I have the same issue with my 2013 GX-460. I was planning to buy back after lease but now I will leaved after lease and go with some other vehicle. I had many cars Nissan, Hundayi, Honda from day one brand new and never had any rust after even 4 years.

 

I shimmied under the back of our "new" GX 460 to install a Curt trailer hitch and was really surprised by how much rust I saw. This is a Certified Pre-Owned 2013 truck with 17,000 miles on the odometer that we purchased 2 weeks ago. According to the CarFax, the previous owner lived in the Midwest (so do we) and owned it for about 15 months, so the worst case scenario is that it has survived 2 winters outside.
Am I unreasonable in thinking that the undercarriage of a 2yr old Luxury SUV should be rust free? Does this just come with the territory with a heavy truck that has a steel frame?
I'm wondering if I should bring this back to the dealer or think about some sort of protection/coating to keep it from worsening. The attached pics were taken at night with a flashlight and my iPhone (sorry for the quality), but the rust is clearly visible.
Any GX owner input would be appreciated.
Thank you!

 

Based on where you live pretty normal. You need to get it up on a rack and treat all that rust and then get a recommended rust preventative treatment every year. The crap they use now on the roads where you live is like salt on steroids!

 

People keep talking about how a high priced luxury vehicle shouldn't rust like that so soon, do people really think they will use a different paint on an undercarriage, different steel? It's due to how and where the vehicle was driven, not the cost of the vehicle. One of my company cars is a 2012 S550, the guy who drives it spends a lot of time at the Jersey shore and lives in northern NJ, between the salt air in the summer and salt on the roads in the winter the undercarridge looks a lot worse than the pictures on this thread. The S550 is a $130k vehicle.

 

Maybe the GX is the only vehicle I've owned that has a high enough back end for me to crawl under and take a good look. I also own a '13 Volvo XC60 with nearly the same mileage... I guess I should take a peek under it to compare the two.

 

So I looked underneath My Volvo XC60 that is the same model year as my GX and they are both within 500 miles of 17k on the odometer. Guess what? There isn't a speck of rust under my Volvo and it's been through 2 Chicago winters and never seen the inside of a garage. The underside of my Volvo looks brand new. Conversely, If someone would have showed me a picture of my GX's underbelly last week and told me it was a '95 SR5, I would have believed them. So yes, Eppieguy, I do expect the underside of the $55k Japanese SUV to deteriorate at roughly the same or better rate than a $45k Swedish one. I've found numerous threads online about very successful aftermarket rustproofing the sealing treatments for the underside of GX460s and 4Runners. The fact that there is so much talk about rust and home-brew remedies indicates that there is a known issue with the factory coatings. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the manufacturer to seal or coat the car's chassis correctly in the first place at this price point.

 

imho the price/make/model of the vehicle is immaterial. How could they sell something that rusts out so badly so soon. Does lexus expect this truck to only be a grocery getter in sunny california?

I digress does anyone know of a rust proofing/treatment service here in central florida? (don't want to make a new thread) TIA

 

We'll be picking up our new 2015 GX this week. Here in Northeast OH there's a ton of salt on the roads. The dealer basically told us these things don't rust, but I want to be sure we protect our investment.

We'll be driving this thing till it dies. Does anyone have a recommendation on rustproofing or undercoating? Something like Ziebart or Line-x or do these things really don't rust?

 

there is a rust thread right on the first page... did you look at it?

 

Welcome to Club Lexus pyroh. Here is the thread Quadro mentioned. It's long but has good info. Congrats on the new wheels!
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-...-gx-460-a.html

 

Thanks, I address any further questions in the original thread.

Mods can close/delete this thread.

 

spray this all over underneath where there is metal, axle, frame, bolts, springs, struts and you'll be fine. dont get it on the brake discs or pad. you'll need a 12 spray cans.

 

Oh my goats. How are people still freaking out about this.

GX's aren't "rusting through". If they were, there'd be serious safety/performance issues and recalls would have been issued.

I live below the Mason-Dixon, but I know there are many GXs sold in snowy climes, not to mention Prados all over the world.

It's a cosmetic issue. If it bothers you so much, then paint over it until you can sleep at night. But there aren't any actual performance/safety issues here.

 

Well said, SecPole14!

Modern steels are either designed not to rust (e.g., stainless steel) or they are designed to rust in such a way as to stop further corrosion. Look at any modern exposed steel structure such as a bridge ... if it isn't painted it is a uniform brown color. That's the steel forming a protective layer of iron oxide to halt further oxidation.

It seems unreasonable to expect the exposed steel parts of our vehicles to be made of stainless steel or to require painting. The former is prohibitive due to cost and the later is ineffective ... every chip would be a new corrosion site ... especially on the underside of our vehicles that are exposed to salt spray, water and stones. Whatever steel Lexus uses seems a good solution ... it rusts "to a standstill" so that no more corrosion occurs.
Regards,

SaniDel

 

Get a crawler and a bottle of naval jelly and safety glasses and roll around touching it up every spring