P.Hartman

RX400 Hybrid

I recently cracked the passenger side mirror and brown fluid ran onto the car. We wiped it up and it continued to drip for the three days until I could get it to the dealer. When driving, it sprayed all over the side of the car. The dealer told me that I should file an insurance claim because the fluid eats into the paint. They quoted me $3100.00 to repaint the side of my car. I am appalled that Lexus would use this fluid in a part that is easily broken. They are clearly aware that the fluid is so corrosive that ruins the paint and yet will take no responsibility. After researching on the net, this is not a new problem. I have owned 4 Lexus vehicles and this is my last one. They are not the company I thought they were.

I recently had the misfortune to catch my passenger side mirror while backing out of my rather narrow garage door and break the glass. That it cost nearly $600 to replace was bad enough, but the real problem was that the mirror contains some kind of oily green fluid that splattered all over the side of the car when the glass broke. I assume it is somehow related to either the fact that the mirror has electronic dimming or that it is heated.

Either way, the fluid is apparently highly corrosive to paintwork and has eaten right through the clear coat on both doors, the front fender, the roof and the rear of the car - i.e. about half the vehicle. I now have a nearly-new RX400h that looks as if it's been splashed all over with paint stripper. The dealership that repaired the mirror did everything they could to try an minimize the damage, but the car still looks horrible.

The only solution seems to be a complete repaint of half the vehicle, and it's not clear whether Lexus or the dealership will pay for it.

I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced something like this and if so how it was resolved - as far as I'm concerned it's a serious design defect if breaking a mirror destroys your car!