Was the dash always sticky like a piece of candy? I have an 03 and don;t want mine to turn out like this. Although, my steering wheel has premature wear and the car only has 30,000 miles. Would the dealer cover this? The wear is on top of the steering wheel and it feels sticky when I drive

 

The post by "Lexus 2002" raises the question of whether the dashboard stickiness effect we're describing is there from the beginning, or is something that deteriorates over time. Personally I've found I become more intimately acquainted with the details of my car (as with anything) over a period of time. If part of my dash was always sticky, I may not have noticed it until later. But then again, it may have been fine initially (at least visually), but then began to change. In other words, I can't answer this question, because I didn't go over my car with a mangnifying glass when I got it, as though I were expecting precisely the problem we've been describing. Perhaps others have a better recollection of the shape their dash (or steering wheel) was in when they first acquired their cars.

 

All good questions….. I noticed mine right away when I get the car cause the dash was all scrached up looking. I am going to call the guy I got it from and ask if he remembers anything. .. I'll get back with what I learn..

Here is a theory I’ll through out for discussion. I wonder if heat, over time, causes the problem. My car is from Florida and it was not garaged. Seems interesting that the lower part of my dash does not have the problem however all the sun-exposed areas on the dash does. The airbag is a separate component of the dash and may accept (or accumulate) heat differently then the rest of the dash. Likewise, the top of steering wheel may be the same way. Mine may have an extreme condition because the car sat outside under the Florida sun and was not driven much (I purchased it last year with 12K and it is an early 2002). My car is also black for extra heat. Maybe, in theory, the paint composition is similar to some plastics. I do know plastics decompose over time in the sun and the chemical resins evaporate or find their way accumulating on the inside of the window glass. All cars have it; this is the odd rainbow-ish film that wipes off when you clean them. Maybe the type of paint used on the dash is categorically different then the typical paint finishes used elsewhere (rubberized??). This may make it more susceptible to breakdown when in extreme heat.

Thoughts?

 

In theory all is possible. I can tell you that if I wanted to take my finger nail the rubberized coating would scratch off fairly easily. I'm very cautious on this part of the dash for this reason. I'm not sure if possibly one cause could be an "armor all" cleaner that breaks the material down and causes it to become sticky and non adherant. I know my steering wheel is an issue at this point. I'm going to bring it to the dealer and hopefully they will cover it. It's fairly annoying when driving due to the "stickiness".

 

Wow...for a while guys i was sitting here thinkin that i was the only person that had this problem...and fortunately at the time of my "melting dash" problem, my lex was still under warranty and after days of complaining, the dealership decided to put in a brand new airbag with labor and everything for free. besides the fact that the new airbag dash peice is a shade lighter than the rest of the dash due to it being brand new, i am very happy...i was the third owner of the car, so who knows what kind of chemicals were applied to the dash, but the material definately has a major defect in it...just to make sure that the rest of the dash doesnt start to turn into this sticky mess as well, i use a window shade whenever i leave my car outside on sunny days (florida sun is rediculous), but other wise my car stays in the garage ..good luck guys..my advise would to just keep nagging the dealership until they realize that they are dumb..lol..get on em everyday about it..soon enough they will take some sort of action and stop giving you those lame excuses. g/l

 

Ok, so this evening I went out and examined my dash. I took notice of the areas everyone else is having problems with. I came to the conclucion that this problem must have persisted from day one. Possibly a defect in the mixture used to create the coating or an adherant problem. My dash doesn't have this problem and only the top of the steering wheel is defective. This is not acceptable. I even use Lenox leather conditioner on it. I feel this problem was a day one issue as well and just worsened over the next couple years. Input???

 

My car is garaged, but that doesn't mean I never park in a hot parking lot doing errands, etc. If a car is marketed/sold in a hot climate though, it should be able to withstand the temperatures encountered there, right? I think heat clearly does exacerbate the problem, since that's when things are the stickiest - and that's when I inadvertently put a smear mark on my airbag thinking I was cleaning it. If heat is a factor, it's one that all other manufacturers must contend with - or put a big sticker on for-sale cars that says, "Not for use in California, Florida - or Missouri."

 

The other day I e-mailed Lexus Headquarters the link of this thread. Today they wrote back reasserting they will be providing me no assistance, but did not explain what they make of this discussion, or how they account for the reoccuring problem.

 

I have this same problem, I thought it was definitely weird. I think it's also weird that one person here had it fixed under warranty, and another wrote Lexus to which they were answered that they'd be offered "no assistance". If that's the case, that really sucks! It's not too bad on mine yet, but i can see it getting worse over time- especially here in Florida!

 

Thanks, fooldall. Just for the sake of discussion, could you also let us know if you are the original owner of your car, and whether you've ever applied any kind of cleaning product to your dash? Also, is it just your passenger-side dashboard airbag that's experiencing this condition, or the entire dashboard?

 

I am so glad I ran into this thread.
So I have two problems - Texas car - bought it with 72K in 2005 - mine is a 2002 SportCross.
As soon as the chemicals to make the dash shine wear off - my dash has a faded look - of course - b/c of the Texas sun - however I am disappointed with the quality - the car had only 3-4 years.

The second problem is the sticky airbag cover - that started after I took my car for the 80K service at the dealership.
They included a cleaning - in and out and they must have used something which reacted with the material - and now I have a sticky part of the dash.
I never thought it wouldnt be something that would go away with water and soap.

BTW: for all of you - I was told to only use baby oil to give a shine to the dashboard. It works really well. you may need to do it several times before the material starts sucking it in

 

a4_turbo, it sounds like you feel a dealership cleaning of your dashboard started your sticky airbag problem- is that right? Have you had any further conversation with them about it? Do you think there's any possibility the stickiness problem was already there and you just began to notice it after the 80k service? (I'm not second-guessing - just trying to get everyone's best thinking on what's happening.) RareSC contends he got the stickiness problem without anyone applying anything at all. Thanks.

 

I have/had this same problem with my '02 in regards to the sticky airbag cover. The car was originally in FL, but has been here in NC for the past few years. Now my dash doesn't seem to be bad at all, only the airbag cover. I got tired of it and went on a mission. I contemplated using WD40, Greased Lightning, 409, and even rubbing alcohol. What I ended up doing was taking Armor All cleaning wipes and went to work on the airbag cover. I went through 8 wipes before all the goo was gone. The wipes were black as were my hands. The only problem was that the material looked a little dull, so I applied a product similar to Armor All to bring back the shine. The material seems to soak it up, so I may actually try the baby oil method mentioned above.

I just wanted the sticky part gone, and that's what I did. When I went to wash my hands, that stuff got on some of the dishes and really didn't want to come off. The wifey was none to happy seeing the mess I left behind.

The more I think about it, the more that sticky stuff reminds me of the adhesive that is left behind from electrical tape that has been in some extreme heat.

At any rate, my sticky airbag cover is gone for the time being and that is what I wanted to accomplish.

 

Thanks, 1RedSled! Great description of the problem we're all having: the surface of the airbag is indeed like the adhesive from electrical tape subjected to extreme heat. I know exactly what you mean. I guess I stopped midstream in the clean-up process you described. When my wet paper towel removal of black gunk began to smear the dot pattern on my airbag, I just backed off completely. By the way - and perhaps this goes without saying - when you were removing all that black stuff, that wasn't just some residue that landed on your airbag. That was the actual material applied in the factory. This kind of stripping to salvage your car seems above and beyond the call of regular maintenance, and if this becomes the official remedy, a dealership should do it for us. So far on this thread we've had eight people with this problem, and Lexus has only stood behind their product in one case. Please keep us posted on your progress, 1RedSled. Thanks.

 

Is it me or has any one else noticed that the majority of this problem occurs with IS's that are located in a place with a HOT climate and scorching hot sunshine (ex. Florida and Texas)...we all know that heat has its role in breaking down this material, but what im trying to get at is if there is anyone who keeps their IS garaged and lives in a moderate climate and applies some sort of dash cleaner to the dashboard. will just the cleaner alone do anything to the material or does heat also have to be involved?? ..great thread