ccbj2008

Brand new 2016 RX350 (300miles) got water leaking from roof around the front dome light after 1st car wash, we got rain yesterday and leaks again now i have to keep a towel inside my car and maybe a rain coat later. No sunroof. It's truly ridiculous for a new luxury car like Lexus. I contacted dealer and they want the car checked and fixed but i am really upset about being repaired for my new car. I am looking into Lemon Law to see if i could get a replacement new car because i do believe that is a defect car. Any suggestion??? Thanks.

kitlz

ccbj2008, sorry to hear your new RX is leaking. Please give the dealer a chance to inspect the source of the leak. I suspect it might have something to do with the roof rack. Maybe one of the screws holding it in place was not properly sealed. You can also get in touch with Lexus Corporate at (800) 255-3987 to let them know what's going on.

As someone who went the lemon law route, it's a lot of work. And no guarantees your case will be accepted or even that you'll win.

Good luck and keep us posted.

ccbj2008

Anita, thanks.
I will keep my appt. with the dealer next week. However, my car comes with no roof rack or sunroof.
Charlie

JDR76

Perhaps the window didn't properly seal. Should be a pretty easy fix.

kitlz

Wow, no moonroof or roof rack? You have a rare RX, Charlie. Do you have a strip maybe made of plastic where the roof rack would normally be? I know FWD 3RXs did. They didn't come with roof racks. I hope you realize I'm guessing about the source of the leak. The dealer is going to investigate it when you bring your RX in next week. In the meantime you could try to find out where the water is coming in by pouring some in different areas of the roof. But I'll understand if you don't want to. Again, I'm sorry you're having this problem so soon. Fingers crossed it's something simple.

RXOwner

You will find the lemon law harder to take advantage of than you think. Let the dealer have a chance. Hard to see how it could be leaking with no sunroof.

Maybe a rubber plug in the roof is missing as the holes for the rook rack bars might be there even though no bars are present.

Comfort

Most state lemon laws require that the dealer be given several attempts to fix (3) and then Mfctr one. You file with BBB Auto Line during this time and if the issue isn't fixed final repair attempt it can go to arbitration unless Lexus decides to pay. Normally you have a cash option or a replacement vehicle. Or you can hire an attorney but that can get spendy.
Google your state for lemon law, they all vary a little.

ccbj2008

thank you, every one!

coolsaber

Best advice ^ by comfort.

1) Approach Dealer
2) Make sure all communications and service records indicate issue
3) Let Dealer figure out a solution

JT4

Sorry to hear about your issue, and I agree that this shouldn't have happened. My advice is this, as angry as you may be don't take it out on your dealer, let them try to fix the problem.

Lemon law will give the dealer 3 attempts to correct the problem, and after three attempts if the problem is still there it's not as though Lexus is going to hand you the keys to a new RX or give you your money back. In my personal experience unless it is a safety related problem (and even if it is) it is very difficult to enforce the Lemon Law. Even using an attorney who specializes in these type of cases.

I tried using the Lemon Law on a previous MB, when it was all over it took 14 months to get MB to agree to a buyback, not Lemon Law. MB never admitted that the ML had any problems and they considered the buyback a "goodwill gesture". By the time it was all over the ML had been in service 18 times, it was exhausting. And even after they agreed to the buyback it still took MBUSA another 6 weeks to get me out of the vehicle.

Sorry for the long post, but I just wanted to explain that the Lemon Law is not all it's cracked up to be.

Good Luck, I hope everything works out well for you.

coolsaber

Yup Mfgs only do the buyback when they realize the cars clearly falls into the lemon category. They do it right before since if the car gets labeled a Lemon its a goings to be very hard to sell later on after they fix the car. 14 months is an increadibly long time, what was with the hold up?

+100000000 to the dont take it out on the dealer bit. Firm but persisent as they are the ones who are you direct communicators with the mfg (they can suggest and make happen buybacks like that).

JT4

Exactly, the GM of my dealership told me that one of the first things he did when he got involved was to reach out to staff at the dealership that either me or my wife had been in contact with. He was told by everyone that even though we kept having problems neither of us ever screamed or made a scene, we were always nice to everyone. He said that everyone told him that he should do whatever was possible to help us. It also didn't hurt that when he contacted MBUSA they told him that I spoke very highly of the dealership both over the phone and in any correspondence I sent to them.

In regards to why the hold up.. Well MB never admitted there was a problem, not at the dealer level but up at the corp (MBUSA) level. I had an MB rep drive the car with me and the shop foreman and it hesitated so badly trying to cross traffic that I think he needed to change his underpants. And even then he never admitted there was a problem. So at that point the dealers hands are tied...

Looking back at it over the years I should have gotten the GM involved a lot sooner and I'm sure it would have been resolved sooner. When I got the GM involved things started moving very quickly.. BTW, this was a 2011 ML.

rogerh00

I just watched a show on cable TV called "how they build it or similar". I watched a Corvette and a Tesla. Before the cars left the line it was put thru a typhoon rain test with a tech inside using a flashlight checking for any leaks in all the seams and screws before it left.

It's hard to not believe Lexus doesn't have a similar test. Which leads me to believe the leak was probably developed in shipping and transport somehow. I can envision several ways it may have happened. Good luck, the dealer should be able to isolate the problem and fix it.

echo2400

My husband was in inspections on the Camry. All cars were ran through water and wend test. He said it is usually the windshield.

ccbj2008

You are right, thanks.
The dealer called me today because they could not find any leaking after they tried many time, so I return to dealer this pm again and within 2 min, I replicated the leaking again! I could not believe that they've checked many times? Finally they told me that the leaking is from windshield, just like you said. However, I was told they have to order the new windshield. I do not know if that's really necessary