I am so disappointed in Lexus. A while back, I notice what looked like a very light scratch below the passenger airbag. I thought maybe I scratched it or something. During the course of the winter, it slowly began to enlarge into a full crack. My 2015 GS350 has about 65,000 miles.

Come to find out they had a program for this issue but just discontinued it, right around the time these models are likely to see the issue occur. They are telling me there is now nothing they can do and it is my problem basically.

I expected so much more from Lexus, both from an engineering and service perspective. Any suggestions? Sadly, I don’t know if I will be ever buying a Lexus again after this…

 

Is a 10-year-old car.... Regardless to have 65k on it. Don't have a lifetime warranty. Like you say, have o program for this issue, but you miss or don't have the crack yet. Is your problem not the dealer. Sorry for your problem.

 

Your car was first put into service 11 years ago. It has been driven 65,000 miles and probably parked outside in the sun's heat and radiation and cold probably many hundreds, if not many thousands of hours. I'm guessing you are the second or third - or maybe the fourth owner of the car. Lexus sent a letter to all owners-of-record informing them about this issue and supported owners with a replacement dash at no charge if needed. Apparently you were not the owner at that time or the dash was in good condition and didn't show signs of a problem.

You can be upset if you wish, but other top luxury brands handle issues like this in a similar manner or less appealingly. If you never buy another (probably used) Lexus again, do you really think anyone will notice or care?

You should re-think your complaint and ponder a more intelligent understanding of the matter...

 

@Taxman923 its unfortunate that you're dash is problematic but Lexus did more than many car companies to offer the program for an extended period beyond the normal 4yr/50k mile bumper to bumper warranty. There are many others over the years in the RX forum that have experienced this same problem as well.

Here are my suggestions:

• Dealers often outsource things like leather seat repair, wheel repair, etc. Look for a shop that specializes in interior/dashboard repairs to see if they can offer something that fits your budget and expectations if you are trying to avoid the dealer and their labor prices.
• A Toyota dealer or a good local automotive repair shop would be able to perform the same dashboard replacement for less. Believe it or not, the OEM dashboard is under $100 https://parts.lexus.com/p/Lexus__/Da...0130780C0.html). It's not an expensive part, its just a labor intensive install. You could buy the OEM dash and have someone other than Lexus install it.
• Purchase some kind of dashboard skin or cover.

My GS has been far from perfect. If I listed all the issues i've had with my '13 GS with 75k miles, i'm sure you'd say i'm very tolerant for keeping such a "headache" but I wouldn't hesitate to buy or recommend the Lexus brand to anyone in spite of the issues i've had.

If my dashboard had a crack, I personally would get it fixed locally and avoid the dealer outside of the warranty.

 

Thanks for the thoughtful and helpful response. I did not realize the part was this low cost. Still pretty frustrating as I did not receive the notice and could have brought it in on time if I had received it. Lexus does make great vehicles which is why a failure of this nature surprised me.

 

You can excuse the design flaw which Lexus acknowledged if you like. I don’t think the average person expects their Lexus dash to crack after 65k miles. Maybe I expected too much, but it is engineering excellence and service that is core to the brand. Claps for doing something I guess, but most customers will have the issue occur around when that program ended and will be left with a nasty, visible crack in their luxury vehicle. I’ve never had that in any of my other vehicles. They extended the program bc they know it’s embarrassing for the brand and it is not what the design engineers intended on a part that should last the life of the vehicle.

 

I’m wondering if a good upholstery shop could cut the portion of that covers the airbag out of a new one and reinstall in the old one to avoid the labor of removing the entire dashboard.

 

Lexus is charging me around $950… They said they are charging internal labor. You think it’s a good deal? Part is $100.

 

I think its a good price. You're getting the dealer to do the work and if anything is problematic, they should be able to rectify. It seems a bit low, but if the Lexus dealer is willing to only charge $950, I personally wouldn't hesitate especially if that was my trusted dealer (there are some local Lexus dealers that I wouldn't even let wash my GS! I'll drive an hour to my preferred dealer because the customer service and work is night and day).

Here's why that price is very fair for your GS:

• 2015 LS Owner quoted $16,000 for his 2015 LS dashboard replacement: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...dashboard.html
• RX330 owner got it done for $771 at an upholstery shop: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...l#post11697491
• Another RX owner quoted $2,800 from the dealer: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...dashboard.html

 

Go to Toyota. Beter labor, last on the labor. Check out.