New 2017 GX460 Owner... May have stepped in it

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Clearwater
First time poster though my son has been a long time reader.

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Long story short, didn't get a good look at the rust until post deal (100%) on me. there is general surface rust on the underside of the car; I assume typical FL car stuff. However, some significant rust at the front. I didn't get a picture, but the very front of the frame (???) where it connect to the bumper is pretty rusty too.

Open to feedback on next steps.
 
Year, mileage, region of US?

Clearwater Florida?

VIN show where this rig has been in US?

Sorry, should have included all that. I am actually accustomed to old cars...just different models. 2017, 103k miles, FL Car.

They gave me an underbody scan saying it was "good".
 
  • Haha
Reactions: r2m
Not great, but beyond being much more difficult to wrench on, I doubt you are in imminent danger of a structural failure. In 5 more years though?
 
Sorry, should have included all that. I am actually accustomed to old cars...just different models. 2017, 103k miles, FL Car.

They gave me an underbody scan saying it was "good".
Please excuse my "laughing" emoji to your post, but I would NOT consider that undercarriage to be good. Maybe a 5 of 10?
 
That's definitely not typical road salt rust, where the rear end (rear axle area) rusts out first. Beach rust I guess.

The transmission crossmember appears to be structurally compromised. It has bubbles forming, which means you have layers of rust and the metal has lost some portion of it's cross-section to rust. The area in front of the passenger side front body mount also looks pretty bad (the AC drip line discharges in that area), as does the frame where the front bump stops contact it. The rust is super-bubbly in both of those spots.

If there is someway that GX can be unloaded/returned, I'd go that route. Probably depends on your state laws....here in MO they are sold "as-is" and you'd have limited recourse unless the seller was downright fraudulent, but I'm not sure if Florida has better buyer protections.

If you can't unload it I'd inspect it in more detail, including the inside of the frame (with an inspection camera) and see how bad it is, especially where the AC drip line discharges (the frame can rust from the inside out there). Maybe it's just the outside (again, beach rust that I'm not used to) and maybe it is salvageable.
 
Unloading it is not an option, unfortunately

I brought it to Lexus of Clearwater and they didn’t seem to be too worried about it from their review

We’ll clean it up and see how many years when we get out of it!

For reference if it goes really bad, what symptoms should I be looking for?
 
If you bought that recently from an actual Lexus dealer, IMO they need to make it right. If the frame is structurally compromised like it appears in your photos, especially in front of the passenger front body mount, it's not a vehicle they should have sold (and may be worthy of a complaint to Lexus corporate).
 
This would be considered a safety issue. They sold a vehicle with structural damage.
I’d contact the GM of that dealer and get corporate involved asap.
 
You're both assuming he bought it from a Lexus dealer. I doubt that's the case.

If he bought it from a used car lot or private party, his options are pretty limited.
 
You're both assuming he bought it from a Lexus dealer. I doubt that's the case.

If he bought it from a used car lot or private party, his options are pretty limited.
You are correct, I mis-read "brought" as "bought".
 
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