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Upon my retirement I Bought a 2006 Lexus GX 470 loaded New, thinking that such a so called Luxury Vehicle would last my wife after my demise, I did this to keep her from having to deal with car issues, well, this turned out to be the worse purchase I had ever made in the many years of buying cars, there certainly is no Luxury to this purchase whatsoever. For seven years I took the vehicle in to Toyota for all of its servicing oil changes and the like, during that time the aluminum wheels corroded to the point of almost dust,you can imagine what that looked like, after a long contracted fight I finally got them to replace them ( with old refinished wheels) with what they finally admitted were inferior and defective from the start.

As I continued with my every 3000 mile oil changes I again took it in to a dealer for another oil change voting 30.00 and came out with a bill recommending over 3, 500.00 worth of things, the most important being that of the undercarriage being excessively and rapidly rusting away the rear end differential and the entire underbody rusting away at a rate unknown to the industry. The rear differential the dealer told me would cost about 5,000.00 and will soon need replacing, as they did a hammer test on it, and that showed a replacement soon. Now bear in mind this car lives in the garage, it only has 39,000 original miles on it, so it is clear that the material used in this casting from Lexus is and was defective from the start.

I took it to a Lexus Dealer in Ann Arbor Michigan, talked to svc manager, he looked at it and verified that it should be replaced and is not normal, he compared my car to a 2003 same model GX 470 with 267000 miles and there is no comparison, the 2003 has the original black paint still on the differential where mines is completely and fully rusted to point of flaking and falling off thereby depleting the metal casting rapidly. After getting pictures of the comparisons and the report from the Service Mgr, Lexus denied any responsibility to repair it it or replace it citing the warranty, as if I would know this is going on, since we drive sitting on top and inside the underbody, not hanging from it underneath. It clearly is Lexus's responsibility to back their product if defective, and this one clearly is as my pictures prove beyond any doubts. They scrambled to find excuses against their repairing it, such as gaps in the service, of which there was none, poor record keeping on toyota's part and Lexus's part as well. They do not stand behind their products and I would warn anyone looking for a so-called luxury car, it definitely is NOT LEXUS.

You will note in the pictures submitted the differences in the underbodies, the excessively rusted one is the 2006 with 39000 miles, the clean one is a 2003 with 267000 miles judge for yourselves!

Toyota hand Lexus un be known to me at the time has had a rust problem on many of their vehicles since 2003, they refuse to recall and prefer to keep it hushed up, a culture of secrecy. Check the pictures

Monetary Loss: $5500.

Location: Troy, Michigan

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Guest

Hi I owned Lexus gx 470 **** , from beginning , oil changed regularly at dealer , no one ever mentioned rust problem until I saw rust in driveway , when looked under truck , there is so much damage from rust , I am not happy. Own sienna 2005 , no rust at all !

I am not sure why ? Ketan Patel, Ohio

Guest

My 2007 Gx470 with 100000 miles to date 8/14/2019, got more rust than the pictures. Toyota/Lexus are tRusty cars...NO.. RUSTY vehicles.

Guest

You said it was stored in a garage, do you live in the salt belt? If you store a vehicle in a heated garage in the winter; that is driven in salt, it will rot fast!

The heat and moisture/salt solution will have accelerated effects in this case. I am a Lexus/Toyota mechanic and this is NOT typical...

Guest

Seems like a familiar site. I have a 2016 Toyota Land Cruiser.

Only 6600 km.

And there are all sorts of rusting in the under chassis. The Toyota here in the Philippines and the dealer are avoiding the issue.

Guest

I have crossed this product off my list. Thank you!

Guest

that rusty axle pictured doesn't show anything wrong that a coat of oscote and a fresh coat of paint won't fix. if someone is telling you that you have to replace that axle due to rust they are trying to rip you off.

You haven't seen corrosion and undercarriage damage till you have driven the Alcan highway and several years in Alaska

Greenley Amt

Eight years of use in Michigan and you're worried about surface rust on the differential? Take it to a real mechanic who isn't trying to scam you, and he'll tell you that rear end will go another 50 years without any structural issues.

Unibody structure, frame rails and sheet metal will be gone long before axle housings rot through.

If it bothers you that much, buy a new vehicle and then take the initiative to WASH the vehicle and FLUSH THE UNDER-BODY once a week during the winter.

If you think driving through salt all day and then parking the vehicle in a garage will keep it from rusting...think again. Keeping it above freezing with all that crรคp stuck to the bottom only accelerates the corrosion process.

Guest

I work on all makes and models that show rust like that after being in that environment. You should be pissed at your town or county for not using the more expensive grades of salt on the roads that cause much less corrosion.

Do your homework before accusing a car manufacturer for something they can't control. Like the technician suggested, I would get any vehicle exposed to the salt roads properly undercoated.

Guest

Toyotas are rust prone and require additional undercoating in salty environments. Michigan is notorious for the excessive salt and brine in the winter.

Every Toyota I have owned has had rust issues.

Preventative care is required. I am a Toyota employee.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-854081

I have been driving toyotas all my life. to me if you keep them maintained they are bullet proof.

I myself have never had a rust problem. My neighbor has one a 1984 with like 400k on it and it is rusting away, but the motor just keeps on ticking.

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