HELP! My drain plugs are clogged. The Lexus Dealership noted that they need to be replaced and because they are under the dashboard (?) the cost of labor is pretty expensive. Has anyone gotten this servie before? My car has wet carpet and it's starting to reek. The quote I received was $1550 to have the plugs replaced and the carpet replaced. When I asked for the price w/o carpet being replaced, I was quoted $1150. Does this quote sound feasible? I don't mind spending the money if needed but this sounds a bit excessive to me. Thoughts anyone? Thanks in advance!

 

Possibly a Toyota dealership would do it for less, if only because of the difference in the hourly labor rate.

 

If you do have them do it and they do need to take the dash apart might as well have them install the dash quieting kit too for an extra bonus.

 

I thought there was a tsib for this!

 

There is a tsb for it, but his car is an 06 i doubt he has any remaining warranty.

 

the dash doesnt have to come out. if you want to save yourself $$$ go to a autoshop. tell them you need to remove a grommet that is above the torque converter. You can remove it by removing the intake manifold and fishing it out with your hand. Or raise the car in the air and snake your hand and arm on the drivers side of transmission to pull out the nipple. Then remove all your rubber body plugs from under the car and watch the water pure out. Drive home with the plugs out, buy a wet vac. unbolt the front seats and remove them from car. Vacuum the carpet and spray with lysol. Remove floormats and dry separately in the sun. Take car out to the sun and fully blast the heat with windows all closed and moonroof tilted for hour or two ( take keys out, drivers window down, push lock on doors and auto close drivers window) When your satisfied with results install body plugs.

 

Interesting, pictures of what body plugs you are reffering to would probably be helpfull to the op.

 

I have read about this issue from Consumers Auto guide. Does this issue only pertain to a certain model year? Is there a way to prevent this from happening?

 

what in the world are you talking about? the guys talking about his ac

 

Try contacting Lexus Corp and tell them your situation. If you are lucky they may cover the cost or part of it even tough you are out of warranty.

 

I was out of warranty and they covered mine on my 06 GS300. (it was not easy to get them to cover it, but they did) The floor behind my passenger seat was soaked and the only way I really noticed that I had this issue was my windows were fogged up in the morning before I got in the car, so I knew there was a problem. This is a common problem and Lexus is well aware of it. The water from the AC backs up into the car instead of draining outside because it is blocked. It is very expensive to repair and they dried the carpet which you really need to do unless you want mold problems. If I had to pay at the dealership, it would have been $1500-2k.

 

I don't get it, shouldn't it be possible for them to just snake up some kind of auger to get the crud out? If a pipe gets blocked in your house you don't tear the wall out and replace the pipe.

 

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure every single person I've seen post having this problem has lived in one of those really hot humid places that pretty much remain that way year round. The climate probably promotes the growth of the scum that eventually blocks the pathway.

 

I am in Florida and someone else I chatted with that had the same problem when mine was clogged was from Hawaii. There could be some climate correlation especially since we run our air all year and not just in the summer months. Mine was 1000 miles out of warranty when it flooded inside and the dealership said they would not cover it, so I called Lexus directly and told them that 1) it had to have been backing up inside the car before the warranty ran out considering there was so much water in the carpet and 2) because of this forum, I knew that it had been an issue that they are aware of in the 2006 GS.
It took 2 days to get it approved but they covered it and they had it at the dealership for almost a week to fix it and dry the carpet. I paid nothing out of pocket. I know there are several others on this forum that were not so lucky. If you are several thousands of miles out of warranty ask Lexus North America to at least cover a portion of it because of the bulletin. Good Luck- Bev

 

I'm in Louisiana and its humid as hell here and so far i have been very lucky mine has not clogged up.