Servo motor recall notice.
#166
I had my GS350 at the dealer this morning and the Service Advisor said she's had several people in the same situation. I'm seriously considering looking into what it would take to file a class action lawsuit on this. Lexus should not be allowed to send expired notices just because "by law they are required to send a 2nd notice". This is a brand, until now, that I have absolutely loved. I've owned 3 of them but I'm going to have to find a new brand as a result of what I consider to be shady practices on their part.
I have been a Nissan customer since 2003 and till now never had a problem like this. I am learning what "Lexus" is the very hard way!
#167
In June 2021, I received the servo motor recall notice from Lexus by mail. I had no perceptible issue in my 2016 GS200T. But just to be sure, I made an appointment and in July 2021, took my car to the local Lexus dealership. They made some software updates (not sure if that was needed). Since then, when I shift my transmission to reverse (R), sometimes the screen turns blank/black instead of displaying the image from the rearview camera. This happens intermittently. Over time, the frequency of this malfunction seems to be increasing. In Nov 2021, the dealership took my car in to diagnose this issue, and returned it after 3 days stating in the invoice: "Once we removed the display trim (had one mount clip missing), we also saw that the Display mount bolts had also been removed at one time and the mount ear housing are cracked." I bought this car brand new with 27 miles on the odometer. I have never serviced the display or anything in the entire dash, nor have I modified the car in any way (did not even install window tint). How can the mount clip be missing, mount bolts removed, and mount ear housing cracked? Also, on the outside just in front of the screen, one of the three bolts is missing, and there are scratches/scuffs that weren't there before those 3 days, indicating that the technician struggled hard to get the screen out/in. The technician at the dealership damaged my car during those 3 days to the tune of over $5000. Now they are saying that the car was already damaged. I contacted Lexus Corporate to report the issue and they declined to help in any way because my car is out of warranty. This is not a warranty issue but a vandalism issue. I have reported the case to the Tennessee Motor Vehicle Commission and they are investigating.
I have been a Nissan customer since 2003 and till now never had a problem like this. I am learning what "Lexus" is the very hard way!
I have been a Nissan customer since 2003 and till now never had a problem like this. I am learning what "Lexus" is the very hard way!
- I'm glad that you aren't taking it lightly and getting the motor vehicle commission in your state to look into it. Keep in mind that there could have been an issue even before you took delivery where someone tried to fix infotainment/screen but it was never disclosed to you or anyone else.
- Its highly suspect, but at least they were honest about what they saw and what they wrote down. Trust me, the local Lexus dealerships around me would never have disclosed that much detail because it creates a liability for them.
- Its always good to to take pics of your car with proof of a date/timestamp. Even if its a dealer you trust, you might get a mechanic/tech who is lazy that day, or frustrated or overworked - or maybe just the one who is careless. Either way, taking pics of the odometer, steering, wheel/tire condition, driver seat, steering wheel, exterior will help with your case if they damage something. If you did, you're ahead of the game with your case.
I travel over an hour away to a Lexus dealership I trust. Last year they did a tire install/balancing/alignment for me and scratched the interior of all my wheels when they removed the old weights and added new ones. I messaged them about it but they didn't respond. I had to live with it understanding that sometimes these things happen - i had no proof the wheels weren't scratched so it would be useless for me to try. I've learned that walking in with an expectation that they will treat my car the way I would treat my car is completely unrealistic.
I think most of us buy a Lexus so that we DON'T have to deal with excessive service and any extra maintenance. Did they fix the problem at least? Does throwing your car into reverse now immediately show the rear camera?
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bb700092 (02-24-22)
#168
@bb700092 092 Many of us cringe at the idea of having a dealership look at our cars for recalls, service campaigns etc. A few things i'll say:
I travel over an hour away to a Lexus dealership I trust. Last year they did a tire install/balancing/alignment for me and scratched the interior of all my wheels when they removed the old weights and added new ones. I messaged them about it but they didn't respond. I had to live with it understanding that sometimes these things happen - i had no proof the wheels weren't scratched so it would be useless for me to try. I've learned that walking in with an expectation that they will treat my car the way I would treat my car is completely unrealistic.
I think most of us buy a Lexus so that we DON'T have to deal with excessive service and any extra maintenance. Did they fix the problem at least? Does throwing your car into reverse now immediately show the rear camera?
- I'm glad that you aren't taking it lightly and getting the motor vehicle commission in your state to look into it. Keep in mind that there could have been an issue even before you took delivery where someone tried to fix infotainment/screen but it was never disclosed to you or anyone else.
- Its highly suspect, but at least they were honest about what they saw and what they wrote down. Trust me, the local Lexus dealerships around me would never have disclosed that much detail because it creates a liability for them.
- Its always good to to take pics of your car with proof of a date/timestamp. Even if its a dealer you trust, you might get a mechanic/tech who is lazy that day, or frustrated or overworked - or maybe just the one who is careless. Either way, taking pics of the odometer, steering, wheel/tire condition, driver seat, steering wheel, exterior will help with your case if they damage something. If you did, you're ahead of the game with your case.
I travel over an hour away to a Lexus dealership I trust. Last year they did a tire install/balancing/alignment for me and scratched the interior of all my wheels when they removed the old weights and added new ones. I messaged them about it but they didn't respond. I had to live with it understanding that sometimes these things happen - i had no proof the wheels weren't scratched so it would be useless for me to try. I've learned that walking in with an expectation that they will treat my car the way I would treat my car is completely unrealistic.
I think most of us buy a Lexus so that we DON'T have to deal with excessive service and any extra maintenance. Did they fix the problem at least? Does throwing your car into reverse now immediately show the rear camera?
#170
Has anyone had the servo replaced outside of the CSP? I noticed that my passenger side vents are not blowing any air. I'm wondering if I can replace that servo, instead of the 6 or 7, and be on my way.
I did notice that the blower motor sounded like a piece of paper that got stuck. I'm hoping the gears in the servo didn't grind. It also sounds like a window was open when the blower is at max speed.
I did notice that the blower motor sounded like a piece of paper that got stuck. I'm hoping the gears in the servo didn't grind. It also sounds like a window was open when the blower is at max speed.
#171
I have 2 Lexus vehicles: 2013 GS350 and 2015 IS250. I had an issue with the servo motors back in September of 2020. I knew it'd be a costly repair, so I held off until December 2020 to have it fixed. Fortunately, the dealership only charged me for labor ($1900) and at the cost of parts. Fast forward to January 2021, I received the CSP for the servo motors. I submitted all my paperwork, which they lost and then resubmitted it 2 months later and fortunately, got full reimbursement.
My son drives the IS 250 and in early January 2022, mentioned he was having an issue with the air flow. He disconnected the battery and was able to reset the system. Less than a week later I received 2 CSP notices in the mail, one for the GS350 I had already taken care of and one for the IS250. Perfect, right!? No, not so perfect as I received the notice on 1/21/2022 and it expired on 1/12/2022. CRAP! I called the dealer and they said to bring the car in. They confirm 4 of the servo motors had failure codes but it was not longer covered under the CSP as the CSP was expired. There was nothing they could do for me unless I wanted to pay the $2400 to have them repaired.
I contacted Lexus Brand Experience and dealt with a handful of incompetent and extremely rude "customer experience" staff who said they would do nothing for me, that the CSP was expired. I asked why Lexus would possibly send me a notice that I receive 9 days after the expiration of its validity. They had no answer. I posted to Lexus FB page and they responded that they'd have a supervisor call me. The supervisor was no help either, they weren't budging. It was apparently a 2nd notice that, by law, they legally have to send out. Again, I asked so by law you don't have to send it within a timeframe that it can actually be used? His only response was they sent me a notice in May 2021 and this was a 2nd notice required by law since it is deemed an emissions issue in California. I said, I have 2 Lexus vehicles, one I already dealt with, so don't you think if I had in fact received a notice in May that I would have immediately addressed it considering I already knew exactly what the issue was!?!? Again, he stood firm. There was nothing Lexus would do for me.
I had my GS350 at the dealer this morning and the Service Advisor said she's had several people in the same situation. I'm seriously considering looking into what it would take to file a class action lawsuit on this. Lexus should not be allowed to send expired notices just because "by law they are required to send a 2nd notice". This is a brand, until now, that I have absolutely loved. I've owned 3 of them but I'm going to have to find a new brand as a result of what I consider to be shady practices on their part.
If you have not done anything with the notice and still have time, DO SOMETHING! This is not a repair you want to pay for yourself. The IS250 had 4 motors come back with failures at a repair cost of $2250 which did not include tax. The GS350 with 7 failing motors was $3600 pre-tax. Take your vehicles in and make them incur the costs.
My son drives the IS 250 and in early January 2022, mentioned he was having an issue with the air flow. He disconnected the battery and was able to reset the system. Less than a week later I received 2 CSP notices in the mail, one for the GS350 I had already taken care of and one for the IS250. Perfect, right!? No, not so perfect as I received the notice on 1/21/2022 and it expired on 1/12/2022. CRAP! I called the dealer and they said to bring the car in. They confirm 4 of the servo motors had failure codes but it was not longer covered under the CSP as the CSP was expired. There was nothing they could do for me unless I wanted to pay the $2400 to have them repaired.
I contacted Lexus Brand Experience and dealt with a handful of incompetent and extremely rude "customer experience" staff who said they would do nothing for me, that the CSP was expired. I asked why Lexus would possibly send me a notice that I receive 9 days after the expiration of its validity. They had no answer. I posted to Lexus FB page and they responded that they'd have a supervisor call me. The supervisor was no help either, they weren't budging. It was apparently a 2nd notice that, by law, they legally have to send out. Again, I asked so by law you don't have to send it within a timeframe that it can actually be used? His only response was they sent me a notice in May 2021 and this was a 2nd notice required by law since it is deemed an emissions issue in California. I said, I have 2 Lexus vehicles, one I already dealt with, so don't you think if I had in fact received a notice in May that I would have immediately addressed it considering I already knew exactly what the issue was!?!? Again, he stood firm. There was nothing Lexus would do for me.
I had my GS350 at the dealer this morning and the Service Advisor said she's had several people in the same situation. I'm seriously considering looking into what it would take to file a class action lawsuit on this. Lexus should not be allowed to send expired notices just because "by law they are required to send a 2nd notice". This is a brand, until now, that I have absolutely loved. I've owned 3 of them but I'm going to have to find a new brand as a result of what I consider to be shady practices on their part.
If you have not done anything with the notice and still have time, DO SOMETHING! This is not a repair you want to pay for yourself. The IS250 had 4 motors come back with failures at a repair cost of $2250 which did not include tax. The GS350 with 7 failing motors was $3600 pre-tax. Take your vehicles in and make them incur the costs.
#172
I am in a similar situation, received a letter in January 2022 AFTER the expiration date of the recall. Called corporate, they said they can’t do anything since the program expired and I really don’t want to pay $2500 for an known issue caused by a faulty part. If there is a class action suit or any way to get this issue taken care of, please let me know. I had never had issues with my Toyotas or Lexuses but if this is not going to be taken care of properly this could be my last Lexus
Not as an endorsement for Carvana, but I've had two neighbors (three houses apart) sell vehicles to Carvana recently in a quick no-hassle transaction. After one neighbor told the other neighbor how easy it was to sell his vehicle for top dollar the other neighbor did the same but decided to use the buy offer price as trade-in allowance to buy an Audi A5 from Carvana. The neighbor that used his buy offer as trade-in allowance bought a low-mileage 2018 black Audi A5 convertible with less than 6k miles on it delivered to him at his business.
They both tell me Carvana offered much more on a straight sell than dealerships were willing to allow them when trading-in. I think Carvana gives a quote online in like 3 minutes and if you like the price they show up with check in-hand, take a quick look at the car, you sign over the title and they load the car up on a car trailer and drive off. Or, if you prefer you can use the offer price for your car as trade-in allowance for one of their vehicles. Personally, I think I'd feel better selling them a vehicle than buying a vehicle from them, but I think they have a lot of really late model, low mileage vehicles in their inventory like the Audi my neighbor bought from them.
#173
On my previous 2GS, i replaced thousands of dollars of OEM exhaust components from mufflers/catalytic converters/O2 sensors out of warranty because it was worth it to me. If they had a service campaign, I would have never known because I never serviced at a dealer or paid attention to those bulletins.
I don't know what more Lexus could do to appease owners that have older cars with the servo motors - if this happened to me, i'd be pissed but would realize that after a certain period of time, cars are mechanical in nature and will break down. If I had to spend $2k or $3k to fix it, I would, because for so long, the car has been trouble free that it makes sense that the longer I hold it, the higher the risk of something failing.
I do agree with you though @bclexus , if owners feel slighted by the way this was handled, its certainly time to move on from the brand.
#175
#176
#177
From what I heard, I don't remember where I read this, manufactures are supposed to send these notices out twice. One when the initial CSP was submitted and one down the road as follow up. Apparently, Lexus forgot to send the 2nd notice out on time.
Wrong in-service date? Lexus pulls whatever the dealership send them during F&I. The in service date is based on the original owner, not new owners.
Wrong in-service date? Lexus pulls whatever the dealership send them during F&I. The in service date is based on the original owner, not new owners.
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NJLEXES (03-28-22)
#178
#179
Here is the in-dept look at how the servo problem is diagnosed and fixed. Very involved (if it needs replacing after a special cleaning utility flags up DTC's). They have finally concluded affected model years are 2013-2017.
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...88921-9999.pdf
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...88921-9999.pdf
#180
Here is the in-dept look at how the servo problem is diagnosed and fixed. Very involved (if it needs replacing after a special cleaning utility flags up DTC's). They have finally concluded affected model years are 2013-2017.
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...88921-9999.pdf
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...88921-9999.pdf
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