Ls460 Rust On Sunroof

[JellyBean]

Found nasty, bubbling rust on the sunroof's leading edge, but only about a 100mm strip near both front corners, on the underside. Some of it fell into my Barnet - what's left of it.

Lexus Customer Services just said, "Car is over three years old, tough". No discussion.

It is surely a manufacturing fault, since the sunroof will not have had a 'cheap' repair, such as on a front wing where rust might appear where it would not normally.

What Lexus seem to be admitting is that it is allowed that their cars only last three years before rusting.

My 1996 LS400 was fifteen years old when I sold it and had not a spec of rust on the sunroof.

I am rather peeved, but now await to see what dealer has to say.

[atari001]

My 2001 LS430 developed 2 rust spots on the drivers door just above the rubbing strip. when Lexus Birmingham checked it out they took photos and had confirmation from Lexus UK that it was still covered under the 12 year anti-perforation warranty. The confirmation took a few weeks to come through but once it had my car was in for a brand new door. Same happened on the passenger front door about 18 months later and that was replaced as well. It was deemed a manufacturing fault. I am very surprised that the dealership you took it to never investigated this further and were just so candid with you. I would make enquiries with other dealerships in your area and see if this specific fault reported before. They should have at least taken photographs for further investigation.

[JellyBean]

Someone from the dealership did take pics and showed/sent them to Lexus who said "No".

I then rang Customer Services at Lexus with the same result.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[ManicMark]

It seems lexus are going the same way as mercs, I would be seriously p"""ed off. sales of goods act states should last a reasonable period of time. As Lexus is a premium brand & in pursuit of perfection as the adds state, I would challenge that the rust falls far short of perfection, Small claims court would rule in your favour as well I am sure.

[JellyBean]

Well the LS400 does seem to be the most durable of the LS series. The apparent quality of a 460 - the way things fit and the way they operate - is on a higher plane. But deep down the 400 seems better screwed together.

As for Mercs... bought my wife a three-year-old E320 CDi estate, with 25,000miles. In the first year it cost £3k over and above servicing costs, in faults.

And the servicing! Says in their shiny brochure for their "Menu Priced Servicing" that the fixed price servicing cost for this model is £329. And they add that the "servicing costs for your Mercedes Benz have never been so economical..."

So we had a bog-routine service with only fluids and filters needed. Nothing else. The cost? £912.

Mercs? Never again. Oh yes, and I don't think the beastly thing has any suspension at all: it rides like a tea trolley on a gravel path.

[ManicMark]

I am quite shocked at the response you have had from lexus, I used to be a merc fan untill the mid 90s when it all went horribly wrong, I would threaten to take your issue to court if you are getting no joy,as rust on a five year old car let alone a Lexus is un acceptable im sure watchdog would be interested aswell.

[steve2006]

I have come to the opinion that these days everything is built to a price not a quality.

I have worked in domestic electronic repairs for most of my working life and have seen sturdy polished wooden Television cabinets replaced with flimsy plastic, early LCD/Plasma TV with solid aluminium frames/chassies replaced with flimsy pressed steel and video recorders which needed a fork lift to move them to machines with decks made with little more than tin foil.

Well respected brand names like Hitachi,Sharp,Toshiba all contain the same guts with just a different badge on the front.

From this I can only assume the same applies to most products including prestige marque vehicles.

Mercedes have had serious problems with rust issues particularly the front cross member on certain models.

My Lexus is nearly 19 yeras old and does not have a spot of rust anywhere on the body so for a 5 year old example to have it raises questions on recent build quality.

[black400]

would not have that, get independant check and legal advice .

[black400]

i wish i new about the corosion warrenty , i have a bit around the arial.

[Scribe]

'I have come to the opinion that these days everything is built to a price not a quality.'

I think you mean 'built to a cost', Steve - it's US who pay the price. And you're right - it does seem that what we get for our money these days is bells, whistles and ghizmos that last about five minutes. Built-in obsolescence, I think it's called. It's all superficial: it looks like great value, but in the long term is quite the opposite. Which is why we love our LS400s so much. Whoever bought them new paid for lasting quality which we're now enjoying. I don't mind spending a bit to keep mine going, but I'd be seriously pi**ed off if I had a 5-year-old 460 that was rusting, like Jeremy's. And even more pi**ed off that Lexus's legendary customer service seems to be hit and miss, too.

[ambermarine]

'I have come to the opinion that these days everything is built to a price not a quality.'

I think you mean 'built to a cost', Steve - it's US who pay the price. And you're right - it does seem that what we get for our money these days is bells, whistles and ghizmos that last about five minutes. Built-in obsolescence, I think it's called. It's all superficial: it looks like great value, but in the long term is quite the opposite. Which is why we love our LS400s so much. Whoever bought them new paid for lasting quality which we're now enjoying. I don't mind spending a bit to keep mine going, but I'd be seriously pi**ed off if I had a 5-year-old 460 that was rusting, like Jeremy's. And even more pi**ed off that Lexus's legendary customer service seems to be hit and miss, too.

In defference to the Lexus Marque we should note that there is a saying "nothing is perfect" bearing in mind the Lexus aim "The pursuit of Perfection" we might be getting a little carried away with our comments on this rust issue.

The Moon roof is not a water tight surround and is designed as such . There could at sometime in the cars life been an incident were corrosives could have been deposited on the roof and leeched through the seal and been held in situ by same. The process of water and moisture getting to the now bare metal through the seal and you have the perfect rust scenario.The moonroof is a seperatly manufactured product from the car body so any rust should be confined to the moonroof casing if dealt with quickly.

Remedy the problem with a treatment of rust killer and the best primer and finally matt black and lacquer .The evolution of this Marque on the road is now in its 23rd year and there are bound to be issues. I personally believe the LS400 was the best car in its class ever built and having just sold a 22 year old one I drove for 16 years there was only going to be one replacement the last LS400 produced and it has'nt dissapointed.

So lets rejoice in what we have and thank our lucky stars we discovered what a fabulous car the "Lexus" is.

[steve2006]

Very true, when I bought mine 6 years ago it was already 12 years old and still in excellent condition, OK it had spent the 1st 12 years of its life in Japan but even after another 6 years of UK living it is still solid.

Had I bought another run of the mill make of car the same age I doubt it would even still be on the road at this time.

In the past I would have been worried about my car passing its MOT with the Lexus I would be surprised and disappointed if it didn't.

[Parrot of Doom]

Lexus Customer Services just said, "Car is over three years old, tough". No discussion.

That is completely unacceptable. You are driving a premium, luxury car. Not a Ford Ka. Excepting accidental damage, there should be no rust for at least 10 years, and only then in exceptional circumstances.

[JellyBean]

Dear Feathered One

I agree with every word you have written, and can add nothing new to them.

I shall not give in on this one, and will post any 'developments' as they occur.

- JellyBean

[JellyBean]

I would like to attach two photos of the rust as it has to be seen to be believed.

But I just don't know how. Can anyone prompt me, please?

[graham8370]

Hi Jeremy, firstly upload your photos to here.http://beta.photobucket.com/

Then, in ''Reply to this topic box''click the link sign (underneath the Size box) and enter the img file from Photobucket.

[black400]

Regarding rust and life time warranty is it worth my while chasing up lexus , i have rust around the airiel mast?

[graham8370]

Don't think it's a lifetime warranty, 12 years, so maybe just out of yours. Always the way!

[steve2006]

If you look at the bottom of the reply box next to "Post" you will see "More Reply Options" click on this and you will then see at the bottom "Choose Files" click this and select your photographs, then click on "Attach this File" (max size 400mb). A light blue box will then appear just above with a thumbnail picture and description, click on "Add to Post"

[steve2006]

Just looking through a Lexus Service Record for an LS400 which had a "6 Year Anti-Corrosion Warranty" and it makes quite interesting reading

The list of "Exclusions" includes the following

Section b." External factors which are beyond the Manufacturer's control,such as stone chips,scratches,industrial fallout,acid rain,hailstones,storm damage,salt,use of unsuitable cleaning materials and Act of God."

Hmm looks like a waste of time in the UK unless you only drive it in completely dry weather and store it in the garage when the salt and grit go down on the roads, let's just hope a tree doesn't fall on the garage.

[JellyBean]

Dunno if this has worked...

[graham8370]

Wow, that looks bad.

Must go and have a look at mine as I see we have the same model/year.

Probably nothing to do with it, but has your car spent a lot of it's life near the sea-side? As ambermarine says, treat straighaway if you get no joy from Lexus.

[steve2006]

Yes it's worked.

That's really bad looks more like rot than rust, I wonder if it's due to long term leakage through the rubber seal.

Certainly needs some immediate remedial action before it holes completely and the actual cause sorted as well.

Are your sun/moonroof drains clear as water could be pooling and seeping in.

[Malc]

Can't believe it ....... so awful.

If Lexus aren't going to provide you with a new sunroof section I would threaten to put it on YOU Tube for the world, and I mean the world, to see how crappy Lexus has got !!!

Dreadful

Malc

[JellyBean]

Thanks to Graham 8370 and Steve 2006 fpr helping me to put these horrid pics on.

Believe it or not, I had never actually seen the rust until I took the flash pics. I could feel it, but when I looked up in my garage it was too dark and when I looked up outside with the s/roof open (obviously) the brightness of the sky prevented a proper view of the problem. I was startled when I downloaded the photos and immediately sent them off to the dealer.

Yes, the seal was split when I bought the car, so I just superglued it together again. But the rust was obviously already well under way when I bought the car, so that will be the basis of my claim.

No sign of blocked drain tubes and dunno if car lived by the sea - the reg document these days only tells you of previous owner.

I rather like the YouTube idea!