Agreed. Water will find its way into the smallest space. Mold, rust, and God forbid, electrical gremlins down the road, are not worth dealing with. Push for a buy back at best or a trade in (even if it comes at a small loss) and swap at the least.

 

Consider that with this amount of moisture over this period of time, the car is really akin to a flood car at this point...

 

I cleaned the roof and sunroof glass in preparation for sealing it off. I've taped off the entire perimeter of the sunroof so water can't get in. I used electrical tape so hope it will come off OK when the time comes. Anyway, if the interior doesn't get any wetter, then I will figure the sunroof drains are the source. The car is drying out with all the Damp dry and heater. Hoping Lexus will treat me right. New to Toyota/Lexus so I have no idea how they will proceed. Hope they treat me as well as Jeep did for my Wife.

 

Have you pulled the carpet yet? If not, just pull up one of the door sills or the kick plate and check it out under there. If your 'jute' (the sound deadener padding) is soaked under the carpet it will take a long time to dry out as it's trapped in there pretty well.
I'd push for a trade to another equal CPO car at no cost to you.

 

Yes, look into this. I bought my car which was previously a previously a flood car back in January. It didn't have any water in it but still had lingering smells, I could never get out. I ended up taking it to a detail shop who had my car for 5 days and did extensive cleaning including lifting carpets and removing the seats. That was with no more moisure entering because it had been long gone. If you had moisture still going in you have to find the cause because even cleaning it up isn't going to fix it.

OP you need to remove the back seat, the door sills on the rear. Have someone with a high pressure water hose spray everywhere in the car, you need to be on the inside and find where its coming from. Its coming in from SOMEWHERE, you just have to find it. Check sunroof drains, spray the crap out of the sunroof, open it up, if you see water, you could have a bad seal or clogged sunroof drains. The drains from the sunroof go thru the car, if they are getting flooded or clogged they can spill in, this is what happend to me in the BMW. I guarantee you that if you have moisture like this on going you have a leak. Spend an hour looking for it or whatever you takes, you can't keep driving it like that the problem won't go away. This is assuming the dealer can't find it. I'm pretty sure I'd be able to find whatever leak you have, I went thru something similar and it got really annoying. Spray the hose around every area that could be a seal, follow the trail of the water. Check near the headliner when you spray.


Just saw your earlier post about the drains. Check this out, there are other videos, but this describes the problems alot of people have had.

 

I have the sunroof taped over and is it ever raining out. But as mentioned here, the carpet is still damp in areas. I think the moisture cannot escape easily. So using weed whacker line is exactly what I thought of to check the sunroof drains. The Dealership says they are clear, however. They also say if they are plugged, it's not covered, so all the damage would be on me!. I guarantee if the drains are plugged, they were plugged when I bought the car. I haven't lifted the carpets as I'm afraid of breaking plastic clips that hold things in place. The front sill plates are light up "Lexus" option. Not sure how they come off? The wettest areas right now seems to be under the front seats and the carpet next to the drive-line tunnel. Again, the water seems to be trapped, just like I feel right now with this car. Lexus called me today (Customer Service) but I wasn't home. Called them back but was on hold (musak) for a very long time. They finally picked up and said She would call me back. They haven't yet. The odds of getting a different car is probably slim to none? As it is, I need to part with the car and sooner the better.

 

Yeah I'm not sure what they would actually do even though they likely sold it like that. It may be worth taking to a reputable mechanic or look up someone who maybe who works on flood cars because they may be able to find areas of the cause of where the water was getting in. Regardless you have to get the water out of the car soon otherwise it can turn into black mold. When I found my standing water in the other car under the seat due to the clogged sunroof drains I had already developed black mold and I was getting sick alot when I would drive the car. If you feel the water is between the driveline that may be tough to get out unless you remove some of the carpet. Dampraid works well but if its under the carpet its not really going to be extracted. Sorry you have to go thru all of that, I know its a huge pain.

 

You could run a dehumidifier in there for a few days.. the type for a home that plug in and collect into a bucket of water. Put a cheap digital humidity gauge in there and pull it down to 10 or 20% relative humidity. That should dry it out.

 

We called Lexus Customer Service since they never returned my call from yesterday The Representative from Lexus (Case Management person Chelsea) told us they have reviewed the water problem with "Lexus Of Portland" Service Department and there is no problem with the vehicle. Despite damp carpets, and pictures of the steamed up windows, they told the Customer Service Department that the vehicle does not have a water leakage issue. The final verdict from Chelsea at the Lexus Customer Service Center is "we are not going pursue the issue further". We also said this is our first Toyota product and expected a better outcome. We told her we have no plans of purchasing another Toyota product and she could have cared less.

I am really disappointed and am feeling very sick right now. We do not know what to do next.

 

Unfortunately this is a weakness with Lexus in my experience. The "incredible service" and "commitment to customer satisfaction" does not extend to situations like this where you really want to see them stand up and behind the product. This is a huge reversal from how Lexus used to be...used to be the care with which they took with their customers was really legendary. Having been a Lexus owner for 19 years I can tell you, the difference in service quality is dramatic. I've never had situations this bad, but I have had a couple situations within the past couple years where dealers have done things wrong (damaged a car while it was there, spent two weeks misdiagnosing an issue and tearing the dash of my brand new car apart for no reason leaving me without the new car I was paying $250 a week to drive) and the dealer basically just telling me to go hose after having been a customer specifically of theirs for 15+ years. The damaged car I got satisfaction on because I raised my voice to them about it in the middle of the service waiting room, but I got nothing for the wasted 2 weeks. I mean, I would have been satisfied with a $500 service voucher, and really what would that have cost them? Nothing. 19 years ago by contrast we had an issue with the LS400 that was fixed under warranty, we got a free tank of gas and a Lexus paperweight with an apology! Very different. I too have come to the conclusion that this is likely my last Lexus.

I would still talk to the dealership and see what they can do about trading the car in on something else and having that be as least financially painful for you as possible. Short of that, I would get it dried out and trade it in on something else and move on with your life.

 

Sorry to hear that. There very clearly is an issue with your car and this is not the best that Lexus can do.

 

Check to see that your condensate drain lines aren't plug. You should be able to tell by looking to see if there's water under your car after running it for a while. If your carpet is wet and nowhere else it could be from this. Not sure on the GS but the LS has two sides for the condensate to drain so make sure you see water coming from both sides if this is the case.

 

Did you try to bring the car back to the dealer where u got it from? Is your car CPO? Or ask for trade in for another car and pay the different?

Sorry if I repeat the questions.

 

I believe you have misinterpreted Lexus' responsibilities versus your responsibilities pertaining to the rainwater leak you have. I also believe you are expecting Lexus' service center to investigate something that is really not in their normal routine or expertise. I have no doubt that Lexus will honor your CPO warranty and your extended warranty for all the items these warranties are to cover, from repairing or replacing a $5 item that fails to repairing or replacing the expensive engine and transmission. However, when it comes to rainwater leaking inside your vehicle your local Lexus dealer's service center will provide you the courtesy of checking the common things like seals, A/C condensation lines, grommets, etc., but Lexus service centers will not spend time to search for stopped-up or clogged drain lines from the sunroof and the like. It is your responsibility to keep your vehicle clean, which includes keeping such drain lines free and unclogged. American Standard makes plumbing fixtures, and they provide outstanding and excellent service, but when one of their toilets overflows they are not responsible for the clogged sewer lines that caused it.

If that was my vehicle I would take it to a trusted paint & body shop or custom rebuild shop and show them your problem. I feel very confident that they will not only quickly find the source of your leak, but they will fix it for you. But, don't expect the body shop to work on your vehicle's VVT-i variable valve timing system...

 

To sum up the issue, if they can't find the problem, they can't fix it. I work in Customer Support and certainly treat our Clients with extreme respect and go out of my way for them. I've been told by Lexus of Portland that any plugged drains will be on my pocketbook. What bugs me about this is the car leaked during the first heavy rains after purchase and we have no pine or fir trees near us. So I told them IF the drains are plugged up, they were that way at the time of purchase. I did look at the drains under the windshield and lots of debris (needles) in there. Chelsea from the Customer Service center said to let the car get wet again and bring it to them that way. But I'm doing everything to dry out the vehicle. I am having difficulty getting the carpets bone-dry. They are doing much better. I do wonder if taping off the sunroof is solving the issue. My neighbor, who has witnessed the wet and damp carpets, said to silicone the sunroof permanently closed and call it good. Taking it to a body shop sounds like a great idea. Does anyone know if the sunroof drain tubes go all the way to the underneath of the car? Why couldn't I take weed-eater line and push it through the drains until it poke out the exit hole, wherever they are?