Hey guys, before you ask - yes I did search the board and found a few posts on this but I want to run it by you guys anyway.

I have owned my beloved IS for about two years now but yesterday was my first long distance trip. I noticed that above 70mph on long straightaways that if I needed to change lanes the electric power steering felt like it went to sleep; it would feel almost notchy, like I needed to overpower some sort of detent. It happened so bad that the car felt like it was gonna get a little squirrely on me. The thing is - if I slowed down well below 70, the problem in fact went away, did not need to cycle the ignition or anything it just went away. It would then return above 70 but not immediately.

So, no warning lights on the dash. 62K miles on the clock. No modifications to the car, bone stock. Car drives straight and normal. No strange wear patterns on the tires and car was recently serviced and inspected.

One post said that the fix was to ultimately replace the steering rack: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...long-post.html

My question is: how can this be a mechanical problem if it only occurs above certain speeds for sustained intervals? It really sounds like a software issue to me but I have found nothing about it, only to replace the rack.

Please help. I am actually a little concerned about driving the car long distance again that it could become a safety issue. Thanks in advance.

 

To answer your question, there is no clear answer yet for the root cause of these problems. I have experienced this issue even on my 2021 IS 350 when it was virtually new. It is probably some sort of software tuning issue. It still happens occasionally to me, though I would add that I don't need to be going over 70 MPH to experience it - it can happen in gradual sweeping turns as low as 45 MPH.

Does your issue happen when turning to the left or right? Or is it both? That is something that would help narrow things down. For me, it only happens when I am steering left, but I've seen others say it happens in both directions.

 

I want to say it happens in both directions, but it seems more pronounced going left.

 

I am guessing there is way more people experiencing this than Lexus dealers are admitting to.

Last time I asked them about this issue, my Lexus rep said "This is the first time I am hearing about this". When I enquired about if he is gonna be somehow recording my complaint in the system, he said no.
I was like, well what the f, of course you are not gonna have "a lot of those" if you do not record them.

It is like a catch 22 - I need to record this first occurrence, but I wont because I am not hearing too many of these issues. Hmm... I am not really seeing this issue in the system. Strange...

 

I wonder if we should have some collective email going for Lexus HQ?
This sounds like a future class action tbh, and unlike with "unintended acceleration" which seem to be made up to cover up driver incompetence, this one is real and a potential serious safety issue.

 

As you might recall, I tested it with the power steering fuse pulled, and the issue was still there. So, I am not sure if it is a software issue, at this point.

 

Thanks for reminding me of that.

And yeah I had to fight with my service advisor a bit in order to get them to "record" it. I insisted that there's an issue after he tried to over-explain how EPS systems don't feel very smooth. "I don't like these new electronic power steering systems, they just feel very un-smooth". Sure, OK, but I've owned several other cars with electrically-assisted steering without this issue. After I reiterated this point and insisted that there was a problem, he told me to come back in if I experience it again and they may have to keep the car for a day or more to try and diagnose it. Sounds great...

 

And to no one's surprise, no calls back from my local Lexus dealer or from my local shop about it.

I wonder if any regular Toyotas suffer from the same issue?

 

I had a similar issue once, possibly twice, but I also am convinced (in my silly brain anyway) that it was related to the angle of the actual steering wheel. It was early on when my car was BRAND NEW this summer and I will still getting comfortable and making crazy adjustments to seats AND steering wheel tilt and telescope. It hasn't happened to me in months since I stopped adjusting things so much. It is one of the reasons I so badly wish it wouldn't automatically tilt up and away when I turn the car off. I think it is related to steering system inside the car, not necessarily at the rack or wheels. But I might have convinced myself of that incorrectly. Hope the mystery gets solved!

 

mine is a 2015 is350 and it has no power-adjustable steering column. Still got that "binding" problem.

 

Yeah, but it feels just smooth enough when city driving. So it can be and is smooth.

 

That's exactly my point. The service advisor was trying to explain it away as a quirk of EPS systems, but I was not buying it. I explained that I'd seen other owners with the same issue on the forums and haven't noticed anything like this in any other car I've owned.

To be fair I will say it feels like I can physically feel the gear teeth in my steering sometimes, which is very odd.

 

Can someone explain to me what this issue is exactly? I've never heard of notchy steering. Thank you.

 

See the original post or this extensive thread on the issue - https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...long-post.html

tl;dr steering can occasionally feel "notchy" or "sticky" just off-center in long, sweeping turns or lane changes at high speed (over 70 MPH).

 

Open question for anyone who is having this issue about an observation I've noticed recently.

If I wiggle the steering wheel back and forth while the car is stopped, I can feel it "catching" in certain spots. I have noticed two spots - one that is somewhat to the left of center, and another that's to the right, but slightly father off-center than to the left.

Does anyone else have the same phenomenon occur in their car?