Fern

I recently purchased a '99 rx300 which has the black/beige plastic trim around the climate control screen faded.

Upon closer inspection it appears that the trim is not faded but rather warn out from use.
My vehicle has the beige leather and therefore the trim is beige with the black insert screen.

It was hoping the centre vents surrounding the nav/climate control screen could be replace alone, when in fact the dealer says it is a complete unit including screen at $1000 (can) plus installation.

This part stands out like a sore thumb and I find it hard to believe the screen has to be replaced also.

If the centre trim around the nav has to be replaced, does the screen also have to be done???

I'm finding this difficult to understand. Since I suspect lexus does not design their own screens they must be manufacturered as two distinct components, as such, why can't I purchase them that way? Is the dealer taking me for a ride?

The car has lexus extended warranty, however, it specifically excludes interior and exterior trim.

Help please,
Fern

Will49

The dash colored air-vent and black colored front bezel of the radio/NAV are the same piece of plastic and is just painted different colors. So to replace the faded bit, you would have to replace the entire thing which all integrated into the radio/NAV. Since I doubt Lexus stocks just the front bezel, it looks like the dealer is correct. You could check into getting the air-vent area painted though. If it was painted in the first place, that means it can be painted again and if done correctly, wouldn't look too bad. I'm pretty sure my dealer retouched some plastic trim in my RX300 using spray paint, so the correct color may be available directly somehow. Maybe another option would be to paint the entire thing black....

Fern

Thanks for the input.

I am taking car back on wednesday to have dealer bring in a plastic dye specialist to assess.

He already confirmed the beige colour can be touched up but the black can not.. Don't know why.

I will post pics after the repair.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks again,
Fern

jeremyp111

Acetone can be used to restore the faded black plastic, but you DEFINITELY want to test this on similar plastic before you go and do this to your dash. You may have to dilute it a bit with distilled water to get the desired results. I was able get the dash on my BMW black as black can be with acetone.

Good luck,

JP

ederny

So Fern,

I just wanted to check... It's not dirt is it? I supposed you tried cleaners.

Be real carful with acetone on plastic, it generally disloves most types.


Also, how about a picture of the before?

Ed

Fern

No not dirt... As I was hoping.

Dealer has car now and sorry did not get before shots.

Will definitely post after pics.

I am very picky and the way it was, just wasn't acceptable to me.

The wife and I were debating over the cost of replacing the component, the only thing that held me back from doing it was the concern that 3-4 years from now I might have the same problem.

I wouldn't try the acetone as it is in just too obvious of an area (centre of dash) and if I f--cked it up, I would never forgive myself.

Thanks for all the advise.

Ed, I still have the part numbers you sent me (thanks) and will be checking them out at the dealer if the fix is still unacceptable.

Fern

Fern

Picked up car yesterday after having dash touched up.

Long story short... Looks amazing.

They called in some dye specialist and he touched it up to the point where you have to be within 1 foot of the dash to notice.

Even the dye guy was impressed on how nice it came out.

Pictures to follow, in near future.

Thanks to all who made suggestions.

Cheers,

Fern

parula

The black "painted" area around the volume control on the radio faded on my '99. At first I tried cleaning it, just wet rag and then I realized I was actually removing the coating!! I stopped cleaning it but it got worse after 3 years there was a big ugly zone of etched paint near the volume **** with similar dmage around some other frequently-used *****.

On this new car I am going to keep the area clean from the start with just a damp rag, and make every effort not to touch the paint with fingers (what a nuisance) as I presume the problem is the acidity in the fingerprints that is doing the damage. This must be some very weak paint! Hopefully Lexus improved it in the later models. Who's the OEM for the painted plastic control panel?

I never touched the information screen area - and that is fine as are other untouched areas around the radio-HVAC controls.

J.B

I purchased a used '99 RX300 last May. It had only 63K Km and came from Saskatchewan, Canada (They do not use road salt!). I asked the dealer in Regina for a listing of all the work that was done on the car. I received over 9 pages of work orders (with VISA# blacked out). On one of them was the dash front bezel (radio, A/C control) replacement due to wear! Bill under warranty was over $1000 (Can). I giggled when I saw that but now, after reading what everyone said, I am glad the previous owner was so insistent about up-keeping his car (Have to trust those old doctors from the Prairies...).

Over two years after it was replaced, I cannot see any marking on the front dash.

Good luck

JB

Lexmexico

This was making a mountain out of a molehill. I had the same exact problem with my screen. I took it to a guy who painted my car black to match. Within 1 hour, he had the exact match for the black nav screen area, it was painted, paid $25 US and was on my way home.

parula

JB, tks for that news about the replacement holding up!

Maybe Lexus put some better paint on there after all those reported problems. Hoping for the best, and not touching, or cleaning, the control panel, much . . ...

ederny

I'm still wondering a bit about this. My RX 300 is a 6 of 99 model (June 99 production) and it seems the the trim part is not painted but solid color in the plastic.

parula

Ed, I thought so too on my '99, all I can tell you is that over just a mere year or two the "paint" around the volume **** where my finger touched the plate started to discolor slightly. Thinking this was just dirt, I lightly wiped it with a wet cloth thinking I was just cleaning the surface. But, over just a short period I realized I wasn't cleaning anything but rather was removing the paint or whatever is there. I could tell this as it appeared as though a layer of the surface was gone, I could feel the edge of the "dissolved??" area with my findernail.

I did not have any discoloration on the area around the vie screen, but I never touched it much or water/wet cleaned it.

As I said in this thread, I plan to keep the radio/HVAC control area clean on the '03 by just gripping the ***** keeping my fingers from touching the surface of the panel and HOPING JB has the answer and Lexus fixed the problem after the '99s.

Can anyone from Lexus confirm this?