I am looking at purchasing a CPO 2015 RX350. of the 5 cars that I looked at, 4 needed or had rusted rotors. Is this normal for this car? The service paperwork that I saw stated that the rotors were rusted and unserviceable in need of replacement. I will use this as negotiation and require that the dealer do this work prior to buying the car but wondering if this is something to consider - having to replace rotor's every 30k. Is it the brand that Lexus uses or a weird fluke that all these cars need new rotors? Would this happen if I didn't use Lexus service and specified a specific brand? I am not handy and cannot do it myself. Two different dealerships also...any insight would be great - it just seems weird and concerning to me. Thank you!

 

Yes, that's normal. Rotors are made of steel and any untreated surface will rust in the snowbelt.
My rotors lasted 50K miles and I pitched them when I did the brake pads last fall. That would be 4 years on the dot.
I used OEM rotors and expect the same outcome.

Rotors on my Audi, on the other hand, have appear to been galvanized. They do not suffer from the above effects.
Same applies to many other body parts, which are either treated or are aluminum.
While I may not be too fond of the Lexus to showing signs of rust, it would still be the vehicle I keep long term.

 

Thanks Vlad_a. Is it possible to get different rotors that fit and will last longer? And do many items on the Lexus rust and need replacement? Or, in general is there a lot of upkeep? I have never owned a lexus before and am not too keen on having a ton of maintenence.

 

It may be possible to get aftermarket rotors that more durable, but my personal preference is with OEM, as you know exactly what you get and what to expect.

There's not a whole lot to upkeep a Toyota - it is the most reliable brand out there.
Rotors, brake pads and tires are wear-and-tear items, not much to be done there.
Front calipers need to have its sliding pins lubricated, or they will seize up, resulting in brake pad misalignment and premature wear.
That should be a part of the brake pad replacement procedure anyway.

Now that I've got the above out of the way, it expect to get another 4 years before needing other service.
So, that leaves the oil changes every 7.5-10K miles, tire rotations, and air filters every 20K.

Of course, something unexpected may creep up, but it's usually not something that will leave you stranded in the middle of the road.

There is only major thing that can go wrong with the 350 motor is the timing chain oil leak, which is rare occurrence.
Again, more of an inconvenience than a breakage. Expensive to fix, though.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...over-leak.html

 

Lexus is one of the most maintenance free brands available. I think you will be very pleased. I have two now (SC430 and RX350) and have had two others in the past. As to the rotors. Rotors are not made of steel. They are made of cast iron. I get about 30-40K miles out of my front rotors. I have used both OEM and Centric. Both have lasted about the same and the Centric is cheaper on Amazon. There is no such thing as a galvanized rotor. Never saw or heard of that. There are some coatings for the hub that work well. Centric has a black coating that lasts the life of the rotor.

 

The way to reduce this has to do with where you store the car rather then thinking the rotor will stop the rusting. If you keep your car indoors then this problem will be greatly reduced for you. if all you have is outdoor parking in snow and salted roads , then rust on your rotors is a normal occurrence.

the ecoating on a centric or raybestos will not last the lifetime of the rotor. in a couple of years of service outside it too will rust, but the rotor will still be good

 

To follow up on raytseng's post, it's likely that all the cars the OP viewed had been stored outside on the dealer's lot for some period of time without movement (e.g. test drives). That would naturally lead to rust forming on the rotors. The same thing would happen if you left your car in the driveway and didn't drive it for some extended period of time in wet weather. Assuming the driver drives the car on a regular basis, regardless of where they keep it (inside or outside), the accumulation of rust to the point of requiring rotor replacement is probably never going to occur.

 

My rotors rusted to the point of needing replacement at about 5 years but less than 40,000 miles. In Virginia we have annual safety inspections, after the second year when an inspector said I should replace the front rotors, I did it. I bought the parts and did it myself, but have always replaced my own brakes.
I got Raybestos Professional Grade Rotors that have a coating on the areas that rust. RockAuto had them. I also used Raybestos Element 3 pads, but there are lots of good pad options. So far they have held up well over the last couple years but not much mileage.

 

Rotor wear depends a lot on driver's driving habit. As you know some rides on brake pedal all the time. Poor driving habit. Rust is just surface rust, it does not eat thru the rotor. If a car is sitting for a period of time surface rust will show which will rub off as soon as being driven. What is the worry if the vehicle has Lexus official CPO.
There are all kind of options for after market rotors/pads.

 

I've been following this gen 3 RX forum more closely the past three years since buying a 2014 Toyota Sienna Limited which has many components in common ... engine, transmission, front and rear brakes and even VDIM like on the RX F-Sport. Prior to that, I drove Lexus LS sedans for 24 years and hung out mainly on LS forums. I've owned cars with disc brakes since 1968 so obviously I've been around.

I'm a little confused and concerned about what seems to be very early brake rotor and pad replacement which I hope I don't have to do on my Sienna.

According to the following web site, the gen 3 RX front rotors have an original (nominal) thickness of 28mm and a minimum allowable thickness of 25mm: https://www.stockwiseauto.com/auto-parts/brake-system/drums-and-rotors/disc-brake-rotor?Year=2014&Make=Lexus&Model=RX350 Does this sound correct? I haven't thought to check my rotors to see if the minimum thickness is stamped on them. (By the way, the Toyota part number for the front brake rotors used on the RX, Sienna and Highlander is 43512-0E030 according to a part number cross reference.)

I just went to the garage and used my measuring calipers on the front rotors of the Sienna which is at about 47,500 miles. The front rotor thickness is a hair over 28mm which is apparently the same as when the vehicle rolled out of the factory. There is a bit of surface rust on the rotors but no worse than on any of the other Lexus and Toyota vehicles we've owned in the past or currently have ... or on any Honda, Mercedes, Volvo, VW, etc. that we've owned.

I'm not surprised at there being no measurable wear on the Sienna front discs since the original front rotors of my last Lexus LS were still within a hair of their original thickness when I sold the car at just under 180,000 miles. The front rotors on that LS had been trued up on a lathe twice in 180,000 miles when the pads were replaced which was at about 75,000 miles and 150,000 miles.

I'm guessing that the front brake pads on the Sienna are going to last even longer than on the LS. The Sienna brake pads looked so good when I mounted the summer wheels in March at about 45,000 miles that I didn't bother to measure them.

I've never had to replace brake rotors on any vehicle I've owned although the front discs on a 79 Mercedes (owned since new) were getting close to needing replacing when I parted with that POS at 210,000 miles in 1990 when I bought my first Lexus LS.

So ... I'm curious about what's going on with all this RX brake disc rust and why some gen RX owners are going through brake discs and pads like $#!+ through a goose. Are the people having these problems garaging their RX or parking them outside all the time? Not cleaning the salty slush off the brakes often enough in Winter? There has to be a reason or pattern behind these problems.

 

Much of my front rotor rust was on the ventilation section such that chunks of it were falling off the rotor. The thickness was probably okay, as was the brake pad contact area, but they were worried about it falling apart due to internal weakness from all the rust. The vents probably collect a lot of salt etc and stays damp a long time, facilitating the rust.

 

Our vehicles get a nice salt treatment each winter season, which results in accelerated oxidation of all exposed surfaces.
While rotors may last longer, after 4-5 winter seasons, there are literally rusted bits falling off them, mostly in the vented area, as stated above.
Calipers rust as well (except rear brackets), so do the cylinder portions not covered by the dust boot. It's all part of having 4 seasons.
That's why older cars look so much [better] different down south.

 

"...Sienna front discs since the original front rotors of my last Lexus LS were still within a hair of their original thickness when I sold the car at just under 180,000 miles. The front rotors on that LS had been trued up on a lathe twice in 180,000 miles when the pads were replaced which was at about 75,000 miles and 150,000 miles."

Kansas, I am not going to fault you outright, but will say that your measuring technique, or the devices, are not up to par. If you had a set of rotors which were turned twice, and still measured "within a hair" of their original thickness, something is amiss. When a rotor is turned, all metal that is higher than the thinnest point on the rotor must be removed. Two turnings is typically the maximum number of times any rotor can be turned without exceeding limits. Most rotors that are turned have at least 1/1000 of metal removed to true them. Measured runout often exceeds 2/1000 before turning.

You are surely using a micrometer or calipers for measuring. If you have, or can find, a piece of bar stock used in a precision application, and which has a known dimension, check your tools against that. I had some calipers once that were off by .75 one-thousandths, which is a lot. I now use a 1" piece of solid aluminum alloy to verify accuracy of my instruments.

Just an idea for you...

 

Yep. 3-5thou is the rough cut during disc turning and another 1-2thou on the finishing cut.

 

I suspect the rotors on that LS didn't really need turning but the indie Lexus repair shop I use (Exact Performance, Mission KS) did it anyway because that is just how thorough they are. They might not have knocked any metal at all off the rotors.

My brass measuring calipers are completely accurate but I'm glad you asked. I used a metal metric scientific ruler a few minutes ago to verify that. I've had both the measuring calipers and ruler for over 40 years - "stole" the scientific ruler from my first "boss" in my field in 1976! I'm amazed I didn't lose my measuring calipers at some point since I carried them with me almost every day for over 30 years.

Something else I didn't see mentioned in this thread is minimum acceptable pad thickness. On my Lexus LS sedans, the minimum acceptable pad thickness was only 1 mm per the specifications. Even three or four millimeters of pad thickness can look "scary" to the uninformed but there is no need to replace brake pads (or rotors) until they are worn to the car manufacturer's stated minimum. I've rarely replaced brake pads before wear sensors have kicked in. I've found it to be much more cost effective to replace electronic wear sensors than to do premature brake jobs. My wife's last car (1998 Camry V6) was still on it's original brake pads at 125,000 miles and the front pads still had several millimeters left before they would have been at the minimum. The rear pads were not even half worn at 125,000 miles. I should ask the nephew if he has ever replaced the pads since he's now had her Camry for five years.

IMO, premature brake jobs is one of the biggest scams in the car repair business. I remember a Lexus dealer service writer (Hendrick Lexus, Merriam KS) once trying to goad me into having a brake job done by telling me I was going to put myself and others in danger if I didn't. She obviously didn't know that I had recently inspected my brakes. I asked her to tell me the current thickness of the pads and rotors - she said she didn't know. I asked her if she knew the minimum acceptable thicknesses for the pads and rotors - she said she didn't know.

Service writers are sometimes under great pressure to produce revenue. As much as I sometimes feel sorry for them, I prefer to let them screw others instead of me. I know more than a little about how car dealerships work. The franchised auto dealer industry is essentially paying my retiree health insurance premiums.