New Owner with a question or two...

JVekemans · November 28, 2018

Hi everyone,

Am a Newbie, so please be gentle :)

I have recently purchased a 2008 400h SE-L which has only 2 known faults/issues at present and just wondered if anyone can offer any advice on them?

Fault 1 is rust/bubbling, there are a few bubbles on both sides of the windscreen (at top), some stone chips to front bonnet with rust (not concerned with these as it's obvious they are from stones etc) and a thumb size area to the front passenger side wing (where it meets the bumper) now all these areas are solid with only a few of the stone chips showing rust so just wondered if these were common places for rust and if there are known causes/solutions?

Fault 2 is water ingress, now I have read through the posts and my only area of dampness is a fist sized area situated near the rear passenger door footwell. The carpet is black however this one patch has been worn through so no carpet fibres remain, there is no wetness or dampness anywhere else in the car and it doesn't spread either and I have run water via the sunroof and it escapes freely out the bottom of the car with no issues. I have noticed that there is a small thumb sized area of condensation in the passenger side rear light cluster so will be checking that area as soon as the rain stops and will replace the gasket as advised in posts.

With this in mind I believe the part no. is L81564-48061 for the gasket? can this be ordered direct from any Lexus dealer? or can anyone suggest where I can obtain them (am based in London btw).

I will also be checking under the boot trays as also suggested to see if water is collecting there but like I said, it's odd because the dampness is localised to that one area of carpet, I am looking around for a replacement carpet as a future project as apart from that one area I can't fault the car............ so far

Also I Have a vertical cargo net for the boot and wondered if anchor hooks could be attached to the plastic mouldings (as per other RX models) below the release points for the parcel shelf, two round clips that remove allowing access to a single bolt fastener, I only ask as I don't really want to screw in to the boot carpet wall itself.

Any help is greatly appreciated, and I will get some pics tomorrow, weather permitting :)

olliesgrandad · November 29, 2018

Car is 10 years old. If the rust at top of the windscreen is coming from behind and not surface it's worth checking if it is covered under the anti perforation warranty as a repair in that area could be very expensive as the windscreen will possibly need to be removed /replaced. Also rust there may affect structural integrity of car.

Jaystar77 · December 1, 2018

Would probably need a few pics of the rust to advise but from your description could the bumper have been bumped and rubbed against the wing? Panel gaps are fairly tight on these wagons so it wouldn't take much to break the paint.

Worth confirming if the front screen is genuine too as I've seen windscreen fitters damage paintwork in the past which leads to corrosion around the edges of the screen. If the screen has been removed in the past this might explain it.

The rear lamp gaskets are definitely a 'thing'. Mine are letting a little water past and require replacement. Lexus told me they were discontinued so I've managed to source a fresh secondhand set in Japan (and the lights to go with them) but let us know how you get on please.

JVekemans · December 1, 2018

Hi all, thanks for the replies, pics are as follows,

1: Windscreen, interestingly Showing on Lexus UK under the vehicles service history, in 2014 a Sublet repair, GLASS SUB-ASSY,,WINDSCREEN MLDG,TAPE,SENSOR, was carried out so I am assuming that this may be the cause of the bubbling.I which case I can get Lexus to investigate? and possibly repair?

The water is definitely under the plastic tray in the passenger side of the boot and is localised to the area in the rear passenger footwell, where the carpet was white and deteriorated appears to be mould but until I remove the boot trays fully I won't know for certain where the leak is actually coming from. I have, however, enquired with Lexus UK as to the correct rear light gaskets and costs which come in at £15.38 each for the outer tail light

https://www.lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/parts/lexus-rx-genuine-parts/lexus-rx-phase-2-outer-tail-light-gasket/

and £17.68 each for inner tail light.

https://www.lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/parts/lexus-rx-genuine-parts/lexus-rx-phase-2-inner-tail-light-gasket/

Now I presume these are the correct gaskets as the part numbers quoted in other related posts are different.

The rust bubble on bonnet and left wing are as below..

Is it a matter of just contacting Lexus to book it in for an investigation or do I need to contact a certain department etc? again any advice is appreciated.

One other small niggle is that the drivers side wing mirror doesn't tilt downwards as much as the passenger side when in reverse, the wing mirror is fully operational in all directions when adjusting normally, is this a case for wd40 sprayed behind the mirror on to the actuator? or is there another fix?

Thanking you all in advance.......

Joe

Jaystar77 · December 1, 2018

That's good to know, I think NI stock is tied to the Irish market rather than the mainland UK stock. Might have to grab some from an English dealer if these used ones aren't up to scratch.

With both edges of the A-pillars going like that I can't help but think it's related to the screen replacement. Probably wrong but definitely sounds probable.

I have nearly the same spots of rust in the same place on my bonnet. Definitely impact related - stonechips in my case!

The edge of the wing looks like the bumper has been rubbing against it. I'll have a look at mine tomorrow just for reference but if the bumper has been moved by anything it would damage that edge and lead to corrosion like that. Is the other side okay?

Not sure on how Lexus will look on it from a warranty point of view, rust caused by external factors generally isn't covered. Which is perfectly understandable TBH. Would do no harm to bounce it off them though.

JVekemans · December 1, 2018

Other side is ansolutely clear, no bubbling anywhere......

Am going to contact Lexus on Monday and book it in and see what happens... i reached out to the previous owner who boight it in 2015 and he confirmed that the bubbles started appearing gradually since then so it ties in with the repair done in 2014......