Greetings- long time lurker, first time poster.

my 2019 300h UL has 13K miles and yesterday morning I had no USB connectivity- had it the night before without issues.

After troubleshooting with several cords and another iPhone, I concluded it was the USB ports. Called dealership, reserved loaner and dropped off this morning. After lunch the service writer called and said the USB was shorted, the usb is integrated into the radio control unit and the radio unit has to be replaced. They had to order the part, it’ll be here in two days and likely the car will not be ready until Tuesday.

I love the car and haven’t had any issues, but this is extremely disappointing. I avoided MB and BMW because of excessive gadgetry that exponentially increased repair risks. Now the USB, and supposedly radio unit, have failed in a Lexus with 13K miles.

I’ll update how the repair turns out and if there are any gifts that keep on giving (like rattles). It’s been a great car and hopefully we move past this without more gremlins surfacing in this new model year car.

 

Hopefully this will be a rare occurrence for you. With the complexity of a modern car its a small wonder we don't see more failures. I'm not trying to discount the issue you have experienced, but rather just put some context to it. Statistically, this is still a very reliable brand and in particular, a reliable model - but definitely not perfect.

Hopefully you won't have any more gremlins and the dealer doesn't install any new ones during the repair. Please let us know how it goes.

 

No brand bullet proof. If you find one that is, please let us know.

 

Any chance it's related to Lexus' poor choice of placement next to the cupholder facing up? Heaven forbid anything slosh out of the cup 1in away from the USB's. And go figure you have to plug into those for Apple CarPlay or Android Auto (if you're lucky enough to have a 2020).

 

First instance of this happening since 2013 on the ES forum AFAIK...

 

​​Were the USB plugs facing skyhigh like little cups immediately next to the cupholders on the 6th gen ES?

 

In the 2013 which I had, it was inside the center console under a lid. I believe that it was changed in subsequent years or after a model update... Members with later model years will have to check in and let us know.

 

Not only under the console lid but equipped with a rubber "cap/plug" to keep debris and moisture out if not in use. Use of the rubber plug is up to the owners' discretion (personally I find it annoying when switching USB drives).

 

2018 models were also in center console,under the lid.That is one thing I really miss about my 6 Gen.They should have never moved it.

 

Lexus shouldn't have changed a lot of things IMO... Liked that you had a summer/winter setting for the windscreen wipers... GONE...

 

I picked the car up this afternoon. There was poor/little communication from the dealership, enough said on that.

It is fixed, all the panels on the console are aligned and there was no damage. Both ports are working and apple CarPlay is also working. It was covered under factory warranty. The repair took five days, partly b/c the parts had to be ordered. I am very glad to have the car back, the NX loaner was nice, but nothing like the ES with UL.

There was a very interesting note made by the service technician. I will try to scan and upload later but the message indicates the tech was unable to troubleshoot and had to open a TAS. The tech stated that he spoke to “Chuck” who indicated the entire radio control unit had to be replaced as well as the accessory hub. Chuck also went on to say, “ USB is for a data transfer only, not charging of devices and damage to the vehicle can and will result from plugging smart phones into the USB outlets. The USB outlets are rated for less than one amp.”

I’ll let that sink in for a minute... obviously someone is mistaken. How in the world can one use apple CarPlay without plugging a phone in via USB?

I looked up the parts online, cross referenced to the part numbers listed on the ticket. OEM parts alone retail from Lexus parts @ $2,800...

 

That sounds like a Service Dept response if I've ever heard one. That same service dept will probably void your warranty if you put different brand tires on your car after the OEM ones wear out. Make sure you don't let them upgrade you to synthetic blinker fluid next time the ES is there.

If Lexus really wanted to keep you from charging on that port they could have removed the charging pin from the USB port. Its the same pin on all USB ports.

 

Interesting. What difference between the seasonal settings?

 

Some cars allow you to lift the windshield wipers so that they rest on windshield slightly above the region where they normally are. That way snow does not harden on your wipers and trap it in the area between the hood and the windshield. At this higher setting the windshield wipers do no travel all the way down.

Not a problem that we face here in Florida.