Rx300 Cracked Headlamp Surround

[KEC]

Hi,

I am the proud owner of an RX300 2003 model (purchased Sep 2003). Unfortunately, I noticed the front headlamp surround driver side was cracked recently. The headlights were working fine. I could not think of anything that could have caused this. The car had been for its 6 year service only the day before at the lexus dealership and I wondered whether they could have done something. I called them and they offered to take a look at it. They said it was not covered by the warranty and said it would cost £300 plus to repair ( £193.00 for the part). They said it was probably caused by an impact to the headlamp e.g. spare wheel of a 4x4 reversing onto it. I could not understand this because there was no crack on the outer glass of the headight and it was only the inner chrome/plastic surround that had cracked. Also no scratches on the bumper etc. The car was due its MOT and they told me it would fail because the headlamp was loose but they said they could stabilise it by doing some plastic welding which they did for a cost of £70. I am now left with an unsightly crack/gap in the surround around the beam light. Has anyone had a similar problem? Shouldn't the outer glass of the headlamp crack if there had been such an impact as to crack the inner surround? Should this be covered by the warranty as I would interpret this as part of the bodywork?

Thanks for your help.

[safetyman]

Hi,

I am the proud owner of an RX300 2003 model (purchased Sep 2003). Unfortunately, I noticed the front headlamp surround driver side was cracked recently. The headlights were working fine. I could not think of anything that could have caused this. The car had been for its 6 year service only the day before at the lexus dealership and I wondered whether they could have done something. I called them and they offered to take a look at it. They said it was not covered by the warranty and said it would cost £300 plus to repair ( £193.00 for the part). They said it was probably caused by an impact to the headlamp e.g. spare wheel of a 4x4 reversing onto it. I could not understand this because there was no crack on the outer glass of the headight and it was only the inner chrome/plastic surround that had cracked. Also no scratches on the bumper etc. The car was due its MOT and they told me it would fail because the headlamp was loose but they said they could stabilise it by doing some plastic welding which they did for a cost of £70. I am now left with an unsightly crack/gap in the surround around the beam light. Has anyone had a similar problem? Shouldn't the outer glass of the headlamp crack if there had been such an impact as to crack the inner surround? Should this be covered by the warranty as I would interpret this as part of the bodywork?

Thanks for your help.

I would have thought if a spare wheel of a 4x4 hit the light enough to split the inside lens then there would be more damage on the outside or even some paint/rubber transfer on the headlight or wing. Is there any impact damage on the engine side of the light could it have been smacked by a heacy hand tech whilst carring out your service. Just a thought.

Cheers

Eddie