2004 LEXUS GX Complaints

MY 2004 LEXUS GX470 IS GARAGE KEPT AND THE DASH HAS SEVERAL CRACKS. ONE AROUND THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AND ONE ABOVE THE AIR CONDITIONING VENTS AND ONE THE PASSENGER SIDE. I KEEP MY DASH CONDITIONED AND MY CAR IS VERY WELL MAINTAINED. DESPITE MY EFFORTS THE CRACKS CONTINUE TO GET WORSE. THIS STARTED A FEW YEARS AGO AND CONTINUES TO PROGRESS. I AM AFRAID THAT WILL EFFECT THE INTEGRITY OF THE AIRBAGS SHOULD THEY DEPLOY.

AT START UP THE REAR HEIGHT GOES UP AND STAYS UP. TOOK IT TO THE SHOP AND THEY MANUALLY BLED THE AIR. SAID SENSOR GO OUT ALL THE TIME AND COST A LOT TO REPLACE. CURRENTLY STAYING LEVEL BUT RIDES A LITTLE TIGHT. DEFINITELY DON'T WANT TO PAY $3000 FOR A FIX.

WHEN STOPPING OR DECELERATING GET A CLUNKING NOISE IN REAR OF VEHICLE. DEALER IDENTIFIED DRIVESHAFT NEEDED REPLACEMENT. *TR

VEHICLE HAD BEEN PARKED ALL NIGHT, PUT KEY IN IGNITION TURNED KEY TO 'ON' PASSENGER SIDE CURTAIN AIR BAG DEPLOYED. VEHICLE WAS NOT RUNNING AND WAS NOT MOVING, SHIFT WAS IN "PARK". *TR

MY VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED FROM A LOCAL LEXUS DEALERSHIP IN JANUARY 2008 AND SINCE THEN HAS BEEN GARAGED DURING THE DAY AT MY OFFICE AND GARAGED OVERNIGHT IN MY BUILDING'S ENCLOSED PARKING STRUCTURE. THE VEHICLE RARELY SAT IN THE SUN FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME, BUT IN NOVEMBER 2012, CRACKS ON THE PASSENGER SIDE DASH BEGAN APPEARING. THEY WERE RAZOR THIN AND BY THE END OF 2013, THE ENTIRE PASSENGER SIDE DASH WAS COVERED IN CRACKS, DIRECTLY ABOVE THE AIR BAG. THE LEXUS DEALERSHIP EXPLAINED THAT SINCE THE VEHICLE WAS OUT OF WARRANTY AND THERE WAS NO OPEN RECALL, ANY REPAIR WOULD BE AT MY EXPENSE, WHICH WOULD BE APPROXIMATELY $2,500. I SEARCHED MULTIPLE ONLINE FORUMS (CLUBLEXUS.COM, LEXUSOWNERSCLUB.COM) AND THIS SAME PREMATURE CRACKING OF THE GX470 DASH WAS BEING EXPERIENCED BY HUNDREDS OF OWNERS. I ALSO OWN A LEXUS LS430 AND I HAVE TREATED IT EXACTLY LIKE MY GX470, BUT THANKFULLY THE LS HAS NOT EXHIBITED ANY DASH CRACKING. I FEEL THAT THE GX470 DASH CRACKING ISSUE IS A SAFETY RISK, SINCE THE INTEGRITY OF THE DASH IS BEING COMPROMISED AND IT MAY NEGATIVELY EFFECT THE FUNCTIONING OF THE VEHICLE AIR BAGS. I FEEL THAT THIS PROBLEM IS DUE TO POOR QUALITY MATERIALS AND THAT LEXUS SHOULD PROVIDE A REPLACEMENT AT NO COST TO THE VEHICLE OWNER. *TR

1. MY DASH BOARD HAS CRACKED, I TOOK IT TO WOODFIELD LEXUS IN CHICAGO, THEY DID SOME PATCH WORK, BUT NOW MORE CRACKS HAVE APPEARED AND I FEEL IT MAY INTERFERE WITH AIRBAGS. HTTP://WWW.CLUBLEXUS.COM/FORUMS/GX-FIRST-GENERATION/603916-MY-DASHBOARD-IS-CRACKING.HTML BY GOING THOUGH THE FORUMS, IT SEEMS COST OF REPLACING 1200 TO 3000 DOLLARS IS A LOT OF MONEY FOR THE PART WHICH SHOULD NOT CRACK IN THE FIRST PLACE. OBVIOUSLY IT IS DEFECTIVE MATERIAL, LEXUS HAS BEEN USING TO MAKE DASHBOARDS 2. CHROME PLATING ON MY WHEELS IS COMING OFF BADLY. *TR

WE FIRST NOTICED WHAT LOOKED LIKE TINY BUBBLES UNDER THE DASH AND THE RAISED AREAS STARTED TO SHOW TINY SPLITS AND SINCE THEN HAS CONTINUED TO BUBBLE, SPLIT AND CRACK. THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF SPLITTING AROUND THE OUTLINE OF THE GAUGES, ACROSS THE TOP OF THE DASH, DOWN THE SIDES AND THEY CONTINUE TO GROW IN SIZE AND INTO OTHER AREAS. IN 2010 WROTE YOUR HEADQUARTERS AND AFTER A FEW MONTHS RECEIVED A CALL FROM ONE OF YOUR REPRESENTATIVES. HE ASKED SEVERAL QUESTIONS AND I TOLD HIM THE CAR HAD BEEN GARAGED SINCE WE BOUGHT IT IN 2006 FROM A LEXUS DEALER IN CLEARWATER. HE GAVE ME THE USUAL QUESTION AND ANSWER INVESTIGATION AND SAID HE COULD DO NOTHING. FINALLY, HE SAID SINCE I HAD NOT HAD EVERY OIL CHANGE AND REPAIR DONE AT A LEXUS DEALER AND THE WARRANTY HAD EXPIRED I WAS NOT ENTITLED TO ANYTHING AND I SHOULD HAVE EXTENDED THE WARRANTY. I FELT THE LEXUS I OWNED SHOULD NOT HAVE A DASH THAT WAS DETERIORATING AFTER THIS SHORT PERIOD OF OWNERSHIP AND IT HAD TO BE A DEFECT. YOUR REPRESENTATIVE OFFERED FOR LEXUS TO PAY FOR ONE-HALF THE COST OF THE DASH REPLACEMENT, BUT I FELT THAT THE DASH WAS DEFECTIVE AND THERE WAS NO REASON FOR ME TO PAY TO HAVE ANY PART OF THE REPLACEMENT. I FEEL THE ONLY REASON THE DASH COULD BE SPLITTING IS THE MATERIAL IT WAS FORMED WITH OR WHATEVER PROCESS WAS USED. I REALIZE AS OF THIS YEAR THE CAR IS TEN YEARS OLD, BUT THIS HAS BEEN ON ONGOING PROBLEM NOT A NEW ONE AND IT HAS NOT BEEN RESOLVED. I HAVE HAD FEW PROBLEMS WITH THE LEXUS AND ONLY IN THE LAST FEW YEARS HAS IT NEEDED ANY EXTENSIVE REPAIRS. AFTER CHECKING PRICES AT DIFFERENT DEALERSHIPS I DID USE THE LEXUS DEALERSHIP, BECAUSE THEY WERE VERY CLOSE IN PRICE TO THE OTHER ESTIMATES THAT I HAD GOTTEN AND SINCE THEIR REPAIRMEN WERE TRAINED AND UPDATED ON LEXUS REPAIRS I RESPECTED AND APPRECIATED THEIR KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE. *TR

THERE IS A HUGE CRACK IN THE DASH THAT HAS BEEN REPORTED BY MANY GX DRIVERS AND IS OBVIOUSLY A FAULT IN LEXUS' MANUFACTURING. *TR

THE DASH IS CRACKING ALL OVER THE PLACE(BETWEEN 20-30 PACES). THE MOST CRACKING HAS OCCURRED IN FRONT OF AND AROUND THE PASSENGERS AIRBAG. THIS IS PARTICULARLY CONCERNING BECAUSE I FEAR IT THE AIRBAG NEEDED TO DEPLOY, IT WOULD NOT PROPERLY DO SO, AND ALSO THAT IT MAY BE EXTRA DANGEROUS IF THE CRACKED PIECES OF THE DASH GO FLYING IN ALL DIRECTIONS UPON AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT. THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF SUCH CONDITIONS REPORTED THROUGHOUT THE US HERE: HTTP://WWW.CLUBLEXUS.COM/FORUMS/GX-FIRST-GENERATION/427349-CRACKED-DASHBOARD.HTML IT DOESN'T SEEM TO MATTER IF THE VEHICLE WAS GARAGE KEPT, OR PARKED IN THE SUN. ALSO CLIMATE TEMPERATURE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE A FACTOR. THIS CONDITION IS BEING REPORTS ALL OVER THE US. *TR

NUMEROUS CRACKS HAVE APPEARED ALL OVER THE DASHBOARD, INCLUDING OVER THE PASSENGER AIRBAG. *TR