jaw2009

Would this be covered on warranty or, would I be out of luck? The car has 9900 miles on it, Drivers side front is broken in 3 places and the rear in one place. It's hard looking for replacement brackets for one side (I am referring to the stamped? metal under the plastic cover. I did see a whole unit used for $600 + on ebay, but would prefer to not have to buy that!

Thanks for your time.

mcomer

How did it break? Could it be worth getting you insurance to cover it? What deductable
do you have on Collision? If you are to pay out of pocket consider a Auto Recycling Center
(used to be called Junk Yards...) for the parts.

jaw2009

I have no idea how it broke, there is a mark on the rod that connects the front and rear mounts, but on the other side of the car the entire assembly seems to be pristine - new.

I bought the car used, not certified as it only had about 8500 miles on it. I never noticed any oddities about the luggage rack - until Monday, when I closed the door and the rod disconnected. A quick youtube to see how to remove and I discovered the actual breaks. I epoxied and reassembled best I could - it looks better now and the rod won't fly off - but it's clearly not right. The front mount was in 3 parts with additional cracking near the bolt mounting holes.

Were I to guess I would say something fell on it - on the rod part which broke the spot where the screws connect the rod to the mount, how the mount itself broke - I can't even venture a guess - but here's one over torqued the mount or something?

Clutchless

They probably overloaded it with too much stuff. I think the weight limit is only 100 or 150 pounds.

jaw2009

Thanks - yes I am sure it's something like that, but it's only on one side the other side seems to be pristine as if it's new or maybe had been replaced. This is another reason I feel like something is wrong (that no one is mentioning - the dealer I mean).

Clutchless

I think you may be reading too much into something that may be as as simple as they overloaded it on one side and broke the rack. Maybe one of those Thule things that sits on one side or an overloaded kayak. The owner probably hid it from the dealer when they sold/traded it in. If the dealer knew, they lied to you, but they probably never noticed it. I would go back to them, there may be a 30 or 90 day warranty if they are a reputable dealer, especially if it is the used car lot of a new car dealer. Where or Who did you buy it from.

jaw2009

Local Infiniti dealer (who also has a Lexus dealer in their 'stable'). They have been great - but the seller has been less than forthcoming since I first mentioned this to him. I need to send another email

You are I am confident correct about one side (or however it may have happened). I have not used roof racks too frequently and not at all in years. When I did it was roof top carrier that attached to the cross bars so the weight was distributed equally. This one has not cross bars nor any marks suggesting it ever had them - and that's another reason that I am curious mostly - but I do need to bring my kid's stuff home from college in a few months and may need that roof space then - want to be ready.

Thanks

Clutchless

Oh. I had assumed it had cross bars. This may change my theory as you need cross bars to carry most things on a roof rack. Without them it would have to be large enough to go across to rest on both side rails. Maybe that is what they did and it was heavier on one side, or they tied it down to tight on one side which damaged it.

jaw2009

The dealer is having the service department call me to resolve. Took three emails and now waiting to hear from service manager, but, progress.

lexusrus

Or the garage door came down and hit it?

Clutchless

Great thought! I am liking the garage door theory.

jaw2009

So - wanted to touch base on this. At first (I think after they looked up the cost) the dealer balked at the replacement (it was about $600 with labor). I sent them an email indicating that it was clearly broken when purchased, over looked but that I had notified the salesman about 10 days after purchase .... anyway, they then agreed to replace it.

I had a dealer car for about 4 days (it happened that I dropped it off on a Saturday before the Presidents day). The QX60 - was great for power and size, mpg was better than expected, but it was very noisy and the ride was not overly comfortable - and despite our now owning 2 Lexus I still miss my M35x more than any car I have owned.

So, back to the RX, they did replace the entire assembly (drivers side) and all is good, there had been a sporadic rattle that I noticed off and on, from the day we brought it home - it's gone - I even rode over some of the same less than perfect roads where the rattle would be louder to verity. It must have come from the roof rack - go figure.

Anyway, all good, still wish I got better in town mpg but I am averaging about 20-21 now overall - with most driving during rush hour or around home. It does improve considerably when I am doing hwy only driving.

Thanks