I was hoping that you guys could give me some good ideas on who I can contact regarding a dangerous engineering and design flaw I have experienced in my 2006 Lexus IS350. I have written a letter in an appeal to Lexus. I have also spoken to the dealership (to no avail) and the department specialist of customer service at Lexus. He assures me that he has taken my concerns to the appropriate managers at Lexus headquarters. (This essentially means that they aren’t willing to acknowledge or correct the issue).
At first, I believed the problem was just an irritating inconvenience. The other night, I have discovered that it is a major safety hazard.
In my Lexus, the computer touch screen navigation system has stopped working. This is obviously a major inconvenience, as it is not just the navigation that doesn’t work; it is also the air conditioning controls, the heating controls, the radio controls, the CD/MP3 player, the computer settings, and the rearview camera! All of the radio presets were erased without any way to reset them, there is no way to adjust the fan settings for the a/c or heater, I can no longer adjust the base/treble/fade, the backup camera only works 10% of the time, and of course, the navigation system is completely nonfunctional. As the car is only 5 years old, and supposedly, a precision, luxury vehicle, one would not expect such major malfunctions affecting multiple systems.
I first contacted the company about this issue over the summer, and did not receive a satisfactory remedy. I was essentially told that, because so many of the computers were having problems, the company was offering to pay ½ of the cost of the replacement part (but not the labor). Indeed, when I explored the issue on the internet, I found hundreds of posts about this problem and other navigation system issues! Given that the company was not willing to replace the defective screen, I would still have to pay over $1200 to $1500 to cover the cost of repair. Like many people, I do not have that amount of money to spend on this engineering mistake. In addition, I feel that it is wrong to ask the consumer to pay to fix something that is obviously flawed, and not a result of owner misuse or wear and tear. Frankly, I had much higher expectations of Lexus, and was dismayed and disappointed that the company was offering such a paltry remedy for such a major issue!
This is an exasperating design flaw, and definitely tainted my opinion of the quality of the Lexus product, warranty, and customer service. However, I did not realize that this system’s failure was dangerous until the night of the 18th. Over the last week, the screen has starting flashing as the system is trying to load. This is annoying, and somewhat distracting in the daylight. However, when the screen flashed a very bright light that night as I was making a left turn at a busy intersection, I almost had an accident. Startled by the sudden light and thinking that the bright flash was the headlights of an oncoming car, I inadvertently swerved into oncoming traffic, and narrowly missed being hit by two other cars.
I implored Lexus to issue a safety recall for this problem, and replace all of the touch screen systems that have malfunctioned before a tragic accident is caused. Although I realize the cost of replacing these systems is a significant consideration, there would surely realize that it will be a small price to pay compared to the bad publicity, loss of consumer confidence, reduction of sales, and not to mention, loss of human life, right? Nope, they really don't care. .
Their response to my appeal was to offer the same remedy as last summer – 50% off of the component cost with no willingness to issue a recall or investigate the issue further.
Is there some way that I can make a complaint against Lexus, or do you have any advice on other ways to have this concern addressed? I have covered the screen with a piece of cardboard so that it can’t happen to me again, but I worry about other people who may be unaware that this can happen. Especially since there were many reports on-line of Lexus owners who were having trouble with their navigation systems. I was very lucky to escape injury.

Thank you for your time and advice,

Alisa

 

Sorry I can't help you with the NAV problem but I've read of a few people having NAV issues.
Seems buying a discounted Lexus warranty from a few guys online is the way to go.Especially if you have NAV and the many other electrical options and have the mechanical side protected too.

 

Thanks so much. I will look into that.

 

Sorry to hear this happen to you too. It happened to me a couple of months ago, however with some help from the forums I was able to fix it MYSELF. for ..... FREE... well $19.99 for a circuit writer pen.

With that said, I still agree with you on this one and LEXUS has failed on this in my book.

 

Unfortunately Alisa it's too late for you.
You're out of basic warranty and can't buy one and the problem is already there even if you could.
With your situation and others I've read about,I just posted that it may be a good idea for people who can buy a warranty,buy one.
There's 3-4 guys that are with dealers that sell Lexus warranties at discounted prices.

 

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...e-nav-fix.html

worked for me.

 

here is my thread

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ork-again.html

 

Try local news to get their attention. However you should know not all electronics in your car are made by Lexus so can't blame them for that. You can buy a $50,000 lexus and insurance for it but can't afford $1200-$1500 to fix it ?

 

toshiba makes the touch resistive panel BTW

 

http://www.hitechserv.com/electronic...nger-repair/78

here a cheaper place if all else fail

 

So your life isn't worth $1200?!? If you're that concerned, get it fixed. Are you expecting that no other parts on the car are going to fail for the remainder of the life of the vehicle? What's the point of Lexus even offering a specific warranty period if, as the consumer, we're just going to demand that they fix anything else that breaks independent of stated expired warranty? They have offered to pay for half the cost of a part that is no longer warrantied when they have zero obligation to do so. I'd say they've already done enough to satisfy my expectations should I ever have that issue (I also own an '06 is350 with Nav.)

 

its an electronic device and its bound to fail just like anything else. manufactures give a warranty for that reason. it just sucks that your out of warranty but they don't really need to offer anything and the fact that they have offer something is really good in my eyes. if i felt that anything in my car compromised my safety or my families safety, i would get that fixed right away and then worry about cost later. i don't care how much you spend on any product, things will fail.

 

the only advice i have is that when i fought with corporate to get my cam sprocket recall done under warranty , they wouldn't acknowledge the problem until i recorded a video of it happening and posted it on youtube , then magically the repair was authorized and i got a $200 service credit for my trouble

 

I don't quite buy that this is such a danger to your life. In any case, you are out of warranty and the offer to fix it at a reduce rate by Lexus is a good offer. Pay the money, get it fixed and stop trying to get something for nothing....

 

Agreed!

If you're that timid of driver that a flash below your sight line causes you to swerve into oncoming traffic, you should NOT be driving ANY vehicle. The nav is the least of your (and other motorists) concern.