bioart

Hi All,

I've had my indigo blue navi 2002 for about 3 weeks now. I love it however....

I've started to see some nicks on the wooden part of the steering wheel... I dont know where they are coming from, but they could be from my wedding ring (maybe the car or the wife are jealous of each other...). Anyone else experienced this?

Thanks!

Dr.Art

LexRX

I have an RX wood/leather wheel sitting at home that has some nicks in it and am instested in getting them out too. I've thought of trying the dealer, but have yet to do it. The dealer close to me has a detail guy come around to touch up used cars for sale and did wonders on a spot on my door that was messed up. Check your dealer see if they have somebody like that.

If I find anything out on it I'll let ya know.

-Nick

RX300TC

Welcome to the !@#$%^ club! I've been all over my wife about this, she swears the nicks aren't coming from her.

Well, I took my Rex in for maintenance last week, and guess what? I noticed two new scratches along the wheel. You can't get these from everyday driving (I wear no rings). I'm going to give the service manager a piece of my mind Monday....

The only thing I can think of for the other small nicks are fingernails? Maybe from clutching the steering while driving? I dunno....

sleepybobcat

I have the exact same problem in my '01 RX300,
which was purchased in Oct '00. In Feb '00, the dealer
replaced it, after I repeated bugged them about the
tiny nicks on the wood steering wheel. I do NOT wear
any rings or watches. I noticed the dealer simply
used "warped wood" for warranty purpose.

Unfortunatelly, the problem came back after only
3 weeks.

I am certain it has something to do with the soft
finish of the wood. My other car, a '98 E320,
has the MB original wood steering wheel installed
at time of delivery. I amd also the only one driving it.
It has ZERO nicks/scratches. Its finish is much harder
as far as I can tell.

When I brought this problem up with the service manager
again, he told me a few LS430 and ES300('02) owners
have also had the same problem. They have no solution.
Obviously, they can't get me another steering wheel.

I think Lexus should get another supplier for their
wood steering wheels ASAP.

MrSypher

Hey guys just yesturday I was looking at the steeringwheel and looking at those same niks and dings. I do wear rings but I really can't see my rings causing all the niks in the wood... maybe your right about the wood being too soft. But there is definetly A problem with the wood and how easily it gets dinged up....

Knicksfan

I have the same annoying problem with the wood on my wheel in the SC430. I wear no rings. It ain't me. This bums me out too.

LexRX

But aren't you a "Knicks" fan?

-Nick

RX300TC

Easy Nick... there's a lot of us Knick's fans here.
Us New Yawkers can get rowdy

Gerald Novarro

When we moved to VA our furniture had nick marks and dings from the move. The moving company paid to have it repaired, we found in the yellow pages someone who just repairs wood furniture. After he was done you would never know, excellent job. A year later he repaired our Hyndai piano that has a special clear finish that is used on Korean pianos. If its wood and it has a finish it might be worth it to try a furniture repair specialist.

Knicksfan

HA! You're funny.

Maybe Sprewell needs to worry more about 'hoops' and less about 'coupes'.



Furniture repair on the wheel is a SLAM-DUNK although I would still like to know where they are coming from so I could improve my DEFENSE

parula

At least on my '03 wood wheel, perhaps they toughened up the wheel finish, I cannot ding my wheel or trim with my fingernail no matter how hard I try. I attempted to slightly nick"... the wheel in an unobvious place and can't, so hopefully they made the surface harder.

I do not wear rings, exhort my wife not to drive the car (with her rings) .. .. and write on my service orders before service that the wood trim and wheel are unmarked in any way. I try to stay out of the shop whenever possible.

Anticipating a ding from someplace in the future does anyone know how to fix slight dings now on the new wood wheels or other trim?

RX300TC

Just an FYI folks, about a year ago I did ***** to the SM about how new scratches magically appeared whenever I took it in for service... guess what? New steering wheel

TC

parula

RX, that is why I always write on my service order that the car's wood wheel and trim is unblemished, and the rest of the car too for that matter.

They always nod their head and say ok.. If I notice anything wrong, and to date I haven't on the wood thankfully - and my wood is flawless - but I have had an ink mark on the front seat which they cleaned, I plan to make them replace or fix the part they damaged.

The biggst problem I have and I'd bet most others do also is where they place the hard metal lifts, incorrectly on the side body seams, bending and scratching the paint where rust sets in.

If I had a digital videocam I would record the car in their lot before each service !

steevr

I've seen and heard where every one of the dozen or so nicks have come from on my '02 RX. It comes from releasing the seat belt and the buckle swinging around and hitting the wheel as it retracts. I'm 6'3" and 210 lbs, so it's not like my belly's touching the wheel. Almost all of the nicks have come during the cold months when I'm wearing a coat and the belt is much closer to the wheel. As you can tell, almost all of my nicks are at the bottom of the wheel, with a few exceptions when the wheel was turned during unbuckling the belt.

parula

Steve, I thought that might happen, so I have trained myself to ALWAYS grab the face of the buckle with my full fist both when putting the belt on and taking it off. So far, no nicks. I even practiced a few dozen times just to etch the action in my memory.

When I took the car for service the first time I moved the seat all the way back AND wrote no nicks on the service order, and the wheel was still perfect.