dcdyd

Here is the story. My 08 was built sometime in Nov 2007 and 72 month paint warranty period will soon end.

Couple days ago when I was washing my car, I found rust around the passenger side rear wheel fender. See below pictures.



and



I went to Lexus dealer for checking whether it is under paint warranty and was told that there is rubber liner missing which is the cause of the rust. So the condition is unwarrantable.

Below picture shows what the service reps said on the driver side rear wheel.



Today I went to a body shop for an estimate for repair and the body shop guy called Lexus dealer about the rubber liner which he wants to put it on after the repair. However the parts guy in the Lexus dealer told the body shop guy that they can't find the part# for the rubber liner and they don't know whether the rubber liner was supposed to be there or not.

I got really confused and so I would like the member here to take a look at your 07/08/09 or even 04/05/06 to see whether the rubber liner is there or not.

Appreciate your help and any comment is welcome.

Rainbird

These two photos are of the driver side rear wheel well on my 2007. The passenger rear is the same. The plastic liner you see in the rear area of the well only goes up to about the one o'clock position. Everything else in the well is simply a sprayed on rubberized material.

RXPhil

No rubber on mine

tennman117

My 06 400h has it under all four wells.

dcdyd

Thanks for everyone who provided info so far. Looks to me that the rubber liner is not used as standard for all models. That makes it more confusion as what is the purpose.

I would like to see more answers from 08 owners.

dcdyd

That is because from one o'clock position to five o'clock position, the material is plastic from the bumper, right? So there is no need for preventing rust.

Rainbird

No, it's a separate piece from the bumper. I think it acts more as a stone or road hazard shield. Did you buy this vehicle new? In other words did the car come stock like that?

Rainbird

One more thing, I live on the central coast of California, so we don't have rust or road salt issues. Maybe a dealer or someone added this rubber lining to protect against rust or worse yet cover it up.

dcdyd

I brought it used 3 years ago and I didn't notice the rust til recently.

dcdyd

If the rubber lining is not from manufacture the paint should be within 72 month warranty. So I really would like to know whether this should be there or not.

jgr7

iTrader: (1)

I have an 08 and no rubber on mine, bought mine new also.

dcdyd

Thank you for the information.

DavidTB

I have an 08, manufactored 10/07 in Canada. No rubber liner around fender lip. Just the plastic behind the wheel inside the wheel well.

dcdyd

So the paint surface which is horizontal to the wheel (thus horizontal to the ground and is about half inch wide above the tire) is not protected by anything?

BY the way I went to dealer yesterday again and inspected all 07-09 models on the used car lots. What I found out is that there are rubberized materials on the surface of the fender painting area of the rear wheels which is just like what I showed in the 3rd picture. This is for protecting the paint area to be hit by small objects thrown from the tire.

A lesson from this, if you don;t have this rubberized material, I would think that you can use silicon material (There is clear in color) applied in the area to protect the paint.

Since there are members who reports that there is no such materials on the fender it is possible that this is dealer add-on. If this is true, would it be possible that Lexus should cover the rust repair? Any comment would be appreciated. I will need to talk to Lexus next week.

I would like more 08 owner to respond. Thank you.

RX330inFL

Unlikely this would be covered. What you will more than likely be told is that you did not tend to the paint chips in an appropriate time and manner to prevent such from happening. That is your responsibility.

Corrosion warranties are for when rust happens under the paint when there is no indication the paint surface has been compromised.

http://www.lexus.com/warranty