I'm fairly certain Lexus sells reman axles, not factory new.

 

Well what's considered OEM then? Honest question.

 

OE, original equipment to me means the exact replacement. Identical, or possibly improved over the production run. Most parts you buy from Lexus fit the above. If you buy springs, struts, control arms etc. from Lexus they are the exactly the same part that was on your car when you bought it. Some parts are remanufactured, for example if you try and buy an alternator for an ES250, Lexus might be able to get you one but it will be a reman by Denso. This could mean they made some new ones in one of their plants (the ones I've seen are like this) or possibly a rebuild. The axles you get from Lexus are remanufactured, they are not the same part that came with the car. In fact if you look up the part number in the description it says reman. That doesn't necessarily make it a bad part, but at the same time it is not what your car came with. Someone out there probably knows who is doing the remans for Lexus.

BTW, if Lexus is charging a core for the axle then you know they are not the same part that came with your car, they are getting them rebuilt.