Alloy Wheel Corrosion

[Ainsley]

Further to test driving some cars at a dealer, The alloys on most of the cars, say 3 - 4 years old are showing some sign of corrosion. The salesman says that all the wheels will be refurbed as necessary, but is this another known fault, and are the alloys of cars under manufacturers guarantee, being replaced as required, by Lexus. A friends Toyota Celica's alloys were terrible, and she had the car from new. my RAV 4's wheels are fine and that car is 8 years old. This seems to be a fault especially with Japanese cars, but it surprises me that a car of Lexus quality should have this problem.

[Duncan Roberts]

Further to test driving some cars at a dealer, The alloys on most of the cars, say 3 - 4 years old are showing some sign of corrosion. The salesman says that all the wheels will be refurbed as necessary, but is this another known fault, and are the alloys of cars under manufacturers guarantee, being replaced as required, by Lexus. A friends Toyota Celica's alloys were terrible, and she had the car from new. my RAV 4's wheels are fine and that car is 8 years old. This seems to be a fault especially with Japanese cars, but it surprises me that a car of Lexus quality should have this problem.

You really should try using the 'Search' function as most 'problems' relating to RX300/400s in Mark 2 format have been covered at length.

This is no exception and again is not uncommon. At one point Lexus did replace wheels although by 08 this was not necessary.

[andy m w]

Further to test driving some cars at a dealer, The alloys on most of the cars, say 3 - 4 years old are showing some sign of corrosion. The salesman says that all the wheels will be refurbed as necessary, but is this another known fault, and are the alloys of cars under manufacturers guarantee, being replaced as required, by Lexus. A friends Toyota Celica's alloys were terrible, and she had the car from new. my RAV 4's wheels are fine and that car is 8 years old. This seems to be a fault especially with Japanese cars, but it surprises me that a car of Lexus quality should have this problem.

well spotted, , IMO most used lexus alloys are well below standard paint finish & generally look shabby well before other manufacturers , lexus should address this known problem

[Ainsley]

Thanks for the info, and the search continues! Ainsley

[tbledsoe]

I bought my RX400h in July 2011; less than 3 years old. It was still under manufacturer's warranty. I pointed out the corrosion on the wheels. I was offered a refurb; could not wait 3-4 days--I did not have a car. Offered wheels from another RX400; accepted, although they were not as bad, but still minor corrosion.

The corrosion got worse. I asked another Lexus dealer what could be done. He approached Lexus UK; Lexus said they would replace 2 wheels--because I was the second owner and it was outside the 3-year manufacturer's warranty. I reapproached the dealer I bought it from; the manager stated that he could not approach Lexus UK at the time of purchase, as I had just bought the vehicle. But, had I asked about the wheels a little later, and before the manufacturer's warranty expired, he would have gone back to Lexus UK, and the wheels would have been replaced. An opinion; I was misinformed at the time of purchase--totally unacceptable, and unprofessional, customer service/relations.

This is still an ongoing, and unresolved issue.