Hey everyone,

I'm looking at getting an '09 RX350 from a dealer. Coming from an older Sequoia (which I LOVED) and I'm excited to join the Lexus fam! This care has a clean carfax, reasonable mileage, fantastic maintenance record, and looks great in interior and exterior... It's from NY so rust is a concern for me. Dealer sent me a video from the underside, I attached a few screenshots. What do you guys think? Is any of this rust a serious concern?

 

Why buy a NY salt damaged vehicle if you don't have to? That rust is not nearly as bad as some I've seen but rust is rust once it starts it doesn't stop.

 

Ha that ain’t bad at all. I bought mine from a coastal region of rough and windy Northern Ireland. I had to get under and brush, scrape and hammerite. Yours is clean as a whistle. Exhausts always look bad. Heat cycle and crap steel.

 

No, not really.

But what is of concern is you have never driven this car or even seen it in person, I assume since you're in Florida and the car is in New York.
I bought my RX "sight unseen," and took a huge risk in doing so. Fortunately, it worked out and I chose a gem (but I paid extra for it).

The Carfax records are a big plus, but you never really know a car until you hear it run and drive it.

While this rust is no big deal, it does raise concerns about other possible issues that might be hidden on an older car. Conversely, if the RX was spotless underneath, it would tell me the car was less likely to have any "surprises" when I bought it.

 

That "rust" is no big deal. The exhaust system is "stainless" steel which will rust on the surface but it won't penetrate through. The rear differential also is just surface rust. The bolts being rusty will be a challenge to a Florida mechanic, but there is nothing there that a bit of heat won't resolve. Rust belt mechanics keep an acetylene torch handy just for this. The key is that the frame rails are spotless.

 

Thanks Vincenze. Once you brushed and put on hammerite, was the sealant from the hammerite enough to prevent (or at least significantly limit) future rusting)?
I'm considering doing that on this one.

 

this car is actually in FL now, but the reason I like this one is in great condition inside and outside with not too too many miles on it. Others I've found are north of 170k miles and sold by owner. Which is fine, but I just can't know quite as much as i do about this one — having the CarFax and a video from underneath.

 

I probably didn’t do it the professional way. I soft wire brushed parts of the axle and sub structure areas that were heavily rusted. Cleaned the areas down to remove the dust. Then got rust preventative sealing hammerite paint. Don’t paint over bolts.

These I sprayed with ACF 50 aviation grade anti corrosion oil. I also liberally dose all rubbers, gaiters and bushes with acf.

This car had a very low mileage and was a good price. But I think it was garaged in the Irish Sea.

 

Really doesn't look to bad......Living on the west coast, I don't have to deal w/ rust. IDK how much they want for it, but I'd open your search radius up.....Some miles also doesn't hurt as well. The engine/drivetrain are pretty reliable vs the comp. Comes down to cost vs mileage. I figured out the options & a few colors that'd work & then placed 150k & looked for a few months....I find one w/ 144k in break water blue w/ more options then I was looking for.