Missing Roof Rack - Potential for Water Leak? (2 Viewers)

[SkiCruiser200]

Bought a 2021 Land Cruiser brand new and made the mistake of letting it go this summer Fast forward 6 months, and I picked up a 2019 with 50K miles that has spent its whole life in Southern California via CarMax. Truck was in great shape (especially underneath). Unfortunately, I somehow completely missed that the factory roof rails and crossbars were gone.

CarMax is going to make it right and install an OEM rack at their cost. In the meantime, the bolt holes are exposed to weather here in New England. Can water enter the interior from the mounting holes?

 

[radman]

absolutley, yes. But are you sure they are exposed bolt holes? Have any pictures?

 

[SkiCruiser200]

here are the photos. Some silicone around these yellow nutcert looking things.

 

[radman]

That’s messed up.
Those yellow collars hold the retaining clips in place. If any of them are missing, they’ve likely dropped down into the headliner. Those holes are also directly open to the headliner.
Check your for moisture under your door sills.
Maybe even return the car.

 

[SkiCruiser200]

Yikes!! Thanks for the heads up. I don't know how long it's been like this so am now leaning towards returning it and trying again.

 

[bloc]

That 2019 had an aftermarket rack on it at some point that they removed before putting the vehicle up for sale or trade. Whoever did that and didn't seal the roof is a douche.

I guarantee there's water inside, even if the only time spent wet was at dealer car washes. The weld seams there would act like gutters with those holes dumping plenty of on top of the headliner. With the way our headliner is constructed (water tight in the middle of a panel) you may not know til the electrical gremlins start up.

Depending on how long it's been like that there's a good chance of corrosion in the connectors of the floor harness under the door sill trim too.

 

[radman]

You can search for “door sill moisture” to read about the issues people have had.
Here’s one example
Post in thread 'Electrical Problem'
Electrical Problem - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/electrical-problem.1260038/post-13989622

 

[SkiCruiser200]

Thanks for flagging this. I assume the prior owner took off a different rack and didn’t bother to put back on the OEM one, but I didn’t realize these bolt holes went through to the headliner. The car was shipped from CA to MA via an open transport for two weeks, so god only knows what got in there. What a shame, but it’s going right back under the 30 day return policy.

 

[gasman4u]

Good catch, OP. Solid advice on returning. Agreed the PO was/is/remains/will always be a douche for doing this. What an assh*le. What's a shame is that this rig will be sold shortly and will likely have electrical gremlins starting a few weeks/months later that will be a serious PIA to track down. Too bad this potential solid specimen will be a hot potato in short order.

 

[bloc]

What's a shame is that this rig will be sold shortly and will likely have electrical gremlins starting a few weeks/months later that will be a serious PIA to track down. Too bad this potential solid specimen will be a hot potato in short order.

And all over being too lazy to stick some silicon in there to seal things up. Not that that's a great long-term solution, but it at least gives the buyer a fighting chance.

 

[Sandroad]

Good move checking on here. Too bad Mud doesn’t have a thread in the classifieds for bad VINs.

 

[trudd]

Thanks for flagging this. I assume the prior owner took off a different rack and didn’t bother to put back on the OEM one, but I didn’t realize these bolt holes went through to the headliner. The car was shipped from CA to MA via an open transport for two weeks, so god only knows what got in there. What a shame, but it’s going right back under the 30 day return policy.

Good call and great catch.

 

[nakman]

May be too late here, but I'm not sure I'd be in a panic going back to the dealer tbh. Are you seatbelts wet? Any wetness in the headliner? water marks? If no then shoot if it's a great truck otherwise I'd be inclined to run it. So it did one road trip with the holes exposed, and one carwash? I've seen much worse, on trucks that seem to be doing just fine. What if you asked the dealer to pull the headliner to inspect for damage/dry it out?

 

[SkiCruiser200]

Not too late. I immediately taped over the holes so no more water. There also was silicone around the holes that created a ridge, so I can’t imagine too much got in anyway. I pulled the sill trim myself and it was absolutely bone dry. Similarly, no water inside and headliner etc all seems fine.

If I found another truck I liked for the same price, it’d be a no brainer to avoid any risk but trucks with same year and mileage seem to be now trading 5k higher. I also bought a 5 year CarMax warranty out to 150k miles, which also gives me comfort.

I’m bringing it to my local Toyota dealer that sold a bunch of LCs historically and having them go through it on Wednesday. From there, I’ll make my decision and let folks here know.

I’ve been a long time lurker here with my old truck and want to thank everyone for their input!

 

[nakman]

Awesome. If you need some bolts to shove in there while you sort out what you're doing with a rack shoot me a PM, we could mail you a set.