03 Gx470 Dashboard Cracks

[2klx470]

I have a 2003 GX470 and it has long cracks in the front dashboard. The cracks are in the front edge of the instrument panel and on the driver's side air vent. The crack runs from the driver's side air vent, and all around the front of the instrument panel. The car is a CPO and I got it last Aug 08. I didn't notice the crack until October 08.

The car has been kept inside a garage at all times. No armor all has been used to clean the dashboard, just a cloth to remove dust.

I took it to a Lexus dealership and they are charging me for the labor which is 482.00. They are paying 1100.00 which is the cost of the parts. They are replacing the entire dashboard cover. The dashboard is not covered under the CPO warranty, but they are paying 1100.00 for the parts because I argued that I only had the car for 2 months when I noticed the crack.

Is this a fair price to replace the entire dashboard cover? I think they should pay for the entire cost, but the warranty shows in writing that dashboard cosmetic damage is not covered under CPO.

Has anyone here ever had dashboard crack issues with their GX470? Tell us about it.

Rj

[mann777]

Yes I am one of the victim to this hairline crack which has appeared as exactly you have mentioned, I did have one more along the passenger side above the glove compartment running the whole length along the wood trim. Not noticeable, but if you give a careful thought yes. Now coming to the repair, I weighed all the options available as I had somebody giving me about rectifying the crack by adding metal paste along added with dash board leather trim color paint, finely filled along the crack, and painted, but it would look shabby,So I finally had it imported the part myself from Singapore which worked out very cheap ( 490/-$ ) The shipping was taken care by my friend who was going on a family tour. Once I had them I used the Repair manual, and completed the whole repair in 11 days. It was bit complicated as the locks on the panel dashboard are very tricky. The are perfect now.

[2klx470]

Yes I am one of the victim to this hairline crack which has appeared as exactly you have mentioned, I did have one more along the passenger side above the glove compartment running the whole length along the wood trim. Not noticeable, but if you give a careful thought yes. Now coming to the repair, I weighed all the options available as I had somebody giving me about rectifying the crack by adding metal paste along added with dash board leather trim color paint, finely filled along the crack, and painted, but it would look shabby,So I finally had it imported the part myself from Singapore which worked out very cheap ( 490/-$ ) The shipping was taken care by my friend who was going on a family tour. Once I had them I used the Repair manual, and completed the whole repair in 11 days. It was bit complicated as the locks on the panel dashboard are very tricky. The are perfect now.

Mann777,

Sorry to hear that you had the same problem.

You ended up replacing the entire dashboard or the entire dashboard cover? The part cost you $490.00?

I guess $480.00 sounds fair for Lexus to replace the dashboard (or is it just the dashboard cover) in my GX470.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Rj

[TA in KC]

$482 sounds very reasonable to me considering the amount of time and effort required to replace the dashboard. I am surprised the labor cost was not higher. I'd be very happy with that price.

[mann777]

The Entire Dashboard Cover was replaced, along with the trims ( w/o the console such as Navigation / ODO / Main Console Controls and the system.

[liger]

I have a 2003 GX470 and it has long cracks in the front dashboard. The cracks are in the front edge of the instrument panel and on the driver's side air vent. The crack runs from the driver's side air vent, and all around the front of the instrument panel. The car is a CPO and I got it last Aug 08. I didn't notice the crack until October 08.

The car has been kept inside a garage at all times. No armor all has been used to clean the dashboard, just a cloth to remove dust.

I took it to a Lexus dealership and they are charging me for the labor which is 482.00. They are paying 1100.00 which is the cost of the parts. They are replacing the entire dashboard cover. The dashboard is not covered under the CPO warranty, but they are paying 1100.00 for the parts because I argued that I only had the car for 2 months when I noticed the crack.

Is this a fair price to replace the entire dashboard cover? I think they should pay for the entire cost, but the warranty shows in writing that dashboard cosmetic damage is not covered under CPO.

Has anyone here ever had dashboard crack issues with their GX470? Tell us about it.

Rj

I also have a hairline crack just like yours starting from the left side of the instrument panel to the right side of the instrument panel. I'm beginning to wonder whether this defect is common on GX470s. I bought a platinum Extended warranty plan thru Lexus when I bought my 2003 GX but they refuse to repair it.

Their explanation was that it "does not effect the safetiness to operate the vehicle". When the dealer sold us the warranty, they told us that the platinum plan would cover bumper to bumper. I am very disappointed because I felt cheated. I believe Lexus should come forward and acknowledge this defect and take care of the rapair.

[mann777]

Well for me I was beyond the warranty stage, was covered under CPO but sewell just refused blantantly.So I knew what the other dealer also would cook up . I had never used any cleanser for dashboard for the entire GX life with me, but it did not sound convincing to them & The dealers would never accept it there fault that this is a manufacturing defect, I did'nt want much time haggling with them, I took my decision of getting this part myself, ofcourse it was factor of time that took while i had to fix in between my business, but it was a pleasure to get to the intracacies of the front panel removal with utmost care. Because it was a bit tricky for me as it was the first time and i had to do it slowly , But the fixing the same new panel this was finished in 72 hours compared to the removal one which took 8days out of which 6-8 hours a day of continous work . The most difficult part was the clips which are placed behind the instrument cluster, and the drive panel. I had to detach around 121 clips and around 23 harness connectors. And mark them also as many harness were look alike and they had to be marked for refixing. The best I could do was write it simultaneously and color tag them accordingly. But I finally acheived them flawless. I cant ask for more.

Just try with few other dealers also, if it works you are lucky, otherwise get it fixed yourself.

Lastly I have to add as you see very few member of this forum have got this defect arising of late on there model. I wish others could contribute their inputs with their dealers on similar cases.

[2klx470]

I have a 2003 GX470 and it has long cracks in the front dashboard. The cracks are in the front edge of the instrument panel and on the driver's side air vent. The crack runs from the driver's side air vent, and all around the front of the instrument panel. The car is a CPO and I got it last Aug 08. I didn't notice the crack until October 08.

The car has been kept inside a garage at all times. No armor all has been used to clean the dashboard, just a cloth to remove dust.

I took it to a Lexus dealership and they are charging me for the labor which is 482.00. They are paying 1100.00 which is the cost of the parts. They are replacing the entire dashboard cover. The dashboard is not covered under the CPO warranty, but they are paying 1100.00 for the parts because I argued that I only had the car for 2 months when I noticed the crack.

Is this a fair price to replace the entire dashboard cover? I think they should pay for the entire cost, but the warranty shows in writing that dashboard cosmetic damage is not covered under CPO.

Has anyone here ever had dashboard crack issues with their GX470? Tell us about it.

Rj

I also have a hairline crack just like yours starting from the left side of the instrument panel to the right side of the instrument panel. I'm beginning to wonder whether this defect is common on GX470s. I bought a platinum Extended warranty plan thru Lexus when I bought my 2003 GX but they refuse to repair it.

Their explanation was that it "does not effect the safetiness to operate the vehicle". When the dealer sold us the warranty, they told us that the platinum plan would cover bumper to bumper. I am very disappointed because I felt cheated. I believe Lexus should come forward and acknowledge this defect and take care of the rapair.

How much did you pay for the Platinum Extended Warranty? Is this a warranty that makes the car a CPO?

My GX470 was purchased as a CPO, and Lexus Extra Care paid for the majority of the cost to replace the dashboard. I was surprised the total came out to almost 2000.00 just for the dashboard replacement! I ended up paying 489.00 for the labor. Also, they gave me an RX as a loaner vehicle for 5 days. It was nice!

It took 5 days because I complained about my driver's side speaker making a crackling sound. They replaced a Mark Levinson L front speaker, lubricate the sunroof, changed the oil and fill up all fluids to the right level. They also took care of the "clunk" issue. The total for everything was almost $6000.00 and I only paid $489.00. I guess a CPO is sometimes better than a brand new vehicle.

Rj

[japparilla]

Yes I am one of the victim to this hairline crack which has appeared as exactly you have mentioned, I did have one more along the passenger side above the glove compartment running the whole length along the wood trim. Not noticeable, but if you give a careful thought yes. Now coming to the repair, I weighed all the options available as I had somebody giving me about rectifying the crack by adding metal paste along added with dash board leather trim color paint, finely filled along the crack, and painted, but it would look shabby,So I finally had it imported the part myself from Singapore which worked out very cheap ( 490/-$ ) The shipping was taken care by my friend who was going on a family tour. Once I had them I used the Repair manual, and completed the whole repair in 11 days. It was bit complicated as the locks on the panel dashboard are very tricky. The are perfect now.

Mann777,

Sorry to hear that you had the same problem.

You ended up replacing the entire dashboard or the entire dashboard cover? The part cost you $490.00?

I guess $480.00 sounds fair for Lexus to replace the dashboard (or is it just the dashboard cover) in my GX470.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

RjWell..... I've been a mechanic for 25 years... Here's my assumption of the dash issue. If the sun beat the crap out of the interior, there'd be signs of failure of other parts, like door panels, plastic warping, moulding cracking and such to warrant such a falure of the dash pad. It's clearly an indication that Lexus used inferior material for the dash pad and blame it on heat or sun issues.... Bull*BLEEP*. Crappy materia;s is what I say. Mine has been protected by the best uv protectants and has barely been in the sun and still cracked asif it was 50 years old. Clearly a piece of *BLEEP* material, if ya asked me....

[jmc11]

My GX 470 2003 dash cracked today as described in other posts. Some posts have had success with Lexus replacing the dash and I am wondering what the secret to persuading them to do so is? Is it just persistence?

[jrollins1]

I too have the same problem. My dash has a crack from the passenger side air vent that runs over the glove compartment, over the radio console, and over the steering wheel on the drivers side. My car has been well kept, so neglect, or improper care is not the issue. I will be taking the car to the Lexus dealer for them to look at the problem. Does anyone have any pointers to get the problem fixed. I plan to be persistant! I would be extremely happy to pay only the labor cost!

[H MAN]

I have an 03 GX that only has 50k miles on it and is garage kept. I work from home so this vehicle rarely sits outside in the sun. We have no children and there has been no hitting or kicking the dash. A 3 inch vertical crack developed over the glove box. Obviously a defect since the car is always in the garage. After being told my extended warranty did not cover such an issue I made a phone call to corporate in California. Long story short, they provided the new dash free of charge (it would have been $700 in parts) and I only had to pay labor which my dealer gave me a break on and came to $300. I was worried about the fit and finish on such radical surgery but the new dash is seemless and looks great. I still feel that I should not have had to pay for this at all since it is clearly a manufacturing defect. Their trim clause is a joke. I have owned serveral cars in my life, usually luxury European models, and I have NEVER had this mysterious crack in any dashboard before.

[use a realtor]

I have an 03 GX that only has 50k miles on it and is garage kept. I work from home so this vehicle rarely sits outside in the sun. We have no children and there has been no hitting or kicking the dash. A 3 inch vertical crack developed over the glove box. Obviously a defect since the car is always in the garage. After being told my extended warranty did not cover such an issue I made a phone call to corporate in California. Long story short, they provided the new dash free of charge (it would have been $700 in parts) and I only had to pay labor which my dealer gave me a break on and came to $300. I was worried about the fit and finish on such radical surgery but the new dash is seemless and looks great. I still feel that I should not have had to pay for this at all since it is clearly a manufacturing defect. Their trim clause is a joke. I have owned serveral cars in my life, usually luxury European models, and I have NEVER had this mysterious crack in any dashboard before.

[use a realtor]

2004 GX 470 (original owner) garage kept

I too have the exact same cracks in my dashboard as described in previous posts. I contacted Lexus of Jacksonville and

they offered to split 50/50 in which my half is $982! I feel as though I'm paying for the entire bill. This is obviously

a manufacturer defect. I would hope Lexus would take care of this as it would definitely make a difference in purchasing

my next Lexus.

Thanks for the information.

[CaptnPete]

2004 GX 470 (original owner) garage kept

I too have the exact same cracks in my dashboard as described in previous posts. I contacted Lexus of Jacksonville and

they offered to split 50/50 in which my half is $982! I feel as though I'm paying for the entire bill. This is obviously

a manufacturer defect. I would hope Lexus would take care of this as it would definitely make a difference in purchasing

my next Lexus.

Thanks for the information.

2003 GX with 52K miles. Had my dash replaced in Sarasota, Fl last year. Same story. After much haggling Lexus offered 50/50 split. Still came to about $800. Basically it cost them NOTHING. Their mark-up took care of that.

Pete

[GXBob]

We are the original owners of a 2003 GX, and I too have a crack that extends from the driver side console of the plastic surface above the gauges, to the passenger side above the glove box, on leather surface. This was rather startling to us, since we previously owned a 4Runner for several years prior to purchasing this vehicle, and did not experience a problem of this type. So for it to have occurred on this vehicle, being the upper line of the Toyota brand, and it not be covered by the company was a shock. The care I used on the dash of this vehicle was the same as we used on the 4Runner, and other vehicles we owned. We are also the original owners of a 2004 ES330, so we will keep an eye on the dash.

[denslexusgx470]

I have a 2003 and mine is perfectly fine. Them charging labor sounds decent enough. This is a luxury brand so the maintenance and repair costs are a luxury price too :( I'm contemplating on a new windshield for a small rock chip and Lexus is charging $1700 for an OE windshield which includes the glass, weatherstrips, adhesive, and labor while the aftermarket glass costs only $250 which includes the glass, weatherstrips, adhesive, and labor. Lexus claims that the aftermarket glass doesn't work well with the wiper sensor

For instance, the map light console that has the homelink and sunroof controls, it costs about $150 for a Toyota 4Runner while it costs $850 for our GX. The console in the 4Runner is the same as the GX (I compared side to side as I have both cars in the garage) but that price difference is a

[Mrs Steph]

My 03 Gx 470 (that I purchased new) has had the same cracking, dashboard issues. Like others it has been parked 90% of the time in a covered, enclosed garage. When it is in the sun, I use a sun shade to keep my vehicle cooler.

Mine started cracking just a couple months after the warranty was over. When I contacted Price LeBlanc, Lexus, they told me they would be happy to replace the dash board at full price!! I figured I could live with a little hairline crack. Now, that hairline crack has spread all over the dashboard! The dash appears to be disintegrating! I noticed some discoloring and rubbed the area with my fingers. I accidentally scraped it with my fingernail, and a chunk came of. It actually looks kinda moldy. I am so disgusted. :chairshot:

I had an old, used, Ford pinto as a teenager, that sat outside, in every type of weather, and was never under (any kind of) cover. The dash didn't even crack on that Hoopdie!

Today I called Lexus Corporate in CA. I am hoping they will light a fire under the dealership here. Although I don't have the resources to purchase a new vehicle now, when I do, I seriously doubt it will be another Lexus.

[Mrs Steph]

I have a 2003 and mine is perfectly fine. Them charging labor sounds decent enough. This is a luxury brand so the maintenance and repair costs are a luxury price too :( I'm contemplating on a new windshield for a small rock chip and Lexus is charging $1700 for an OE windshield which includes the glass, weatherstrips, adhesive, and labor while the aftermarket glass costs only $250 which includes the glass, weatherstrips, adhesive, and labor. Lexus claims that the aftermarket glass doesn't work well with the wiper sensor

For instance, the map light console that has the homelink and sunroof controls, it costs about $150 for a Toyota 4Runner while it costs $850 for our GX. The console in the 4Runner is the same as the GX (I compared side to side as I have both cars in the garage) but that price difference is a

This is a luxury brand, and as such, I expect a quality product, made of durable materials, that holds up well. Not something that falls apart!! Especially considering the good care that has been given to it.

I have had my windshield replaced and the sensor works fine.

[oliverevilo]

I just purchased my '04 GX. I shopped and shopped to make sure I was getting one that had been babied. I finally found it - flawless interior. The carpet, leather, steering wheel, every button and switch - they all look brand new. Even the dash looks like it is brand new... except for the cracks! They are so subtle in that they all follow visual lines. The one over the instrument cluster is about 6" long but it was the last one I noticed because it is right on the line of the dash rolling over to the cluster. It looks like someone took an exacto knife to the dash. Anyway, you guys have answered any questions I have and have also convinced me that my truck was babies after all. I'm hoping that Lexus will help me as well even though I'm the second owner. I'll post whatever happens...

[cduluk]

I've noticed this same issue on some 2004 Rx330 models as well, as the dash of the RX and GS use the same material. And of course, the 04-09 RX's use the same dash, so i guess i'll be in the same boat as you guys in a few years!

[ZoeZhe04]

We purchased our '04 GX470 April of 2008 after about a year and a half. The cracks started on both sides, I showed it to the nearest LEXUS dealership and they offered to filled the cracks with something that i don't want them to do and I have to pay for it. So, instead I bought this material on ebay to covered it for the moment. But, now it is worst that you can see it on the side of the vents on both side. I will try to show it to another LEXUS dealership and will see what will happen. Its not CPO when we purchased it but we had a extended warranty on it but, I doubt it will be covered by the warranty. What should i do next?

We had a leased '04 Toyota Sienna LE that also had a problem liked these. I returned the vehicle in '09 with NO question asked about the cracked and told me that for 5 years its still in immaculate condition compared to a 3 yrs old leased. LOL.....

Toni

[Tom Wall]

I too have a 2003 GX470 with the crack running across the top of the instrument panel.

[caro327]

well, well, well. i googled crack issue for my GX 470 2003. Like others, has been garage kept; i don't work so it has spent MOST of it's time in the garage. cracks just appeared last week. i am waiting to hear from local dealer after service talks with rep. sounds like i already know the best possible response from lexus. sounds like the basis of a class action lawsuit to me. This is absolutely ridiculous for a luxury car carefully cared for. Thanks!!!

[SOFAKING]

I have an 06 GX470 with same issue , just developed. Garaged car, 35000 miles , no armor all. Hairline vertical cracks front of dash around air vents and Nav . Will try to get fixed by JM Lexus . Appears to be a factory flaw .