Anyone else notice dust getting inside/under the clear plastic of their non-NAV head unit? I was dusting my dash the other day, when I noticed that some specks simply weren't going away. Apparently, I have small white specks accumulating underneath the clear plastic and there is no way to possible clean that. If anyone owns a Motorola RAZR phone, you know exactly what Im talking about since that dump of a phone tends to suffer from the same problem...What can I do about this? Is it covered under Lexus warranty?
My car is only 7 months old... Either way, Im not crying over it since its not THAT noticable at all...
especially since its impossible to keep the dash dust-free 100% of the time.

What are my options here? Just suck it up and live with it? Or can Lexus help me out in some way?


PS... If you want me to take some pics, I will try but I think its going to be hard if you take glare into consideration... wont know until I try...


Thanks...

Clarke

 

It can't hurt to stop by Prestige and see what they can do about it.

Slightly OT but I am actually planning to stop by there and ask them about the leather on one of my back seats that doesn't seem to have been stretched out tightly enough. This should be a good first test of whether all those letters I've gotten from them about customer satisfaction are just lip service!

Similar but not entirely relevant story: my iPod had some particles underneath the screen and Apple replaced it right away. Granted a $300 portable electronic device is not the same thing as a $35k car, but I assume you're not looking for a replacement car. Of course you could just tell them you'll accept a nav equipped vehicle if that will solve the dust problem.

 

I don't have a non-nav car, but I don't see what you are talking about with the Razr. Not sure whether you mean the inside or outside screen, but I see no dust in either place. Also don't agree that it's junk; mine fell 15 feet from a second story balcony and suffered no harm, neither functionally nor cosmetically. (Battery and battery cover flew off, but they didn't break)

 

Im referring to the inside of the screen where you cant clean... basically I have white specks underneath the clear plastic of my RAZR phone... unfortunately for me, this is showing up underneath the clear plastic of my stock HU now

I don't think that I would want the dealership to try to fix it though since all they will do is mar the plastic components with mishandling. If anything, I would be interested in replacing it... at the right price of course... I can't believe Im the only one with this problem...

 

I have the same exact problem on my Samsung T809... It's getting really bad now too. So far I don't have that problem on my non-NAV screen.... I would probably wait until your problem got a little bit more noticeable and then go see if Lexus will do anything about it. I don't think it's worth it to open it up to clean it since you might break something unless you can find some way to seal the hole where the dust is entering... I hope I don't get this problem...

 

If I wait could it be possible to miss out on a getting it claimed under warranty? Isnt it only for 1 year? I know I have time, but why wait if they will replace it? I may wait till my 10K service... I have 6500 miles now... What do you think?

No one, including myself, will be opening up the head unit and trying to clean it out... no way... Id rather live with it rather than possibly break it altogether. Think I have a shot with my dealership or do you think they are going to look at me like I am crazy?

 

I'm not recommending that you open the unit to clean it. I wouldn't either but on my Samsung T809 it's getting REALLY bad. It's so bad that even I'm thinking about opening the top screen to clean it out. Anyway, you get what I mean. If dust is getting in there, there is a big possibility that it'll get A LOT worse and it'll bother you. Anyway, the warrenty isn't 1 yr.... I thought it was 4 years/48,000 miles (I forgot how many miles but it's around there) UNLESS you got the extended warrenty, then it'll be longer (6 years?). As for the dealer, I guess it depends if they're nice or not. Some dealerships aren't very helpful with that kind of stuff and some are extremely generous. Give it a try and then e-mail Lexus to see if they'll do anything or not. The reason why I said wait until the problem gets worse is because not many people will want to fix it if it's just a few specs of dust. If it's clearly visible and affects the general appearance of the screen then people may be more willing to do something about it.

 

Assuming they consider it a warranty issue, I would think it should be covered just like everything else under the 4yr/50k warranty. Personally, stuff like what you're describing would drive me nuts everytime I got in the car until I got it fixed, but that might just be my OCD. I'd also think you'd have a better chance of getting it replaced now while the car is new (and the salesman remembers you) as opposed to a year from now when they might pass it off as normal wear and tear.

It would be helpful to find out if anyone else has had a similar problem, since if it happens for everyone, you'll be dealing with the exact same problem 7 months more down the road even with a replacement. Would be good to know when you head in to the dealership as well.

 

I personally think they should (although I'm not sure if they would) cover it under warrenty. If the dust gets really bad it'll prevent you from being able to see the text on the screen clearly, which IMO is not wear and tear. I have this problem on my cell phone and during the day I cannot read what time it is because of the dust particles reflecting and blocking the view. Also, assuming this guy doesn't drive 3000+ miles a week, 6,500 is a lot already for a car to be considered "new." 6,500 is about 6 months, so I'm not sure the dealer would really remember him too well. If he goes in to get it "fixed" for a few specs then most people will use the arguement of wear and tear or simply not do anything because it's too insignificant. He might as well wait for the problem to become more bigger and then get it fixed. I guess it doesn't hurt to try... Also, a few specs is a BIG problem to the owner simply because it is OUR car. However, to others it's nothing big and they probably won't understand why we're so picky.

 

Its really not bad to the point that I cant read the text output of the radio... in fact it cant even be seen at night since the backlights are so bright. It can only be seen during the day... hmmm.... I should speak with my salesman about this?! Hes going to think I have problems

 

No worries man, me and my OCD are going to be there later this week. On a relative scale, I'm sure you'll look positively sane to them LOL. IMHO even if they won't replace it, it makes sense to at least get it on record that you've noticed this problem with the display in case it gets worse.