dsc07

Anyone driven in the rain yet?

The car handled fine - my issue was the windshield. The water not only didn't bead up, it actually seemed to stick to the windshield - it almost took on a viscous quality. It got so bad that in a light rain @ 70mph with the wipers on high, I had to pull over the the outside lane and slow down to about 55. My ES300 and LS430 never had this problem, as a matter-of-fact, I only had to use the wipers on those cars in the heaviest downpours, the water beaded so well. Come to think of it, none of the other cars I've ever owned or rented were this bad. Of course, by the time I got to the dealership, the rain had stopped and they looked at me like I had a 3rd eye in the middle of my head when I told them about it. All of the other windows are fine, just the windshield.

My question is: Do they put some kind of coating on the windshield during shipping, that maybe hasn't been removed properly. Or vice-versa: is there some coating that was supposed to be put on the windshield that wasn't?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Other than that, and the grabbing when accelerating from a dead stop that others have mentioned, the car is great.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

About the windsheild...

What have you used to wash yoru car? and type of winsheild fluid. (this makes a difference).

The easist and simplest thing to do, is to buy a bottle of rainX from wal-mart or wherever you shop... the type you add to yoru washer fluid, and it will take care of your problems.

Or if you want to go a step beyond, you can buy the type you apply to your winsheid, wait for it to dry, and wipe off. You wouldnt even need wipers after just one application.

Luxofreak

I've driven mine in the rain, no problems. It handles very good and I was doing 80mph. The water didn't stick to the windshield at all.

Apply some Rain-X on the windshield and you'll be fine.

hendjaz

No problems with the LS and rain in Seattle, and we have had a boatload of it this winter. I always apply Rain-X or the equivalent and with the wipers in auto mode at the lowest setting I've had no issues with visibility. Even before the first application of Rain-X I didn't notice any rain issues.

Probably best to wash the windsheild thoroughly to make sure there is no shipping adhesive residue left and then apply Rain-X. Hopefully that will address the problem.

dsc07

To answer your question, I have washed the car twice with plain water. Haven't used the washer fluid yet, but it has whatever came with the car. After the first rain experience, I used windex and a lot of elbow grease. No change.

What concerns me is that the specs say "Water-repellent windshield ". Rainx shouldn't be required. Obviously, there is something wrong, especially if nobody else has had the same experience. It's supposed to rain this weekend. Hopefully, I can get to the dealership while it's raining this time...

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

You shouldn’t use windex on your exterior glass. It removes all the waxes from the windshield. The dealer wouldn’t be able to help you because A) they don’t know what you've used on it, B) you shouldn’t want them to replace your glass to begin with, since this will cause a lot of issues for you, and the car.

Here is what i think they will do if you go there... they will apply some type of wax to it, and give it right back after 2hours of waiting in the lounge. Then the next time you use windex, your back to square one.

If you want to waste your time with your dealer about this issue, after you used windex, that’s your decision, however, If you want everyone else' opinion, just buy a bottle of rainX, stop using windex, and be done with it.

Threxx

A great way to repel water on any windshield is to just wax it when you're waxing the rest of the car.

But I agree, that's one of the LS460's "features" so you really shouldn't have a windshield that's actually worse than your previous two cars without that "feature". Generally that just means that they microfinish the windshield so that the millions of tiny little 'pits' that are found in most windshields from the factory are reduced substantially, which decreases friction and surface area that causes water droplets to lose their tension as they run across the windshield.

Simply bring a gallon of bottled mineral-free water to the dealership and ask to pour some of it on one of the LS460s there to compare the repelancy to yours in a side by side demo. If the difference is obvious, they need to fix it.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

seems like something not clean is on your windshield. that happened on our sc430 after we replaced the windshield. it must have sat outside for a while while coz' when i washed the car, water seems to stick on rather than running away

i finally went and "detailed the windshield by polishing it, it's working again now

dsc07

Romin, I'm curious how you "polished" it. I just finished washing it again, this time in the bright sunlight and found something else interesting. There are several scratches in the windshied. There are a couple that are just an inch or two long, but there is one long arching scratch that follows the path of the wiper blade. I tried buffing both with a micro-fiber cloth, and a Chamois, with no results. When I run my fingernail perpendicularly over the scratch, I don't feel anything at all on the outside or inside. So I either have to learn to live with it as-is, or take it to the dealer, although the last thing I want is for them to replace the windshield. I just know that the car won't be as quiet if they do.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

there are glass polish out there, have you tried them? i used some kind of polish and then just use a high speed buffer to buff the windshield which helped quite a bit

regarding the scratches. sounds like your windshield blades caught on some rocks or so scratching the windshield?