autiger71

I have a 2007 ES350 with 36k miles. My adaptive radar cruise control failed the other day. Little red triangle came on and a message said Check PCS. I could not turn off the radar part of the cruise control and the dealer couldn’t turn off the warning. Therefore, I couldn’t even use my cruise control until it was repaired. I took it to the dealer hoping that it would not be that expensive to repair. I was totally wrong. Fortunately, it was covered under warranty. The diagnostics said to replace 1 of 3 modules. The first module that the diagnostics pointed to didn’t fix it. They ended replacing the radar unit behind the grill and an ECU associated with the cruse control. I have always left the radar unit turned on every time that I have used the cruise control for the past 4 years. It was raining slightly when it failed. I don’t know if this had anything to do with the failure. If you are using the cruise with the radar turned on and it starts to rain or snow very hard it will disable the cruise. You can turn the radar off and use the cruise if you want to. I don’t know if it’s by design or the water effects the detector. Anyway, it has been repaired and I think that it works even better than before it failed. Now for the rest of the story. It would have cost almost $6,000.00 if it had not been covered by the warranty.
I you decide that you want/need this on your car you might want to consider the initial cost, and the cost to repair. It a great safety feature and I use it every time that I turn the cruise on. It will keep you a safe distance from the car in front of you and it will definitely keep you from running into the back of someone if you are distracted. When I first got the car I was on a 2 lane road and a car came out of a side road and crossed in front of me. The radar detected the vehicle before I could react and applied the brakes. I also applied the brakes (although a split second later) When I applied the brakes the seat belts tightened and the breaking was even more aggressive.
I was wondering if anyone with this feature has had a failure. They said that this failure was extremely rare.
Thank you Lexus for standing behind your cars.