Hello everyone! I'm new here, but not new to Toyota /Lexus products as we've previously owned a 2001 ES300, 2005 RX330, 2006 Corolla, 2007 Camry, 2010 Camry, 2011 Camry Hybrid, 2011 RX350, and currently a 2018 RX350. Sorry for waiting so long to join the site, lol!

We purchased the 2018 RX350 used with about 30k miles on it. It was in excellent shape, but I never noticed until a recent car wash that someone had used lots of touch up paint on the wheel well flare/molding on the front and rear passenger side to cover up some scratches.

So I ordered some new replacements and plan to put them on my self. I'm pretty mechanical and it looks like it may be an easy replacement, but I want to be sure before I start popping off clips to remove them.

Has anyone replaced the wheel well flare/molding before? If so, is it really a simple replacement? Can someone post removal instructions?

Thanks for your help!

 

Hello 350ex. Came across this short video regarding removing RX Wheel well mouldings. I need to do this as well. Please let us know how you make out.

 

Thank you sooo much! This is absolutely what I needed! It does look fairly easy thank God! I'm still waiting for delivery and will post pics when I put the new flares on. Thanks again!

 

Done with the front! Literally took 10 minutes without taking the wheel off. We have a base model without mudflaps, so I didn't need to remove any screws. There are only 4 clips I removed with a small clip removal tool to be sure I didn't break them. Very easy at least for the front. I ordered the rear as well and still waiting for delivery.

2018 RX350 base flare/arch molding replacement

 

I need to replace one of mine. Did you just get it from the dealer? Cost?

 

​​​​​​I got the front right/passenger from Parts Geek for $69.98 and the quality looked no different than the original I pulled off the vehicle. https://www.partsgeek.com/mmparts/wh...xus/rx350.html
If you have to have from a dealership, Rallye Lexus is a great location that will ship parts and I've used them several times for our past Lexus vehicles as well. Here is the link to the front right/passenger flare, it's $96.86 on there: https://parts.rallyelexus.com/p/6682...56010E080.html I got my rears from Rallye Lexus only because they didn't have them on Parts Geek. The rear comes in two separate parts. One is on the quarter panel and the other is on the door: Rear right/passenger quarter panel:https://parts.rallyelexus.com/p/Lexu...56050E010.html Rear right/passenger door:https://parts.rallyelexus.com/p/6682...50770E030.html

I don't know what the part numbers are for the left/driver's side. Only my passenger side flares/arches were oddly touched up with black paint when we bought the vehicle used.
​​​​​​​

 

Thank you for the update.

 

No problem! Thanks again for finding the clip!

 

Thank you!

 

The right/passenger rear door and quarter panel arch/flare was delivered today and I replaced the old ones immediately. There are 2 plastic clips and an allen bolt that need to be removed to pop off the rear quarter panel as pictured. Regardless of how cautious I tried to be removing the plastic clips, they still broke lol. So I picked up a 3 pack of Toyota splash clips from AutoZone that worked perfectly.

The rear door arch has one hex bolt behind the small flap at the bottom of the inside of the door. Without removing all the other door modeling, I was able to cautiously bend the flap back enough without breaking it to remove the bolt. But I still broke the small piece off the old flare that was held on by the bolt as I pulled up and out to remove it. It's a really thin piece of plastic on the arch that the bolt goes through, so be very careful when installing the new one.

Overall, very easy installation. Just be careful with these plastic parts. I'm surprised Lexus used these on the vehicle. But at least these replacement arches/flares are reasonably priced considering I just paid about $70 for a pair OE wiper blades from Auto Zone, lol.

Rear right/passenger quarter panel arch clips.

 

Rear right/passenger Allen arch Allen bolt




New rear right/passenger quarters panel arch installed

 

Rear right/passenger door arch hex bolt location










New rear right/ passenger door arch installed, old one on the ground.

 

New rear right/passenger door arch installed.

 

Thank you for pictures and detailed instructions...better than video. Much appreciated.

 

LoL, I was so excited to get the parts and install them that I didn't think of taking pics until after the fact. I'm a bit old school and not used to doing videos, lol. I would have been too nervous to even try if it weren't for the original video you posted. Thanks again!