Land Cruiser and GX melting mirrors and other plastics

My buddy just sent me this today. This would be awfu!!

https://www.hotcars.com/toyota-land-cruiser-lexus-gx-melting/

 

Did they make these out of wax? WTF.

 

Maybe they used cheap materials.
I have 2nd hand experience where my friends Mazda got a new dashboard under warranty due to damage from the sun.

 

They are definitely cheap no doubt about that on a premium level vehicle whether it’s the LC or GX that is ashame for the prices asked on these vehicles. Don’t they test these things in Arizona anyway?

 

Geez. What the hell is going on with Toyota?

 

Plastics have survived on vehicles for decades without issue. How could they possibly screw this up? Probably some cost cutting idea to save pennies per piece.

 

I saw it on reddit the other day and didn't believe it. This is crazy.

 

Did Toyota forget how to make these from two years ago?



*FJ was sold in the UAE (where it's usually warm) up to 2023.

 

Reminds me of when Camry dashboards were melting.
https://community.cartalk.com/t/2007-toyota-camry-melting-dash/155666/6

 

some of those look straight up like a MAPP gas torch, 700+ degree flame to ABS plastic. Thats the only way you make ABS bubblu up like that. I would lean heavily towards this being someone who hates their vehicle and is doing self sabotage to whine online and hopefully get toyota to buy it back. Seen people over the years intentionally tear stuff up cause they didnt like it just to take it to the dealer and complain.

 

Warping and other chemical exposure issues with dash boards seeing 165+ degree heat during the sun is one thing, but the pictures in OP post looks like a blow torch on the plastic. Its not uncommon for the temp inside a car to get 135-140 degrees with the windows left up on a hot day. The dashboard temps can exceed 160 degrees at this time. Repeated exposure to these temps for long periods can warp and dry the plastic out. The older Dodge vehicles were bad about drying out and cracking. The older GM would dry out and get crusty and flaky, and some of the late 80s and early 90s toyotas would crack as well.
The picture in that second post, of the Camry dash melting, i actually did that same thing to a dash years ago trying to clean it, i think i used Alcohol maybe or something but it literally melted the plastic and started smearing the top layer. I also did it on a computer keyboard once, i think also trying to clean it. I cant remember what it was but i think it was alcohol the actually melted the top layer of the plastic. Maybe it was 3M adhesive remover, i dont even remember what i was trying to get up but i do remember melting the top layer of the plastic on both occasions. I just got rid of that keyboard like two weeks ago or i would post a picture. It was about 18 years old but finally died on me.

 

Might have been light passes with the torch when the mirrors had PPF applied, as the Drive article mentioned.

 

Hmmm that makes sense. They use a propane torch to heat the film so they can stretch it over corners. But that much heat would have also trashed the film. But that is exactly what too much heat from a torch looks like on ABS plastic.

 

I would not think they put ppf on that door pillar though or black trim at back of vehicle.

 

A combination of cost savings and delusional green/carbon-reduction initiatives

 

The article mentions neighbor windows.

This is a real thing - I’ve heard of houses where reflections from warped neighbor windows result in holes being burnt in siding.

 

the golden age of manufacturing is dead. Since Covid literally everything has been built with the cheapest shittiest materials possible from houses to cars to what we eat. Humanity is truly fucked since it’s all about profit above all else

 

I don't want to sound like a Toyota/Lexus fanboy. BUT

Is it possible this was due to some convergent reflection from a nearby building, given it was parked outside?

Here's a post to a 2nd gen Tacoma with similar symptoms.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/plastic-melting-on-tacoma-for-no-reason.269393/

Couple reports on other Toyotas
https://community.caredge.com/c/general/solar-convergence-damage-to-passenger-side-mirror
https://www.ksat.com/news/local/202...san-antonio-womans-prius-damaged-by-sun-rays/

again, I'm no toyota/lexus advocate... Just highlighting a possibility.

 

If I recall the guy with the issue had other vehicles parked in the same place before for years with no issues.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/lexus-gx-owners-report-their-shiny-new-suvs-are-melting-in-the-sun

 

Interesting, but maybe the owner just ran into bad luck after all these years. I'm no physicist, but maybe a degree or two in the sun's angle throughout the year and a couple of inches in where the car was parked in the driveway couldn't have caused this. Regardless, I hope this is not a widespread issue and is an isolated incident.

 

My 26 year old Camry has been sitting in the sun for 26 years. My 19 year old Corolla has been outdoors its entire like. The weather stripping and such look fine on those. All the mirrors are either black plastic or painted plastic, no issues. And we get up to 112F here in the summer.

 

Haha, I actually just replaced the blackout tape trim on my 2022 4Runner! It doesn't get anywhere as hot here as you and the previous owner was even in NorCal, but it was faded beyond belief for a 2-year-old car. Taking care of paint and trimming can make them last so much longer, so I guess every car and owner is in a unique situation.

 

There is more to it. COVID coincided with worldwide COVID deficit spending and inflation. What you are seeing is everyone got much poorer as the result of shutting down the economy. Cheaper is not the goal, cheaper is what masking everyone's reduced ability to pay.

 

I'm mostly with you on this, with a small tweak: That would be valid reasoning if things still cost the same they used to. The problem is these vehicles are selling at a premium, and appear to be using lower quality materials.

They're cheaping out on the supplier, because they feel they can get away with it, and they are essentially price gouging on the consumer side, because history has proven they can get away with it.

COVID, then inflation just became more excuses for companies to raise prices. And they'll do it again of there are any other opportunities (tariffs, etc.).

 

Threads like this…plus the entire Gen3 Tundra, plus the entire Gen4 Tacoma, have me doubting my long-held belief in Toyota’s unbeatable quality.

But hey, at least there’s still a Santa Claus, am I right?

 

Products have been getting cheaper LONG before Covid. The pandemic may have accelerated things but to some extent its just a convenient boogeyman to blame. Most home appliances today are junk compared to what was made in the 80s... and stuff that was made in the 80s is junk compared to what was made in the 50s and even earlier. Stuff from that era will literally outlive your grandchildren. Problem is companies exist to make a profit and they long ago realized that making products too good was bad for business since they cant sell you a replacement.

Same thing with houses... Some of the crappiest, sloppiest construction was during the housing bubble (90s-early 2000s) that caused the great recession . Put them up as fast and cheap as possible. Construction I think is a little bit better today due to better code enforcement, but not by much. Just like with appliances and electronics, durability goes up the farther back you go - especially pre-WWII when a lot of construction was done with old growth timber and other durable materials you just cant get anymore.

 

They do believe that St. Nicholas’s coffin has been found in situ:

https://www.popularmechanics.com/sc...16/uh-someone-might-have-found-santas-coffin/

 

Thanks.

Since I own a Gen5, I can just grab some popcorn and watch others deal with the quality dramas….Losing Santa would’ve been a major blow.

 

It’s shrinkflation. Charging more for less product and less quality. It won’t stop until consumers stop buying these products. Unfortunately that will probably never happen based on how many morons continue to pay inflated prices and dealer markups on vehicles.

 

I work in manufacturing and I can tell you there was a huge rush to play catch up from the shortages during Covid and to this day since Covid parts suppliers have deliberately cut corners as much a possible Covid has given them the green light and they are never looking back from that practice including Toyota (Toyota and every car manufacturer gets thousands of parts from thousands of different parts suppliers globally) Toyota in fact released a press release saying they are now accepting parts they would normally reject due to shortage issues and that’s a slippery slope it was what differentiated Toyota from all brands their kaizen approach to quality. That’s gone and them and every other shitty car brand are now all the same. Make overpriced unreliable sub par quality cars that will last only a few years and get the sucker customer back in to another 60 Thousand dollar plus vehicle rinse and repeat