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Hi all! I am a new owner to a 2020 Lexus ES350. I bought the car exactly a month ago and we had our first major rainstorm in NYC yesterday. I came to check on the car and found that there were wet spots on the inside facing parts of the door seals, on the floor of the car, and I found a puddle of water in the trunk!
The water in the trunk seemed to come from the hole pictured, I was just wondering what that hole was for. I bought the car certified, so l'm contacting lexus tomorrow. Thanks in advance!
Hi all! I am a new owner to a 2020 Lexus ES350. I bought the car exactly a month ago and we had our first major rainstorm in NYC yesterday. I came to check on the car and found that there were wet spots on the inside facing parts of the door seals, on the floor of the car, and I found a puddle of water in the trunk!
The water in the trunk seemed to come from the hole pictured, I was just wondering what that hole was for. I bought the car certified, so l'm contacting lexus tomorrow. Thanks in advance!
WOW - Looks like some kind of amature did a bad job looking for the leak. Not you. I assume the car came that way. Funny, that looks like a drain tubing. Probably not why it's leaking. I did a quick internet search. Doesn't seem to be a common issue.
Definitely take it back to the dealer that certified it. Have them find the leak and fix it. I hope they don't say that you put the hole in the liner.
Let us know how you made out.
That hole is not suppose to be there , it tells me either someone accidently rip that off, or they internally made that hole trying to gain access to the behind (which is dumb b/c it take 5 mins to unclip and take that carpet off properly)
Maybe they did something nearby that hole and didn't put the parts back (or seal it) properly so water comes on from there, I don't think the weather stripping and any factory seam sealers in the trunk area went bad this early
Thank you all! So it wasn't me, the hole also looks professionally done, the edges of the holes are seamed as if a machine had done it. There was also a circular cover on top of that which fell into my trunk due to the amount of water that came in. I scheduled an appointment for Lexus of Queens at 10AM tomorrow, hopefully all goes well lol.
After doing some research I think @july1988 is right, it looks like in previous ES generations Toyota takes the strategy to dump water out of the rear wheel well, this seems to be exit tubing of sorts for water.
... I was just wondering what that hole was for. I bought the car certified, so l'm contacting lexus tomorrow. Thanks in advance!
That's the hole through which you gain access to the emergency manual fuel door release. Every ES has one and there should be a cover for that hole that's missing. While the accompanying illustration isn't clear as to the hole's shape, see "If the fuel filler door cannot be opened" section on page 377 (for the through Sept 2019 production version) and page 375 (for the from Oct 2019 production version) and of the 2020 LEXUS ES350 XXXXXX OWNER'S MANUAL for details.
For an ES video on it, Northside Lexus's Melissa O'Connell's "How to Locate the Emergency Manual Fuel Door Release on Lexus Vehicles - Tech Tip Tuesday " video starting at the 6:40 time mark shows it:
As to what the white tube looking item is, I'll need to do some research before trying to guess what that might be. For reference, on my 2019 ES 350 Ultra Luxury when I remove that access cover I don't directly see anything but the inside metal of the rear fender panel (pretty much like you see in Melissa O'Connell's video).
I was going to mention that. I had the same emergency pull handle for the gas door on my 2013 Avalon. My wasn't so nice with a cap. I had to peel back the liner from the back corner. The car didn't have a button or lever on the inside. The car had to be unlocked and then rap on the door for it to pop open. I wouldn't have known but mine go stuck.
However I don't think it's leaking from the emergency handle assy.
So you telling me that the hole is there on all ES, and there is just a cover on top of it? ...
Yep. The cover has flanges on it so that when it is correctly installed in the hole and rotated, the flanges engage the hole's tab like structures to secure the cover in the interior panel. If you want to see what it looks like with that trunk side's interior vertical wall molding panel taken out, look at the photos in ESSurfer's water in truck (sic) of 2020 es 350 post #7. The orange piece (seen just below and to the left of the trunk lid arm in the first photo in that posting) is the fuel door manual release handle that the hole is there for you to gain access to it.
I received a follow up from the Lexus Service center near me, this Lexus was reported as a one accident vehicle, but it turns out there was a second accident on the trunk which was repainted and missed on the 161-point inspection done from the dealership where I bought this car. Whoever repaired the trunk of the car damaged the 3M seals keeping the trunk waterproof, and those would require replacement for $1300.
I called the dealership where I bought the car, and they told me they would take care of the repair for free. It sucks that I paid $500 for the first dealership to inspect it, and needed to spend 5 hours driving to the dealership I purchased the car from, but I guess it is what it is.
12-11-23, 07:17 PM
Leaks, minor flood in trunk
Not a factory hole.
, it tells me either someone accidently rip that off, or they internally made that hole trying to gain access to the behind (which is dumb b/c it take 5 mins to unclip and take that carpet off properly)
