Whitestrok

The paint is almost completly peeled off my rear roof rack. It's obviously not prepped properly as the front rack is perfect. I have 94K on 2001 RX-300 and the dealer said i'm out of Warranty 48mo./50K. He said rack is an accessory and not covered under Corrosion Perforation Warranty(only covers rust-through). If you have any paint issues make sure you have them taken care of before 48mo/50K expires.

NeverSatisfied

You gotta keep those puppies waxed, just like the windshield wiper arms. Zymol baby!

mhc0725

Yeah, that really sucks. My rear rack went too, but at around 50K. All I did was finely sand down the edges where the paint is peeling, then prime and paint with a semi gloss black paint (I used matte, but it's too flat relative to the original finish). It's been working fine for me since and I have 68K now. Weird thing is, I can see if it would peel due to use, but I've never used my roof racks. Sucks.

Anyway, good luck with doing it yourself, or getting it replaced.

parula

Waxing the roof today I too noticed a LOT of the black paint on the inside base of both of my car's roof rack tracks is peeling, flaking off. The paint seems very thin and leafy. This is the black paint that seems to, or did, cover the entire rack but about 30-40% of the paint inside the tracks is pealing after just 3.5 years and this is garaged baby! None of the paint on the ouside of the rack is peeling which seems odd the way the inside of the track looks.

The pic attached shows the peeling near the bolts on the left rack, the right rack is a lot worse with the peeling even away from the bolts.

Hopefully this is covered under warranty, would you suggest taking her in now for it or wait until next oil change that is at the end of my b2b 4-year warranty - which'll hopefully cover it. I can't see how some wax would help this, the paint is obviouly failing somehow to me at least.

Will waxing the actual racks themselves help those? I usually skip the racks themselves but it sounds like they need wax too?

HarrierAWD

Thanks for letting us know. It could be really rough car wash. Try washing your RX elsewhere.

My roof rack looks fine. Never waxed it.

miniround

you want a pair...i took my cross bars up because i have that sick spoiler on there, and wanted to make my car look a little more sporty being an 18 year old

bob2200

I took the crossbars off my RX300 immediately after purchase (no spoiler) and I'm a senior citizen! I think it makes the RX look more distinguished.

miniround

hahahahahaha...and everytime i look at one of those other RX's that has that ugly looking almost visor-like piece of fiber glass on the back of their truck I say "haha, you wish you had a spoiler like me".

miniround

I can tell you why your racks are peeling. There are many different explanations, but the first obvious, most obvious one, is as follows:

1. The roof racks are made out of a type of metal...probably aluminum. Now, with them sitting ontop of the roof of your car, they are exposed to all kinds of wear and tear, especially corrosion. I noticed that in that picture up there that the peeling paint is near a bolt...that's called corrosion. The paint is peeling because moisture gets held up in the rack (especially in NJ) and may seep underneath the bolt causing it to make the metal expand and contract. Think of your racks as the pieces at the edges of overpass bridges where there are signs posting "Bridge may freeze..." All they do is attract moisture and then expand and contract due to the elements, which in turn, completely ruins the look of your roof racks.

Now, with all that being said, I would have to say that waxing your roof racks is a good idea, but if you just wax over cracks, it's not going to help much. Waxing over a new rack is good, but an older, more exposed rack isn't going to turn back time . Another suggestion is to not hose off your roof when you wash the rest of the car. If you go to a car wash, and then complain that your roof racks are peeling, don't even talk to me, haha...DUH! But if you love your RX like I'm sure many of us do, and you wash it daily, I would just say that you should not hose off your roof or even touch it with shampoo at all. I would open the doors, step up, grab some paper towels and a little bucket of water, and just gently rub off dirt on your roof, without power-washing the hell out of the roof racks. Then, after you've taken good care of your roof, just use a little Fantastik and get the scuff marks off of the door sills!

If you've made it this far, please, stop reading and go to sleep

enjoy,

ajk

Tammy

Why not remove the racks unless needed. Using packing tape, remove, reassemble and tape up all the pieces. Wrap and store in packing paper.

Without the racks, the RX looks better, (in my opinion) and has less wind noise when running with the roof open.

An added plus is that the car cover goes on and off easier.

Lexmex

Also removing the roof racks will save gas (aerodynamics and weight).

miniround

i second lexmex...