whitLS460

Long story short.
Bought the car end of May this year. Brake actuator replaced under warranty enhancement in June. Dealership told me door trim panels would be replaced, they were ordering new ones. No return call so I called them. 2007 only year covered. Mine is a 2008. I called Lexus Care to report issue. Here is the details of what claim rep told me.

Obviously, mine will not be covered. One of the reasons is because I do not have a service history with them except the actuator replacement. Completely understandable, but worth the shot. I asked her out of curiosity on why the 2007 trim panels were replaced when other year models of the same generation were doing the same thing. She said that it is only a matter of time before the other years get the same warranty enhancement. She said they have had a ton of calls reporting the same. SOOOO, my advice is to call Lexus Care and report it. Maybe if they have an influx of callers complaining then they will FINALLY issue the warranty enhancement on the other year models. Mine look like crap and it doesn't help that it is the lightest color trim, I think ivory but I'm not positive. This may be a repeat post but for the last three and half months, I have not seen anything with this type of answer.

Side note: If the enhancement never comes out, has anyone had success in recovering the trim panels?

TriC

Another question is how many years had/have this problem. Does it run all the way up through 2012 (or even later)?

The warranty enhancement for the '07 melting interior pieces stems, at least in part, from litigation. It would be nice to know if cases concerning later years are pending.

LS430FL

Not sure why Lexus is telling you that only 2007's are being replaced. There are multiple people on here that have had other years and had them replaced as good will by Lexus including my 2011. I would escalate to a case manager who is higher up. I will say that I have been with Lexus for 10 years and have bought about 6-7 cars from them but that really shouldn't matter. They should want to make you just as happy so you stay with them for years to come too.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

They declined to replace my 2007 door panels. Totally arbitrary and capricous behaviour from a major car manufacturer.

Don't hold your breath!

whitLS460

I would love to know the same! I know I have read posts on here that had 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 but I do not recall anything newer than that. I wish there was a poll or something for all 4th gen LS with the same issues.

whitLS460

I guess I didn't push enough to get it covered. I haven't been "brand loyal" since this is my first Lexus I've personally owned. My fiance has owned a '98 SC and a '98 GS. He is mechanically inclined so we always do our own oil changes and basic service requirements. We are looking to get me a fairly new Lexus SUV within the next year or so and it is kind of off putting that they wouldn't cover my door panels when one of their dealerships noticed the issue and thought it would be covered. Like I said in my OP, I'm not looking for something for free, however, if they covered the 2007 why not go ahead and cover the others doing the same? I think that is what bothers me the most.

hfahmy

DriverSS

My '08 460 had it bad. Door Panels, Dash, Glove Box etc.. completly trashed from the Texas sun. I took it in multiple times, escalated it and denied. They ABSOLUTELY refused to write "melting door panel" on the service request. The first time the service advisory just printed out a bunch of junk and left it at that. Second time I had to take it back, let them take pics, send it to corporate and they still denied.

...and my 2010 LS 460 L is showing signs of it as well.....

mbarron37

texas008

I paid around $120 for an indi shop to remove & repaint the two trim pieces.
It looks brand new now.

DriverSS

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Buying a Used Car over the net.... supposedly Leather door panels, turns out, not the armrests....

Lexus seems to only 'help out' if you are the original purchaser,.... meanwhile my niece gets her 15 year old 4Runner (3rd owner) dash swapped for free, including rental car at 200K miles+.... There are exceptions, on the '08 I also had the Brake Actuater issue, initially denied "Out of Warranty", but reimbursed 2 years later.... It's only a matter of time on these melting dashes and door panels, some enterprising Lawyer will file a suit... it'll force Lexus/Toyota to step the hell up and cover ALL of them.

Meanwhile, everyone should plaster the web and Facebook with the nasty pics of the door panels and dashes... If it gets out there, people see these stories, start costing them sales, then maybe it'll be addressed. Seems to be the only thing corporations understand these days... Here's my '08 Drivers door. All 4 of them were bad, can't really clean it, because it just makes it worse... Only time the panel is really touchable is when it's under 80 degrees inside the cabin. Under 60 if you want to scrub it. Beware if its a hot sunny Texas day. Can't remember how many times I had to dig a bit of beige rubber out from under a fingernail when I inadvertently grazed it before it cooled off... The bare spot is right where your knee touches the door when sitting.

Meanwhile the beige interior on my 18 yr old E430 looks near mint.
.....

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Actually, there are several examples on this forum where this hasn't been the case - people buying used LS460s without a service history and getting dashboards/door panels replaced either as an "enhanced warranty" or as goodwill. Totally arbitrary on Lexus' parts.

Oh, and when the dealer kicks in part of the cost, you'll find it billed to "insurance" if you can get your hands on the real billing invoice!