in line with what others are paying?

Thanks

[lx470tuner]

This reply might be a bit too late but better late than never. From what I'm hearing, the corrosion warrenty you are telling me sounds believable. Most automaker's corrosion warrenty really only extends to factory errors only. That includes things such as defective paint, corrosion penatration due to misfittment, and if lexus personel has damaged your vehicle. Other than that corrosion due to road salt, exposure of metal resulting from things such things as rock chip and scratches, flooding, etc. are classified as either operator error or wear tear and Lexus does not hold themselves accounable. Which makes sense (they can't guarantee a car that doesn't corrode under every circumstances).

On a side note, I too live in an area where I experience heavy doses of road salt and paint chippers. Here are three main things that I do to make sure my car doesn't succum to premature corrosion.

1. Wash your car frequently, escpecially during those winter days (Or after offroading). Make sure you don't just spray water over your car as that really won't do anything (Just sparying water can actually accelerate corrsion). The main focus is to properly clean the undercarriage making sure the salt and other corrosive material is actually off of your vehicle.

2. After washing your car, always check for new chips and scratches. Unless you have completely sealed your vehicle with 3M clear film or just don't drive your car at all, we all have to face the fact that the paints on our cars are going to get damaged. Catching the metal exposure early and properly sealing them with touch up makes a tremendous difference and can mean the prevention of a repair cost in the soild four digit area.

3. DO NOT leave your vehicle idling on one spot. Leaving a vehicle idling (even for a warm up) causes condensations (due to collection of heat) in the undercarrage causing the exhaust system to quickly corrode. Also idling your vehicle forces the engine to run under an un-idle temperature causing the incomplete fuel combustion. This can lead to condensation within the cylinder walls, premature oil contamination, and residue collection on the spark plugs. Lastly, it has been numerously proven that idling causes significant lose of fuel consumption. Heck I even go as far to turn my engine off at railroad crossing and fast food drive thru. After turning your engine on, you should only wait couple of seconds to allow the engine to settle then begin moving. Warm up your car AS YOU DRIVE by keeping to lower RPM and avoiding WOT (Wide Open Throttle) and not standing still.

Back to point. Your $950 bill is a little on the high side compared to what I usually pay but it certainly is probable. Heck I remember paying something like that around my 50000 mile sevice interval.

[denslexusgx470]

Rust-proofing is the way to go when the car is brand new. I do rust-proofing in the Philippines because of the super salty roads when it rains a lot. I dont have snow here in my part of California but in the Philippines I'm very consistent with check-ups and re-spray of the rust-proofing of my vacation cars over there. Goodluck

;)