ronk5150

I reside in California. Can you tell me what dealership said there was a new repair kit for this issue? Was it: • 15501 Frederick Rd , Rockville, MD 20855 • (888) 702-5338 ?

Check these quotes out from my dealer:

• I am sorry you are experiencing an un pleasant smell in your Lexus. I realize you have created a case with Lexus customer satisfaction and they are in discussions with you about your concern. I did not realize you where waiting for a call from me. If there is something you would like to talk about my contact info is below. Please contact me at you convenience if you would like to discuss your concern. As for your concern vehicles may exhibit odors naturally occurring from the HVAC system and/or related environmental factors. There is no way to eliminate these odors. During use, various odors from inside and outside the vehicle may enter into and accumulate in the air conditioning system. These odors may then be emitted from the vents. Odors coming from the outside air and interior can accumulate on the evaporator. As the evaporator core changes temperature, some of these odors may be released resulting in an unpleasant smell from the HVAC vents. Interior odors from sources such as air fresheners, animals, dirt, or trash can also accumulate within the HVAC system and contribute to unpleasant odors as well. Odors emitted from the A/C system are a normal characteristic of automotive A/C systems. It is normal to experience odor upon the initial startup due to the moist/humid air that is trapped in the HVAC system, after the vehicle has been parked. To help reduce the intensity of these odors that you are experiencing we have replaced your HVAC filter with a charcoal impregnated filter. I recommend for you to set the HVAC system to the outside (fresh) air mode when parking the vehicle to assist in the reduction of odors that could be trapped in the HVAC system. I had been told this was discussed and explained to you and since you where not happy with the results that is why you elected to contact Lexus. I am not sure how I can further assist you as we have already replaced your filter with the charcoal style but by all means if there is something more I can do please get in touch with me.
•
•
• Thanks,
•
•
• Michael Pedro
•
• Service Director
• Office (925) 682-3033
• Direct (925) 808-4106
• Lexus of Concord
• 2001 Market St
• Concord Ca 94520
• www.lexusofconcord.com
************************************************************************************
• Ron,

• There is an option that will help reduce these odors that are naturally occurring from your HVAC system and/or related environmental factors. This is not something that is warrantable concern as described to you in this email chain but with your permission and in the interest of customer satisfaction, as a onetime goodwill gesture Lexus of Concord will complete HVAC treatment at no charge to you. This treatment travels through the entire HVAC system to combat HVAC odors and improves the quality of the air in the vehicle. If you would like I can complete this treatment on Thursday 10/17. Please let me know what time you can come in on Thursday.


Thanks,
Michael Pedro
Service Director

OKSTANCE

USE THE CHARCOAL FILTER..thats whats its there for in your climate menu settings

Spyder4461

Really troubled by this occurring in our 2012 Rx350 with less than 5,000 miles . A $60,000 luxury car should not come with instructions on how to operate your a/c so that mold/mildew doesn't blow in your face every start up. We are working with Lexus customer service, and they have been attentive, the dealer has been blaming it on "user error". I really would have appreciated this information before the purchase, and would like to warn anyone considering this vehicle.
I have owned many vehicles from many manufacturers over the last 28 years and never had such a problem.
We will see what transpires for a fix and hope for the best, but have not ruled out a lemon law return if it is not corrected.
It baffles me to see people here think this is acceptable.

Lexusxoxo

N/m........

Spyder4461

We just took the Rx 350 back in for this problem as the smell returned soon after it was supposedly fixed the first time, and I was incorrect, the car was purchased in 2012, but is a 2013 RX 350 with less than 5,000 miles. My brother in law, before this occurred, purchased a brand new 2013 ES 350 and has only about 2,000 miles, it is now having the same issue with the mold smell. He has a dealer visit scheduled.
After discussing this with an A/C technician, his explanation is that water off the evaporator is not draining properly, for whatever reason (plugged up, poor engineering, etc.) and that mold is forming in that sitting water. It is then blown through the vents, thus the smell. He confirms this "can't be healthy" and also very unusual for a brand new car, no matter what part of the country or climate it's in.
So we have to wonder. Is it ALL Lexus cars with a certain A/C system in humid states that have the problem? If not, then there must be a fix for the ones that are having trouble. And blasting Lysol or other chemicals through the system is not a fix. If a majority of cars are having the problem, fix the system. So yea, Ronk, Good Call, a Recall first post looks pretty good about now if that is the problem.

The dealer tells Ronk above that,
"It is normal to experience odor upon the initial start up due to the moist/humid air that is trapped in the HVAC system, after the vehicle has been parked."

That is completely false.
Bottom line is, if your product has a problem in humid environments, inform the customer before the purchase, or better yet--Don't sell it there.

N/m?? not sure what that means, I don't play on computers much so not sure about the lingo.

jim256

Spyder4461
"Bottom line is, if your product has a problem in humid environments, inform the customer before the purchase, or better yet--Don't sell it there."



In humid eastern NC, no problems since March but I do switch off the A/C compressor which switches to Fresh for the last half mile to the house, as suggested in the manual. Otherwise I am in ECO all the time so the A/C runs in Recirc. 'Have done that on every car I've owned. But the problem is on almost any car forum you look at, for some posters, but not all.

ronk5150

Exploring Lemon Law.

If that doesn't work, then it goes to my attorney. Lexus dealer has attempted to rectify twice. Last time was with a "Bombing" of the car with a product called "DrivePur" . That left the car with a clean smell that required me to put the windows down while driving the car. It lasted less than 48 hours! Fertilizer like smell returned stronger than ever.

I had an environmental company run tests on the inside and it was concluded by the Lab that there was "elevated levels of toxins".

This all started at 3000 miles in my 2013 ES-350.

Since the manufacturer is not admitting to an engineering/software issue, I think ....

Send me your email addresses if you care to explore this further.

Xpcgamer

Funny just saw this thread. Wife's 13' ES with 10K on it smells like stink at first. Gonna try leaving it in Fresh for a while see if that helps.

dhiren48

All my family members are Lexus fans and together, we have so far purchased 12 of them.
My recent lease is ES 350 from Concord Lexus. Every time after the car is parked for even 1/2 hour, restarting the car gives really putrid smell from A/C. I have talked to several people, tried many suggestions including keeping windows slightly open, spray deoderant spray in the intake, using outside air vent etc. Nothing works. never happened before. I feel there is some manufacturing problem and feel that the Lemon Law should apply. Two dealership told me there is not much they can do except changing filter. Any one else thinks Lemon Law can apply?

dhiren48

SPYDER 4461

We live in Central Valley, California and have very little humidity.

I agree there is some manufacturing problem and recall is warranted. any one knows which Government authority can help?

Sevn86

My RX350 is a big stink bomb! It's smells so bad each time I turn the AC on. My 2011 Camry was the same way. I couldn't take it anymore and dealer was no help so i sold the car. Also there are others on this forum that have this issue and one way to reduce and potentially remove this odor is to make sure you don't leave your temp setting below 70F. I have been keeping my temp on 70F and the smell is practically gone. Plus the AC seems just as cold as when I use to leave it on 65F.

Xpcgamer

I have been leaving the ac in fresh air and the smell is gone. Run in fresh air for a while and it should go away. I agree thou that this should not have to be the case. Having the interior tested for toxins in the air in a car with so little miles is not really valid. That "new car smell" everybody seems to love is all the toxins being released from the interior like glues, leather and all the plastic. You where breathing it in as soon as you sat in the car at the dealer.

lesz

I suspect that what you are doing is the solution that would work for most. As I said in a post earlier in this thread, until recently, car climate control systems used to default to the fresh air setting in almost all weather situations, and the recirculate mode was used only if it was manually selected, but, just a couple of years ago, Lexus and other manufacturers made a (misguided) decision, for reasons of fuel economy, to have the climate control system default to the recirculate mode whenever the temperature is above the low 70s. Any fuel savings, I'm confident, are minimal, but having the system constantly and continuously recirculate air is what makes it likely and, perhaps, almost certain that there will eventually be a buildup of odors and something quite short of a "fresh air" smell inside the vehicle. And I don't think that it is just a coincidence that the majority of those who are complaining about this issue seem to live in climates where the temperatures are generally above the low 70s and where, therefore, the climate control system is almost always defaulting to the recirculate mode.

My suspicion is that, if Lexus were to do a software update that changed the default setting for the climate control system to the fresh air mode, which is the way auto climate control systems worked for decades, this problem would disappear. Until or unless Lexus does that, I suspect that most would find that getting into the habit of manually switching to fresh air would solve their problem.

TomMartin

lesz
...you beat me to it I live in a four season area (Minnesota) and can always tell when "recirculate" button has accidentally been pushed. Humidity and "stuffiness" builds up in the car. My guess was same as yours that if the "default" setting moves to "recirculate" you would have likelihood of moisture issues. It sounds as there is no way to change the "default"?

Does it change to "recalculate" frequently or do you have to remove setting from "auto" to keep it out of recirculate? That would not be a positive??

My system (2004 Land Cruiser) only uses recirculate when it is very warm out and then only until initial cool down. When temps are in high 90s I sometimes put into recirculate for a brief time to help it cool a bit.

Wonder if Toyota/Lexus had done this "recirculate" default on all/most new cars? Can see the fuel MPG challenge they face maybe leading to this? No way to re-program? Maybe they will figure it out and offer a program change? Thanks...Tom

lesz

The climate control system on the ES goes to the default setting of recirculate every time you start the vehicle and the temperature is above the low 70s. And, no, it does not switch back and forth between the two settings. If it is above the low 70s, it goes into recirculate and stays there unless you manually switch it to fresh air.

Curiously, in the manual, it shows that there is a user customizable settings that would disable the automatic default to recirculate every time you start the vehicle. But, if you go into the custom settings on the vehicle itself, the option to change that setting does not appear. Perhaps, there was a design change in the vehicle after the manuals were written. According to multiple Lexus technicians with whom I've spoken, there is not even the option for this default to be changed by the dealers. In any case, I'd be surprised if a software update could not be sent out to change this default setting to fresh air, which is the way auto climate control systems all worked until a few years ago.

My 05 GX works the same way your Land Cruiser does. The only time that the system automatically goes into recirculate is if the temperature is extremely high and the car has been sitting in the sun. But, after initial cool down, it goes back to the fresh air setting.

Also, I think that Lexus is not the only manufacturer who has made the same changes as Lexus seems to have done on its models. Further, I doubt that it is just a coincidence that, when the climate control systems from Lexus (and other manufacturers) defaulted to the fresh air mode, no one complained about in-cabin air quality, but, since manufacturers changed to making the recirculate a default when the temperature is in the 70s or higher, you will find complaints about air quality in those vehicles.