Hello first time posting on the forums, I have a 2007 Lexus ES350 and am experiencing a from what seems as a very common issue. For years my dash has been very sticky and virtually uncleanable and it seems as if it's literally melting. Thought this entire time I just got a bad dash or the California time sun over time did it's own thing, but after doing some research looks like it is very common and was recalled? Wish I looked it up sooner. My question is how can I get warranty to cover it cause it's a obvious issue, they acknowledge it and at times the glare it gives off on the windshield is dangerous. Who do I call or get in contact with to fix this? Please help, thanks!

 

Welcome to CL.
This has been discussed many times and if you do a search on a term such as dashboard melting, you will find out what you need to know.
You can also just call your local dealer, give them the VIN and ask if they will still cover the melting dashboard under the recall.

 

Local dealer wouldn't even connect me to the service department and said I would get a call back (Never Happened). Ended up calling corporate and they told me they offered a customer assistance program for that but it ended in 2017 and that I'm out of luck and would need to fork over 2k+ for a new dash. I don't understand why this isn't a recall it's not only annoying but a safety hazard it's so shiny that under sunlight it literally glares onto my windshield. I need to figure something out I don't know who to get into contact to change this dash cause I'm not spending a dollar they know very well it's a issue. This dash is ruining it for me, car is really well kept I'm at 316k miles with 0 issues. If anyone has any info on how they got theirs changed out of the "Customer Assistance Extended Warranty" program it would be a great help!

 

Unfortunately you seem to be SOL. I had a 07 that I got rid of because of this same issue. They actually extended it twice and they extended a third time for whatever reason the 2008-2012 ES not the 07 but that to has expired. I tried to scream and pout to the dealer and then to corporate, had it escalated and the lady basically told me to kick rocks. I can tell I got her annoyed as she got a little feisty with me, basically she told me your cars over a decade old at what point do you think we should no longer be responsible? We sent out letters (she had the date’s when the previous owner was notified) informing the owner of the potential issue and no action was taken.

If you love the car that much I’d try to find a dash from a 2011, 2012 in a junk yard that’s in good shape. That was my plan before I just pulled the plug and got rid of it, I tried a dash mat and it looked even worse.

 

I think what Lexus did was reasonable, they offered dash replacement for 10yrs. They can not be held responsible forever. This is not a safety issue.
this is standard response from auto manufacture. Back in the day when Honda had transmission failures they extended warranty to 100k/7yr, they did not make it unlimited warranty.

 

Looking at it from the outside in its very reasonable. When you have skin in the game it makes you not so happy. My 07 was over the threshold by literally 3 months when it first started. I had weird dull spots when I first got it that I didn’t think twice about but coincidentally after I had the recalled passenger airbag replaced it started with a tiny crack and then bam it was spreading like wild fire! There’s a kit where you can fill the cracks, paint the dash, and put a clear polyurethane over it but I didn’t love the car that much. If it was mint I would of probably done it but it was a 5’ car. From 5’ away the paint looked awesome, with a ton of gloss but get a little closer and you can tell the previous owner liked to use a rake to scrape the snow off of the poor car.

The weird fading that I just thought was just fading, but in retrospect it was the rubber starting to break down.

 

When it gets to the point where it starts glaring on your windshield, or in other words impairing vision while driving please explain to me how it's not a safety issue? Spoke to corporate and local dealer and after a few nice words with them I got them to make a appointment where they will diagnose it and send pictures off to corporate free of charge where work order will either get approved or denied. Will be very disappointed if work order does not get approved. Been a loyal Lexus customer for many years and I have had nothing but positive experience with Lexus up until this point. We will see what happens.

 

When it gets to the point where it starts glaring on your windshield, or in other words impairing vision while driving please explain to me how it's not a safety issue? Spoke to corporate and local dealer and after a few nice words with them I got them to make a appointment where they will diagnose it and send pictures off to corporate free of charge where work order will either get approved or denied. Will be very disappointed if work order does not get approved. Been a loyal Lexus customer for many years and I have had nothing but positive experience with Lexus up until this point. We will see what happens.

 

Crap! and I thought this was just an issue with 2007-2012 LS460s. The same rubberized materials are used. I guess I 'd need to go 2013 and up Lexus models

 

It's only 2007-2009 models. The 2010-2012 cars don't have this issue.

 

I'm in the same boat. Second owner of a 2007 ES and realized the issue too late. I bought a black carpet dash mat from eBay and have had it for four years now. Its not perfect, but it gets rid of the glare so it doesn't become dangerous.

 

I agree, but manufactures and their lawyers have a different opinion on this, otherwise it would be a recall…

 

I have 2012, and still got warrant extension, but my dashboard is fine as of now… wonder why they included 2012s in it

 

If they included 2010-2012 in the tsb or program or whatever they are calling it now there is an issue. It might be that ten years is around the magic number. When I got mine only issue was that discoloration I posted above but it quickly escalated to melting/ cracks. If I had a 2012 with no issues I would still try to get it done if it’s still an option.

 

i have until November. Doubt they will replace it if it looks good.