2017 RX 350 with less than 8K

[64tinc]

Miles on it. Full luxury package with 20 " wheels, AWD, Mark Levinson awesome stereo, Panoramic roof, Analine leather seats and drives like a dream.  I just bought it a week ago and really like the car a lot.  The only problem I have is when I went to look under the car I see a lot of rust and the aluminum housings on the front and rear wheel drive box and all aluminum has a haze and looks like corrosion on it.  Lots of rust I didn't see when I bought it.  I keep reading how Lexus makes cars with great coverage and they should not rust.  Mine is and it is starting to bother me for the future of the car after 2022 when the warranty runs out.  Should I get my local dealer to inspect and report how it passed the 161 CPO inspection with the bad condition of the undercarriage?  I see them Monday for a new key to be made.  I bought my car out of state since there is more of a selection there.  What is the policy of Lexus for caring for the undercarriage and condition of the components next to the ground.  I thought the car was from California, but found out it's from Wisconsin where the slush on the roads in the winters is most likely the cause of the corrosion I found.

[Les Lex 2018]

That is a bummer to find out that your Lexus was driven for a couple of years in the rust belt and you weren’t told. All cars are now treated to go many years in the salt and rust belt states, but sure, it does look a bit ugly.  If you avoid the salt Latitudes, you should have no further problems, as long as you stay in the waiting room when it’s on the rack for service.  

[Gamalot]

I think knowing the car history is as important as anything when buying a used vehicle. Your car might not have come from the rust belt states but it sure could have come from an area that flooded or near the ocean salt. A buddy just bought a very nice used SUV that is a sweet ride but while doing a full detail and wax job he stood on a ladder and saw numerous dimple dents on the roof. He did a Carfax report on the car only to learn the car when new and on the dealer lot went through a severe hail storm and had numerous Paintless dent repairs done but they did not do the rooftop. I guess not many of us ever inspect a car that close that we would stand on a ladder to see the rooftop.

Likewise not many of us would ever get on the ground to inspect the underside for premature rusting. We just traded in our 2015 RX and it has 6-7 years of NY mountain winters all over the underside. It looks great from above but my mechanic who replaced the front calipers, rotors and pads showed me the bad news while it was on the lift. It only had 69K on the clock but there is sure to be some issues in the near future. My 2016 4runner limited is beginning to show some hard winters under it as well. Around here the blacktop roads are almost white in the winters from salt and calcium chloride they treat the roads with before and during storms. Some local counties still use a mix of sand and salt and I hate driving through those towns and can't get to a car wash soon enough after I do. 

[Les Lex 2018]

You can go online to all the dealerships in the Deep South and Fla to look at their inventory. To get your business they will look the vehicle over and guarantee you that the vehicle has no salt/rust evidence before you come down and trade for one.  Same for hail damage. They will put all that in writing as an addendum to the AS IS label. If they don't move on the the next dealer.  I haven't been on salt since I went to a funeral in PA in January of 1997, but I do remember this white fog of salt.

You can see hail damage much easier in a closed garage with overhead lighting.  Don't know why, but I can.

 

 

[RX400h]

My daughter's first car was a 2002 Mazda Protege that had spent three years in New York. It certainly had rusty components but nothing that would make the car unsafe. Even in 2017 when I sold it, it was still perfectly safe.  Imagine if the car were driven in New York for 10 years. By contrast, my 1989 Mazda MX6 GT was 25 years old when I sold it and its undercarriage was still in excellent shape. Of course, the car had spent its entire life in southern California.