Okay "dude", let me give you another example. My daughter owns a 2000 Honda Accord, which we bought used in 2003. Even though the car was long out of warranty, Honda extended the warranty on the transmission--I think to 100k miles--because the transmissions for the 2000 model year V-6 cars were failing at an above average rate, which pointed to a defect. In this case, Honda did the right thing and extended the warranty coverage, even though they were under no obligation to do so--amazing. This gave owners peace of mind and created tremendous goodwill, at least from my standpoint for Honda--they were willing to step up and protect their brand, their reputation, even though as you would argue "no warranty means no warranty".

With regard to Lexus, had this been a random failure of the part, with no outstanding TSB and no redesign of the part, then I would agree with you--stuff happens.

But because the company issued the TSB, in effect Lexus has acknowledged that there is a problem related to the part design--a "smoking gun" if you will. Because of this problem they made an in-production change and started using the new part in all IS cars. As a goodwill gesture, the company should extend the warranty on this part for everyone who owns an IS with the old design a/c drain.

 

nissan paid over 10k when my titan was 3k miles over warranty. my catalytic converters blew apart (all 3 of them) and got sucked back into the engine while towing 8k pounds through canada enroute to Alaska.

plus they gave me a free rental for the month and a half the truck was stuck in canada getting fixed. when it was fixed, they flew me to pick it up...I had rather they ship the truck to me...would of been cheaper for them.

plus they even covered this when the vehicle was out of the country. North America warranty with Nissan only means USA. I had to deal with Nissan Corporate the whole time, but they took care of me.


I have a 06 lexus is awd and appreciate you sharing this as I have never heard of it and my dealer sends me something every month...updates, specials, coupons, etc...

 

Cats are on a much longer emission control warranty than the standard bumper to bumper - perhaps that had something to do with why Nissan was willing to bend over backward to help you.

You know, everyone is talking like the sky is falling, but counting the OP, I've heard of exactly ONE instance of this issue happening. Considering the group we have here, that's remarkable. Perhaps this isn't a ticking timebomb for all of us, given simple observation...

 

My '08 has qiut dripping water out the bottom. I noticed this after the hvac started to smell. I'm pulling the carpets back tomorrow to ck for water damage. Maybe Lexus will be getting it back at the end of the lease.

 

Feel free to argue amongst yourselves (and make the strong arguement of puddle on the floor as a safety problem, especially if it's gasoline). Because most recalls are safety related or severe quality problems. No need to post offtopic examples of other recalls, thanks anyway.

In short cruise control and brake light problems are safety-related. I still prefer Lexus's record on quality and customer care over VW's.

 

I completely agree with your viewpoint. If there wasn't a TSIB (or significant history) acknowledging a design problem on this issue, I would put it on the owner as "random mechanical issue", but because of the TSIB I believe you are in the "right", and there are countless examples of other manufacturers fixing these type of issues outside normal manufacturer warranty (even non-safety related as I pointed out earlier).

I still love Lexus, but no manufacturer is perfect, and this is a mistake. I'd be happy to call customer care expressing my support for your issue ... if you want (just let me know).

 

fyi - TSIB attached:

Oh, sorry for this duplicate posting of the TSIB. I was using it to check VIN numbers impacted.

 

Thanks for posting the tsib, maybe the redesign didn't address all the problem. I pulled the carpets back today and found no evidence of moisture, but no water drips from the evap. outside? My other cars all drop puddles of water when using the a/c. I ran the lexus 30 min. with the a/c on the other day and nothing. I suppose I'd better take it in to see whats going on. Glad it's a lease.

 

Here's what the HVAC removal process looks like. It's a LOT of work. I did most of this when I replaced the dash in my Supra. It's not fun.

 

hope my car won't have any of these issues, luckily when i got my car all the TSIBS were done on my car.

 

Interesting, because in the last few days of hot weather (using AC of course) I haven't noticed any dripping under the car of my IS350. I need to monitor this more closely maybe.

 

I can't imagine that the Is evap. drops less water than others. My chevy pickup and bravada drop a constant drip. Also, neither smell, and my bravada is 13 yrs old. This smell crap is totally unacceptable. I can't see this situation ending well over the long haul. I think there is a design flaw here. The smelly hvac really ruins the whole luxury experience.

 

I went to the dealer today for some unrelated things and asked them to perform this TSIB. Of course, they said no (which i knew they would, but i asked anyway). I argued that i would like to keep this car for many years and if this happens after my warranty is out, it will end up costing thousands for a fix that Lexus knows about while i'm still under warranty. The only thing they said i could do is call corporate and plead my case to them.

Oh well, i'll just have to keep an eye on things. Glad i know about this issue though. Thanks for all the info in this thread!

 

I agree, I'm glad OP has brought up this issue, I'm going to be watching for this one in order to catch it before it becomes a big repair (warranty or not).

 

Consumer Reports latest report has Lexus quite a ways down from that position actually. Let me check....yeah, right under Mitsubishi!