thgiletez

Hello guys, I am getting mad about 2019 ES 350 A/C systems.
Last summer, the cooling malfunctioned and it was the first-year I leased the Lexus(because I trust its reliability ) so luckily I still had complimentary maintenance service so I used that to get it fixed. I don't recall the exact reason but I will try to get reports from that dealership next week and update this post.
This year, I found the cooling system was broken again and I had to send it to a dealership to inspect A/C as I had one important date that day and needed this car. They charged me around $300 and told me the condenser was hit by tiny rocks and I had to pay around $2000, including parts, labor, and tax, to get it fixed. It was expensive and I don't have a complimentary maintenance service this year so I said NO. My plan is to order OEM parts and try to find a 3rd service provider to fix it.

I am just wondering how's it possible that A/C systems are broken two years in a row. My lease term is 3yrs so I even do not know if it will be broken again next year. Is it common for Lexus? Is it common for the 2019 ES 350 model?

What're your suggestions? What would you do if you were me?

BTW, if you know a reputable Lexus repair shop at Seattle, please let me know!

tike71

Seems plausible to me considering they're separate incidents.
I don't think your second incident is at all that common, but it does happen. Did you ask the dealer to show you the damage?

Have you tried calling your insurance company? Seems like something like this would be covered.

EastTNLex

Do you live in an area that has a lot of road debris/rocks? Agree with the above...did the dealer show you the damage?

dklanecky1

This might help explain what's happening, but without pictures from the dealer, you can't really be sure.

https://www.toyotanation.com/threads...ion-3.1419610/

Your repair order from last year should itemize what was repaired/replaced.

thgiletez

Thanks for your suggestion. Yes, the dealer shot a video and pointed it out that it was a condenser issue. Also, I called the dealership today and asked them to get my reports from previous maintenance this weekend. I will definitely keep a close eye on them. To be honest, a condenser always sits in front of the car so I'd imagine it should be not such fragile.

My deductible is 1k tho... so I personally don't think it is worth to get the insurance company involved as my renewal rate might increase. That's one option so thanks for the suggestion. Will take a look!

thgiletez

I live in Seattle and most of roads are well-built. The chance is when I drive through some construction area, a lucky rock hit my condenser Please see my quick reply above. Yes, they showed it to me.

thgiletez

Thank you. That's awesome! I will see what I can do to protect it

thgiletez

Hey guys, thank you for your reply. I found something interesting. Looks like there are 2 different incidents.

06/20/2019
DESCRIPTION: OTHER ~|~GUEST STATES THAT A/C STOPPED BLOWING COLD A COUPLE WEEKS AGO PLEASE CHECK AND ADVISE
VERIFIED SYSTEM DOES NOT PROVIDE COLD AIR FROM VENT. HEALTH CHECK SHOWS DTC: B1423 OPEN IN PRESSURE SENSOR CIRCUIT/ABNORMAL REFRIGERANT PRESSURE. FOUND HIGH SIDE A/C LINE AT CONDENSER HAS COME APART. RECOMMEND REPLACING A/C LINE RETA

05/09/2020
DESCRIPTION: AIR CONDITIONING ~|~GUEST STATES A/C NOT BLOWING COLD, PLEASE CHECK AND ADVISE
INSPECTED AC SYSTEM NOT COOLING FOUND NO FREON PRESURE IN SYSTEM. PREFORMED EVACUATE AND CHARGE TO LOCATE LEAK FOUND TWO SMALL RACK HOLES IN AC CONDENSER CONDENSER WILL NEED REPLACEMENT

I guess I am just unlucky at this point

lesz

What you are describing should be covered as a comprehensive coverage claim and not as a collision coverage claim, and a comprehensive coverage claim should not have an effect on your rates.

Also, are you saying that your comprehensive coverage has a $1000 deductible? Typically, comprehensive coverage comes with a lower deductible than collision coverage (my comprehensive coverage has a $0 deductible). A number of years ago, something that fell off of a moving truck caused a tire blowout and did sheet metal damage on the car that I had at the time. The repairs were fully covered with no deductible, and the incident had no effect on my policy rates.

I think that, if my policy had a large deductible for comprehensive coverage, if the comprehensive coverage did not apply to this type of incident, and/or if a comprehensive claim affected my rates, I'd be shopping for new insurance.

thgiletez

Thank you for the suggestion, @lesz

Yes, my comprehensive coverage has high deductible because I didn't actually notice it. I will change it to 0 for sure!