Fern

Last night wife went shopping and in the process of putting groceries in car banged her head on the bottom edge of the tailgate. Seams like performance is even worse with cold temperature.

Up until 4 months ago I had a '93 pathfinder with original lift shocks in the tailgate and it raised much quicker than the Lexus.

Anyone had any success in having these replaced by Lexus under the Lexus Gold extended warranty.

Want to know what to expect before I go to Lexus.
I know the liftgate shocks are relatively cheap to replace aftermarket, but feel Lexus used a deficient product to start with.

Oh! Another thing, whats with the feel of the front struts bottoming out when temperature is cold. Car only has 51000 miles and again I feel that struts are of inferior quality. Anyone have experience with these.

I have tried the wd40 spray into the top of the strut tower in the engine compartment but have found this is only a temporary fix.

Don't get me wrong, I love the truck, but feel that these are weak points that will be problems down the road.

Thanks for hearing me rant,

Fern

Da Hapa

I have the same problem on my 2000 RX with 56K on the odo.

While I also have the Lexus Gold Extended Warranty, I doubt either you or I will have luck having the shocks replaced under said agreement. It's been a while since I read over the paperwork but I'm willing to bet that the shocks on the liftgate would be considered normal wear and tear items (like wiper blades, brakes, and tires) and are excluded from the warranty.

I had planned to look into this at the 60K mark when the truck is back in the dealership.

wantalexus

I have the same problem. 2000RX with 60K. Do you guys know how much the lift shocks cost from Lexus or another source. I haven't checked.

watervice

We have this problem on our 2001 Rx with 37k. Our first one a 1999 with somewhere around 50k worked fine until the day we handed it in. If you got any ideas let me know.

LexRX

I had the same problem with my 2000 RX (37k miles) and took it to the Lexus dealership. They replaced the rear lift struts on the hatch under warranty and now it works great. You will always see a decrease in performance on these gas struts in cold weather, but not to the point where they lift too slowly or at all. In the cold, even 40 degree weather, my door wouldn't even open up.

Fern

Was at the dealer today to have them look at a couple of things.

The tailgate supports, not shocks as I thought they were called are not covered under the Lexus Gold extended warranty.

Lexus considers them a body part, rather than a suspension part.

Even the shocks in the front that seam to bottom out when its cold were not something they wanted to deal with as they indicated NFF (no fault found).

Guess I will be sending Lexus Canada correspondence...

Mechanic said he knows what I'm talking about with the shocks, but even if they replace them, he said the new ones will do the same... Was he trying to tell me even the new part is a peice of crap...?

KYB struts andf tailgate supports, what a peice of crap...

Check out the quote to replace the rear tailgate supports..."$560.00 + tax" CAD
What a scam... especially since they are not available aftermarket...

BMW isn't sounding that expensive afterall...

Cheers,

//Fern

LexRX

Was that a quote on the parts & labor? If so, see how much the two rear supports cost from the dealer and replace them yourself. It doesn't look like a difficult DIY job.

parula

I have noticed slow lift on the rear gate too.

WOW, how can a couple simple small shocks be that much? I replaced the Honda for little over a $hundred as I recall - they gotta be out there for the RX to one would think.

HarrierAWD

My RX300 rear gate is also slow in cold weather.

I always thought only liquid-filled strut does that. Is the rear gate strut liquid or gas?

Fern

Sorry for not providing a breakdown...

The service advisor had to confirm with the service manager on the price because she didn't believe it herself...

She said $250 (each) and 1/2 hour labour for both... CAD

In comparison, 2 years ago I purchased aftermarket tailgate supoorts for the inlaws Chrysler Van that cost $65 CAD/pair and coindicentally had lifetime warranty...

I think that I am going to research tailgate shock/support manufacturers and go directly to them for a replacement.

LexRX

Hmm, wow, that is quite high for some simple lift supports. Have you tried calling other dealers in your area, or perhaps in other areas to see if that price is about the same everywhere? I'm sure if there is a huge difference in price somewhere else, you could have them shipped to you.

You may be able to find one that will fit when searching manufacturers, I hope you do.

MellonC00

Go to parts.com by clicking on this link.

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...=7&catalogid=2

You should order each part for about $129 US.

Also, this is an easy fix you can do yourself. Hope this helps.

parula

Today at ~48F the rear door wouldn't raise all the way without assistance, tks to this thread I will have it fixed under warranty - I was sort of just living with the problem - any guesses whether I get the same grade of parts on the fix or something that will last about 12 years like the ones did on my Honda hatch before I had to replace them?

How are your hood lifts working?

Fern

Was out today and had some time to research part numbers;

The rear tailgate struts on the rx300 are very similar (in dealers diagram) to the ones on the '01 Highlander
Note the difference in part numbers:

Part #'s:
Lexus RX300 (Right side) 68950-49016 (Left side) 68960-49016
Toyota Highlander (Right side) 68950-49025 (Left side) 68960-49025

Price CAD$ Lexus: $500 (both)
Toyota:$400 (both)

First of all the prices for either are downright rediculous..
The question tho is are they really the same part? If so, then is the part number only different because one is for Toyota and the other for Lexus????

If so, WOW does Lexus Canada have another thing coming!

Parts guy at the Toyota dealership did not want to answer, just played stupid by saying his computer just told him thats the part for the Highlander but he could not confirm if it will also fit on Rx.

If the part is infact the same, then it is completely unacceptable that the manufacturing cost doesn't vary but then it is a fact that Lexus thinks they can stick it to their customers...

Folks were not dealing with a cosmetic or quality difference or even a warranty issue, plain and simple they are taking more because they can... This all comes about due to the fact this part is not available aftermarket...

I will sooner pay to have a custom made bracket installed to support an aftermarket strut than give Lexus the satisfaction of knowing they raped me on the part price...

HarrierAWD

It's just a guess. Since the RX's and Highlander's body shapes and rear gates are different, it's possible that the rear gate struts are of different length. Thus different part number. Again this is just my guess.