My trunk has been leaking and the dealership has had a third party correcting the leak as the sales department sold me the car in that condition and when I pointed it out to them they told me it was from the detailing of the trunk carpet. Today I decided to pull back the carpeting and pour water over the taillight area and notice the water coming through this opening. What is this item for?

 

Here's some info on that ventilator...https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...r-leaking.html

I know this is for an earlier Gen, but still applies.

The trunk vent serves a couple of purposes: 1. allows air to escape when you close the trunk (making it easier to close), and 2. a path for the HVAC air to escape and keep the interior air circulating.

If this is leaking from you pouring water over the taillight, then there is some kind of leak around the taillight gasket or in the vent flaps themselves. Inspect the gasket and this trunk vent carefully and see if there are any tears/breaks.

 

I had a similar leak on one of my previous cars (non Lexus) and fixed it myself by removing the vent assembly and re-sealing the edge of it. It's installed from the outside so the bumper cover must be pulled loose to access it. Most any body shop or mechanic should be able to fix that if you point out the problem.

 

Thank you for the replies, this helps a bunch.