The Lexus GX is a great vehicle by almost every measure. It won our Best SUV Award for 2024, and in my review of the rig, I rated it at a 9 out of 10. That said, we auto journalists don’t live with these cars every day for months on end; owners do. A few of them report that their new $80,000 rides are melting in the sun—and they have pictures to prove it.
In what might be the strangest twist so far in the ongoing Toyota quality saga, some GX owners are watching their daily drivers’ mirror caps shrivel, wrinkle, and warp. It doesn’t stop there either as the black plastic door trim on at least one vehicle’s B-pillar is wavier than a Florida beach Jeep meet. The owners I spoke with said that they haven’t done anything out of the ordinary, claiming that they park their GX in the same spots they’ve always parked their vehicles with no previous problems to speak of. Still, the photos show something is up.
Paul Yelton shared pictures of his Nori Green truck in the Lexus GX 550 Owners & Enthusiasts group on Facebook. He said in the post that it wasn’t parked near a fire, and in his case, only the driver-side mirror cap is melted. I reached out to Yelton for more details, and he told me his local dealer determined it wasn’t a defect inside the mirror.
“I knew it happened over a four-day period and the truck was parked in my driveway,” Yelton said. “It’s currently at the dealership [and] they’re saying that the heating element in the mirror is not to blame and that everything is working properly so it’s some form of external heat.”
What’s more, because they determined the internal heating element wasn’t the cause, they’re leaving Yelton with the bill to replace it. “They first suggested that perhaps the PPF installer overheated it when he applied the film,” he continued. “Problem is that was done when the vehicle had 100 miles on it and now it has 2,000.”
Yelton lives in Arizona, so the sun gets pretty intense. Even then, he insists it’s never been a problem with any other vehicle he’s owned.
Another GX owner named Mark noted in the original post’s comments that he’s facing something similar, but he lives in Charlotte. Photos of his Overtrail+ model show a slightly less melted driver-side mirror cap, but several other components are heat damaged including his roof rack hardware covers, a body trim piece above the passenger rear-quarter panel, and the piano black door trim pieces on the B-pillar.
I contacted Mark who said, “People come up and ask me, ‘What’s wrong with your GX?'”
Mark told me he’s worked from the same office for 18 years and he’s never had an issue parking a car there before. Just the same, he’s lived in his North Carolina home for quite some time and hasn’t seen anything like this with his 2012 Toyota Tundra. Not even the dealer-provided rental, another Lexus, has shown signs of melting since his GX has been in the shop. Meanwhile, the GX began losing its shape at the end of August after he purchased it in July.
Maybe the most shocking info that Mark shared with me was that one day, when he touched the B-pillar before climbing into the SUV, it was “so hot that it would give you a burn.” Mark claims it was only 54 degrees outside, and the GX had been parked in the driveway all day. “I’ve got on a long sleeve shirt,” he said, adding, “I’ve got a vest on to keep warm.”
Mark says he isn’t angry with anybody; he simply wants a solution so he can park his vehicle outside without worrying. His dealer experience has been positive, fortunately, and he plans to keep the GX so long as this problem is addressed. Mark praised the Lexus for all the same reasons I did when I drove it over the summer: It’s torquey, the suspension is great on and off-road, and it’s just the right size as a four-wheeler.
The Drive reached out to Lexus for comment but hasn’t heard back at the time of publishing. I’ll be sure to update this story with the company’s response.
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