IFrament

I bought a 2006 is350 with 68k miles on it today and I’m super stoked. Unfortunately as it was originally bought in Florida and the owner before me was in South Carolina it does have the sticky dash and door panels and I’m trying to work with a dealership on a work around to still get the recall done. If this doesn’t work how do I fix it? I’m thinking of flocking the dash but have no idea what to do with door panels. I apologize if there’s already a thread on this that I didn’t see and would greatly appreciate it if someone could point me in the direction of that thread

AMIRZA786

Unfortunately your going to be out of luck as the extended warranty for your year ended in 2016. They are not going to budge on this, your going to end up getting an estimate from them to replace the dash. Your options would be have them replace the dash at great expense, buy it and do it yourself, or buy it and take it to an independent mechanic that won't rape your wallet. You can also see this thread that's making the rounds:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...or-panels.html

Protholl

I'd try to find a car near you that has the flocking done and look it over really close. To me it looks horrible and its really hard to clean from what I've been told.

IFrament

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, I’ll definitely check out that thread.

IFrament

I’ll keep an eye out. You’re right, it’s probably better to see it in person first. I do think that it’s a relatively easy inexpensive fix though.

stonerwins

I have a 2007 IS350 and I recently reached out to Toyota/Lexus about the sticky dash issue. I bought the car in 2009 and never received notification that it was covered with an extended warranty. Here is their response:
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Thank you for contacting Lexus regarding your dashboard and door panel concern in your 2007 IS 350.

We were able to further look into your concern and have verified your vehicle is beyond the parameters of the Warranty Enhancement Program for this concern. This warranty enhancement program was an extension of the vehicle's Basic Warranty. Primary coverage for this program expired on 05/31/17 and Secondary coverage for your vehicle expired 10 years after the date of first use: 10/20/2006. Once the vehicle is outside of the program parameters, the cost of repairs becomes the owner’s responsibility, as the component is now outside of all factory coverage.

We hope this provides clarity to your inquiry. Your email has been documented at our National Headquarters under file #2103040003. If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

<name hidden for privacy>
Lexus Brand Engagement Center
---
Well Lexus, screw you. We were loyal customers with more than 10 Toyotas/Lexus over decades. If this is how you want to treat your loyal customer, there are many other options out there for us to consider. And on top of all of this, we were considering to replace our IS350 with the 2021 redesigned one. But given how we were 1) Treated with this issue, we didn't even get notified, 2) Sticky dash/door issue is just not acceptable to begin with for this segment of Luxury cars, and 3) Frankly, the redesigned (or more like refreshed) 2021 IS350 is lackluster compared with other cars in this segment, we will be switching to another manufacturer for our next car. -- Your Ex-Loyal Customer

EDIT: I want to also add I had the rear view mirror delamination issue and the head unit digitizer screen issue. All of which I fixed on my own. This is just not acceptable for the "most reliable car" in the industry. I love the engine, even though it burns a quart of oil every 2-3K miles.

AMIRZA786

I'm not blaming you, you may have legitimately not known about the issue, but it was a pretty well known issue and they did extend the warranty 10 years. My 2010 IS350 was my first ever Lexus (more than 25 years of Toyota ownership prior) and after I bought mine in September 2019, I checked all recalls and warranty stuff was done and learned about the sticky dash issue. After seeing a small spot that was barely noticeable, I contacted my local dealership and they changed my dashboard immediately. Extending a warranty 10 more years is a plus in my book

Petet

I disagree, I’m in the same boat with my dash. I feel a 10 year warranty on a defective part it pretty good. How long do you think they should cover it for ? Probably won’t see other manufacturers covering there parts for that long. If you had brought your car in for service at the dealer and they never informed you about the extended warranty than that is wrong of them. The mailer probably got sent to the original owner. I plan on replacing my dash in the spring, I would of been happier if I got in on the extended warranty.

stonerwins

It's good that some owners were able to get theirs replaced under the extended warranty. But take a look what happened for Toyota/Lexus to take an action. They had to be threatened to be sued twice. Maybe I would give them a little more leeway if they owned up to the issue right from the beginning, but they did not. Furthermore, it almost feels to me the approach is to fix the issue under warranty from whomever reported, rather than stand behind their product even though issue was due to a poor dash/door supplier, from the beginning. I understand at the end of the day, it's a balance between cost and reputation. It just would have been more admirable if they took action without a lawsuit treat, and even more admirable if they made good for everyone who complained and/or was more proactive to notify their customers. Let's face it, I got the notification for the airbag replacement. How could I not have received notification for the sticky dash?

AMIRZA786

Try owning a BMW, which is a premium product and you'll understand what a problem really looks like! If I may ask, your dash and or door panels must have been deteriorating while you were still under the warranty period. You didn't think of taking it to the dealership or contacting Lexus? Anyway, sorry you are having this issue

stonerwins

I didn't think of taking it to the dealership because the certified warranty had already expired. And I did not know there was even such as thing as a sticky dash issue. It's not like one day it wasn't sticky and then next day sticky; it got worse over time. Of course looking back, had I known this was a known issue and there was an extended warranty, I would have jumped on it. This is exactly why I'm so frustrated with Toyota/Lexus. They didn't properly notify the owners; many customers also reported not being notified. And with how it took 2 lawsuit threats for Toyota/Lexus to do anything, it is just poor handling of the situation by the manufacturer.

Yes, I have owned BWMs before and, yes they have their share of issues. My complaint is not the issue alone; all cars have their issues. I'm frustrated with how Toyota/Lexus handle this particular sticky dash issue.

I don't mean to alienate any Lexus owners here. I just want people know of my situation and how it was handled. Just leaves a very sour taste with my Lexus ownership experience.

AMIRZA786

No, no one is alienated here. This is the place to blow off steam. So here's what happened: notification probably went out to the previous owner. Since this is not a recall or a safety issue, but an extension of a warranty for a cosmetics issue, they didn't make the effort to track down any current potential owners. Also recalls for safety issues never expire. An airbag recall will always be there as long as the car lives.

The situation you have with the dash sucks, but it's not the end of the world. The cost of a new dash is around $400, if one knows how to do it themselves then it's a project, otherwise an independent mechanic can do it in a couple of hours for cheaper than the dealership. Also their may be a member nearby who knows how to do it and can help. One member on this forum calibrated my new steering ECU for me last summer. Dealer wanted $400, he did it in 10 minutes... For free! I still owe him lunch.

jbresalier

I'd definitely try to see a flocked dash in person first. Otherwise you're just throwing money in the trash when you ultimately replace the dash and door pannels.

stonerwins

I’ve never heard of the term flocked before and had to Google it. For a moment I thought it means beating the dash to death, but that’s flogging the dash =p.

I think labor is the most expensive part of fixing the dash/door. So I were to fix it I’d just replace it or go with a wrap rather than flocking.

Petet

There is a video on how to replace the dash. It looks time intensive to do for the first time. There is nothing hard about it. Just a little nerve racking taking that much of your interior apart.