woodgrain

Hi All -

Been a long time CL lurker w/ a few posts. Thanks for the great site. After 6 flawless years w/ our 2003 ES300 I am now shopping for an 05/06 LS430 as a replacement. I have been researching and watching the market for the last few months, and I wanted to get the forum's opinion on something I seem to have noticed, but I haven''t seen discussed here (sorry if I missed it).

It appears to me that some 04-06 LS430s w/ the Walnut interior trim have discoloration. The discoloration results in a bright yellowish/orange look to the wood. Best guess is that it may be sun related. Some cars seem worse than others.

At first I thought this was just how it was supposed to look, but looking at the original 05/06 Lexus brochures (thanks CL), as well as some examples of presumably better-kept cars, it seems this wood was originally a rich brown and over time has turned this brighter yellow/orange color.

The "Antiqued" Walnut in the CL/UL version seems less affected, although some seem to show this same effect in the middle of the trim that's less darkened. The Maple trim (cashmere/ecru int) doesn't seem to have this issue, and seems to have held up much better. It also seems like the steering wheels have discolored more on the walnut trim, and even on better kept cars, seem more yellow/orange than the other interior trim.

Does anyone else notice this issue? I was very surprised I couldn't find discussion of it here... Did I miss it? As you can see from my "name" the quality of wood trim in a Lexus is one of my favorite aspects. I'm frustrated because I'd really like a black leather interior, but these were only available w/ the Walnut in 04-06 years. At this point I'm leaning towards finding a CL as the best compromise, or learning to live w/ ecru/cashmere interior to get the maple instead. The last black int I was in person was _very_ orange/yellow looking on all the wood.

Here are a few examples of the discolored wood where the yellow/orange is more visible. Based on the few I've seen in person, it shows most in bright/sun light. I think some photos are deceiving, and make the wood look better than it does in person (for example, dealers who photo the cars indoors under lower light):




What do you all think? Do others with the black int look like this and you just live with it? Anybody seen a black interior car in person that _didn't_ have this yellow/orange look (I have yet to, but I haven't seen too many yet)?

Thanks in advance!

Gannet

I just bought an '06 UL with the black interior. It has this condition to varying degrees. It seems clearly to be sun fade as the more sun a particular area gets, the worse the fade. On my car the top of the steering wheel is the worst, the bottom of the steering wheel less so, and the top edge of the CD door is still very dark, as it is shaded. The trim around the rear center armrest controls remains the original color, so far as I can tell.

I don't see how you could fix this other than by replacing the components (I have to believe these steering wheels are pricy), or removing them and having them refinished. I'd like to get it attended to, but we'll just have to see what it will cost.

Probably there are examples out there that don't have the condition if they were always garaged and not driven much. However, low-mileage examples appear to be very thin on the ground so I would imagine such cars are scarce.

woodgrain

Hi Gannet - Thanks for the input.

Disappointing to here you are noticing it on a UL pkg car, I was hoping the CL/UL's would hold up better due to the "Antique" finish used. I haven't seen one in person yet, so I wasn't sure if it was better or just the photos looked better, etc.

Any chance you can snap a few pics of the problem areas vs. the rear armrest? That's definitely a good comparison spot since the cover would mean it gets very little sun.

If I owned a car with this issue, I'd say it would be worth a quick call to Lexus and my dealer. I'm surprised to see such dramatic fading on a six year old vehicle in this class. Technically its out of warranty, but it seems uncharacteristic of Lexus in general. My 9 year old ES300's wood (black leather w/ bordeaux style wood) looks essentially like it did on day 1. I've noticed this is also the stain/style they moved to on the black leather LS460s - Perhaps because it does hold up better.

I looked into this briefly by looking up the various parts one might replace. The cost skyrockets pretty quickly for an all-out replacement w/ OEM parts. Particularly because the door panels are purchased as one item, and are over $1500 each, then hundreds for each other trim piece, etc.

I'm wondering if tint might help. I also have seen this on a number of Florida cars (I see that's your location). I wonder if that's a factor w/ lots of heat/sun exposure. I'm thinking possibly a less affected car might be protected w/ tint. Does anyone have black int w/ tint that can comment?

lexontario

It is important to condition the clear coat over the wood.. it is a clear paint and over time the chemicasl (leak) out.
Think of and old car that never gets waxed and the paint is cracked..Maguirs has a polish that restores the chemicals in the paint before the paint is waxed. The polish is a conditioner for the paint/clear coat...
keeping your clear coated wood from drying out and in top shape

sajack

The top of the steering wheel is usually the first part to turn yellow. The rest of my wood is perfect, but the steering wheel top has yellowed. This is nearly impossible to prevent unless you cover the wheel with a tacky Wal-Mart cover, ha!

woodgrain

So has anyone, particularly original owners, talked to their dealers or Lexus corporate about this issue? I don't own an affected vehicle (yet), but since I am considering a purchase I might give a call as well... Not expecting much, just curious where they stand and if they acknowledge this is an issue.

I would also think this is clearly a production/design issue, not normal wear-and-tear. The maple trim has not discolored in any 430s I've seen, nor has older wood in my ES300 or other models I've seen. It seems to be a problem w/ this particular wood and stain combination. Frustrating since it was the only wood offered w/ black leather from 04-06. I like the maple trim better, and it holds up nicely, but I'm not sure if its worth having to go w/ the tan/ecru leather... I had decided to stick w/ a 2006 430 vs an early 460, but maybe its time to rethink that decision.

I'm going to see some more cars this week + weekend, hopefully some less affected examples, so maybe it won't be as bad as the few I've seen already... It sounds like most people aren't too bothered by it, judging by the responses here so far. It also seems that tinted cars are less affected, so perhaps that's a reasonable way to prevent further discoloration down the road as well.

sajack

Hey, at least it's wood and not some fakey-do plastic stuff!

Playdrv4me

This is exactly what I was thinking. All they're going to say is that BECAUSE it's a premium grade wood, aging is merely a "natural" response to time and environmental conditions as opposed to the cheap wood veneers on lower class cars. I certainly don't remember this on my UL, and I can't imagine being bothered by it.

woodgrain

Can't argue there. In fact the _finish_ still holds up quite nicely, and I like it, even discolored, much better than matte finish wood in other makes, and of course night and day versus the plastic "wood" in some cars.

As I mentioned, I didn't realize it wasn't supposed to be like that at first! I thought it looked like _nice_ yellowish-orange stained wood. The grain and finish as still quite impressive.

But in photos/videos where it has not faded, particularly the antiqued walnut, is just a nicer color to my preference. Actually I like the red-ish stained maple most of all (I think it was called "Bordeaux" maple) - apparently only in 01-03 in the US however (I did see it on an 06 in an overseas video).

I'm planning to see a Custom Lux w/ the antiqued walnut soon, and if the fading isn't bad it just might win me over. I'll just have to get some tint on it, maybe a UV-only tint on the front windshield, and hope that prevents any further issues...

For others, here is the link to the sales brochures that show colors/wood per model year: LS430 Sale Brochures

woodgrain

I guess I just get stuck on the fact that none of the other wood types have this "natural" aging. We are talking about highly finished wood that's only 6-7 years old. All the maple wood trim I've seen from 2005-2006 cars look consistent with no discoloration. Presumably something in the dyes/stain used in this particular finish is just particularly UV sensitive.

That's probably a key point. I am in "car buying mode" and I'm probably getting a bit too "detail focused" at this stage... I could have probably lived with the discoloration I've seen, and I'm thinking they might have been some of the worst examples too (def worse than the photos above). The UL would have had the antiqued walnut, which does seem to discolor less presumably because of the antiquing finish added.

Playdrv4me

Yeah I'm not defending Lexus, just saying I can completely see them turning the whole situation around to their favor if a big enough stink can be made about it.