wscott

Hi,

I have a 2003 GX 470

Just got the car back from the dealer 2 days ago after having the front rotors and calipers replaced, but I have not had a chance to see the car in the light until today. I noticed today that the "new" calipers appear to be rusty. The calipers in the rear which were not replaced do not have any rust.

The dealer service rep reassured me and said the calipers were new and he witnessed them coming out of the box and going on.

What the heck is going on here? Why would brand new calipers look rusty after 2 days of driving?
I'm wondering if they are rebuilt calipers or new? Or is there some other explanation?

Not what I expect from Lexus especially considering the cost of the repair from the dealership.

Please help with your advice.

Thanks

ArmyofOne

Sometimes they rust in the box, but most times the new ones have no coating, and will actually rust the first time condensation forms on them (I.E. on a fall morning). Its entirely normal, your original ones were probably powder-coated or rust treated from the factory, whereas the replacements are not. There are a few reasons for that, one being price, others ranging from they are made of a different metal, to "they were not built in the same factory as your vehicle" (most of the time the latter is the case).

I can reccomend Dulplicolor High Temp or VHT Caliper paint. Its cheap ($10 or so a can) and solves the rust problem for good. Either way, its not really anyone's fault...these kinds of things just happen sometimes. One thing is for sure, any replacement calipers unless you pay top dollar for ones that are powdercoated, are going to do the same thing.

wscott

Thanks for replying, but your explanation does not make sense

I did ask specifically for orginal lexus replacement parts from the dealer. So, they should all look and behave the same as the original parts correct? If the originals were powder coated then the new OEM replacements should be powder coated, and be made with the same metal. Why would the original rear calipers not have any rust on them and the new ones have rust on them after only two days of driving?

They were $198 each I don't think the customer of a lexus service center should have to pay or do the work themselves to paint what should be a brand new part. That does not seem right to me.

Can anybody else please advise?

Should I take it back to the dealer and make a stink about it?

Thanks

ArmyofOne

Ok, Let me see if I can explain this a little better for you. I do sincerely apologize, sometimes I cant even follow my own train of thought. LOL. Lexus probably did NOT powdercoat the caliper's at the factory, its kind of expensive. They may have been painted, either silver or kind of a brass color when new. When your car is made, at the Toyota/Lexus factory, that day in 2003, they were using, say...Nissin (not Nissan, Nissin) calipers, made of steel, milled at a certain grade and temperature. Those caliper's dont rust. They may have (probably did) paint them. It might be the purity in the steel, it might be the alloy it was mixed with, or the temperature it was tempered at. Its really hard tellin' .

Fast forward, to 2011, and whatever company (probably NOT the same one that made the ones that were put on the truck originally, for argument's sake, lets say Denso) made your replacements, probably got the spec's from Lexus, in the form of dimensions and a MINIMUM standard for metal quality. That minimum standard is the absolute lowest standard Lexus will accept in the parts produced to be OEM. Not only that, but they didnt paint them, they left them bare. So while they LOOK the same, they can be the same color, shape, and even part number, they are NOT the same caliper.

These new parts were not produced in a Lexus factory, nor were they destined for the assembly line to begin life on a brand new car. They were made to be OEM replacements, which in theory are as good of quality as the ones you replaced. The rust can come simply from the smallest change in the formula, or one of the pieces of steel/iron/alloy/whatever used to make the calipers that day had the tiniest variance in the impurities level.

All I am saying is, it is normal for exposed metal parts to rust. I would not have put them on if they were rusty in the box, and most techs would not, so we can PROBABLY say they didnt put them on that way. More than likely (you do live in maine), you drove home and either drove through water (like you normally would-again, this is NOT due to something you did) or the condensation the following morning on the calipers caused surface rusting. It is NOT your fault for sure, and is for sure not a saftey issue. That said, there is probably nothing physically wrong with your calipers, they just look bad.


If you could take a picture and post it up, I would be able to confirm my suspicions. Also, if you are not happy, by all means take your truck back to the dealer who did the work and ask what they can do. I cant say I would be too pleased either, were I in your shoes. But just because you bought OEM, doesnt mean they were made by Lexus, it means they were made FOR Lexus. Believe it or not, very few parts on your truck, if any are actually MADE by Lexus. Most are made by Bosch, 3M, Denso, Nissin, etc etc and assembled in a Lexus plant. Even the rod bearings and bolts holding your engine together are made by Clevite or Federal Mogul

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

Excellent explanation! Although I know that is how it is, I've never been able to word it that well!

raytseng

yea, good write up.
It is similar to a situation I was in trying to explaining to a friend why their insurance only paid them the book value of their car at market value.
.
And they were not satisfied with getting new car or buying someone else's used car of the same model. They had an emotional attachment to their specific car wanted their exact replacement.

Somehow in their dream world, they would've liked the insurance company to have a exact duplicate car bought the same day and saved away for them in a warehouse.

InRBigness

Uhmmm, okay? I hope that this is a goole translation issue and not a Thanksgiving day troll expediton.

ArmyofOne

Elaborate please?

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

Let me take a shot at translation...

"if the rusty calipers are not replaced, they will start to make a low sound (perhaps a soft sound), and it will become a high sound (perhaps loud sound), and this will affect how efficient the engine is (perhaps fuel mileage)"

So, the correct response to that is that the rust on the calipers we are talking about is just surface rust and does not affect the performance of the brakes whatsoever... if the rotors were quite rusty, then I could see that, but, any rust that builds up on the part of the rotor that matters, by nature of how they work, is scrubbed off when the brakes are applied...