360LexusEs

I purchased my 2010 RX 450h with about 60k on the odometer certified. The rack and pinion steering needed replacement at 101k miles about 5 years ago. Two days ago at 139k miles my steering completely failed on me while making a u turn. I could no longer turn the wheels and my steering went completely in circles. The dealer hasn’t been able to diagnose yet but I’m almost certain it’s the same thing that they replaced only 38k miles ago. With that said what are your thoughts? Will most likely be complaining to corporate if it’s the same parts they replaced as this is the family vehicle and complete failure could have caused a major accident

LeX2K

Don't think I've ever heard of a rack failing to the point where all steering was lost. I would ask for the old part back.

360LexusEs

Sounds like a good idea, any thoughts on what could cause it to go like that? Car is only driven locally and never hard so I can’t even grasp how it completely failed

Clutchless

When they replaced it before, did they use a new or rebuilt steering rack? What was the warranty?

360LexusEs

platinum warranty, should have been a brand new steering rack.

Lexus called me says that My Intermediate shaft stripped inside the column spiral cable was broken 2300 dollar repair. Everyone I’ve spoken with in automotive so far has said that should never happen at 139k miles especially since I’m always on top of maintenance with this car. I reached out to corporate

salimshah

my 2c:

At least we have a cause [intermediate gear stripped] and collateral damage [steering column does not have a limiter to stop turning ... driver kept spinning the wheel breaking the spiral spring].

So why did the gear strip out ... [speculation ... during repair/assembly the meshing of gears was either too loose or too tight causing excessive wear ... till failure].

Theoretically this falls under repair warranty.... which should be 12 months from repair [check the invoice of repair]. You can do more investigation and see why you needed the replacement to begin with. Maybe that repair was partially done as they replaced certain parts but never addressed the cause.

My advice would be work with the dealership first and if you don't get to an agreement, get the corporate involved. Burning bridges with the dealership at the start may not be in your best interest. So focus on the right repair. Knowing where the cost to dealership also helps. Parts need to be supplied by Lexus corp [an item where Lexus corp can be of help to you ... again having the dealership bat for you would help]. Labor [would come out of the customer or the dealership (which is from their profits and gets collected by all other customers ... sad but true)]. Another detail is the Labor warrantee is eaten up by the mechanic ... so past the warranty period it is from dealer profits.

Choice is yours on how to carry it forward. Let us know how the issue is resolved. Personally I am most interested in finding the root cause of first repair.

Salim

360LexusEs

update is Lexus is taking no accountability and I am forced to pay despite the vehicles rack and pinion and belts failing while under warranty, the end.

Their argument? As a courtesy they paid for bulbs to be replaced on my RX while out of warranty -bulbs- that were repeatedly blowing out while under warranty -some bulbs replaced three times within a year- and for which they kept telling me they couldn’t find a reason. This also the same company that I had to take my vehicle back to three times in a month for them to diagnose a broken axle and yet Lexus is supposed to be top? If that’s the case I would hate to be a Kia owner.

interestingly enough I just found this

https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-...-for-refiling/

salimshah

Sad to hear this, and it would shake anybodies confidence in the vehicle lineup and the manufacturer.

I am still confused about the 'warranty'. What Lexus did out of warranty is 'great' but what is 'in warranty' according to Lexus. [There may be difference in opinion where you may think it should be under warranty and Lexus says 'no it is not']. There might be some fine print etc. You need to read the warranty terms.

Base warranty [most likely it is over; time and milage] Terms listed in owner's manual.... Note time is not the manufacture date but 'date in service' [when sold]
Extended warranty [either purchased/transferred or Lexus Certified pre-owned] ... this would have expiration based on milage/time. Terms listed in the contract.
Repair warranty [time/milage from date of repair] Terms listed in the invoice. [You may not have it if the previous repair was paid under any kind of warranty]. Ask for legal advice on this. IMHO if the repair was in warranty then you do not get an extension beyond the warranty that paid for it.

Please make sure you and the dealership are pursuing the right category. If you are past the expiration, then you are in the realm of goodwill. [maybe Lexus is saying they have already extended the goodwill ... bulbs etc]

If I was in your shoes, I would ask for a letter/statement on denial of warranty service.

Note: I am ignorant about 3rd party warranties. Also every warranty has fine prints to exclude items + negligence clauses + un-intended use etc.

Salim
PS: During negotiations, be careful about trying to force the hand in accepting liability by either party. This issue then can influence litigation [if pursued by either party].

360LexusEs

well to add injury to insult seems like they either didn’t do the alignment properly or didn’t do the job properly. My steering tends to pull to the right and pulls to every imperfection in the road

salimshah

If possible compartmentalize the issues.

Bad alignment: It gets reset and the last [steering] repair [hopefully included alignment in billing] is ultimately responsible for it. There should be a computer generated print out with before and after + acceptable tolerance [usually green-yellow-red]. Your vehicle can still pull due to other suspension and or tire issues. A good shop should inform the owner about suspension issues before tackling the alignment.
You should feel comfortable going back to have the alignment verified within warranty period of repair [specially if you paid for it].

I personally prefer going to a speed shop [which can be 1.5 to 2x dealership rates] for alignment. They are experts in using the tolerance values to maximize what you want.

You can also try swapping tires [front to back] to eliminate tire problems [new tires are the best way, but if lucky the swap can bring a good one in the front].

Salim

ECR

Questions regarding rack & pinion:
1. Can I use a 2013 is250 AWD rack & pinion to fit my 2014
2. I found a rack & pinion but the “left arm” is no good what would I need to get in order to fix it and what are the referring to on the left arm?
3. Where’s a good website with link to get a 2014 lexus is250 rack & pinion AWD?

Droid13

Wow, two steering failures and broken axle. Sorry to hear. Unfortunately, when the warranty is done, the warranty is DONE especially with a 13yr old highish mileage vehicle. Regardless of what happened while under the warranty, regardless of what they replaced and whether they did the job properly or not 5 yrs ago, it would be exceptionally unusual for any car manufacturer to cover any issue of any kind at this point. Maybe a few months or couple thou miles out of warranty, a big maybe, but not at this point. I know you referenced an issue about steering failures in other cars, and yes, Toyota did have some issues with the electric power steering system in the early days but I don't recall it being particularly wide spread or so catastrophic. The bulbs as you say were never covered under warranty, which is correct. But it does speak to perhaps some kind of serious electrical intermittent glitch going on that might not be easily found sitting in the mechanic's garage. With your steering system seemingly having been in shambles, perhaps there is a correlation as that system is electrical too. If after repairs, you still have bulbs blowing regularly, find the "Exit" door. Never nice to stick your issues on someone else, but life's lesson sometimes is you have to look after yourself first. My 10 RX450H is mainly driven by my daughter now, and is treated like used toilet paper mostly, but mechanically it remains issue free after 170K miles. Even every light bulb is still all original (well, except for the DRLs which I changed for a different colour temp).