I just got an IS F 2011 two weeks ago. After two days I heard a clicking noise on the driver side of the engine. When I check I found the Rat Nest on the diver side. Yes my friends an Illegal rat from Japan had chewed up most of the foam of the engine cover etc...The Newport Beach Lexus dealer gave me a free maintenance warranty for five years to take care of the problem. This last Saturday I park the car and the battery went dead in four hrs. I noticed that the GPS unit will not turned off as usual. Any Advice?

 

Rats chew up your wiring harness. if your are still havign this problem take it in and get ready for a $5,000 bill to be waved in your face and call your insurance company. I went through this 6 months ago

 

I would demand a brand new IS-F. It already sounds like there are going to be issues with chewed up wiring and what not. If the dealer doesn't do anything about it I would go to Lexus Corporate.

 

I would demand a refund. Unlikely, but its the first thing that comes to mind. Subscribed.

 

Looks like a lemon law case in the making. document everything carefully and get the names of everyone you ever speak to regarding this issue. messed up electrical systems are a big deal and the reason so many "flood" cars are totalled. The problems are often very hard to fix.

Good luck, be persistent.

 

If it is the harness, they have to pull the motor and trans to fix it. Im sure that in doing so they would check every other possible place to assure not having to do the same stuff over again. Keep in mind that you drive a well reputed Japanese car not a BMW or Mercedes, electrical issues are not that common beyond this. Take it into the dealer ask to have the harness checked. Dont demand a new car cause they will laugh you out the door. Its a $1000 part, caused by something that is not in their control.

 

That sucks. I would document everything just in Cade you need to use the lemon law.

 

I dont get what people are saying lemon law for? rats chewing stuff up in an engine bay is not a factory issue.

 

What if the factory has a rat problem ?

 

windex - Why does asking for a different IS-F for a 2 week old car already experiencing problems stemming from an issue from the factory be unreasonable?

When the OP forked upwards of 65k for his brand new IS-F he didn't know the car was already defective. With most consumer type goods if you purchase a defective item a refund or replacement is issued. I would hope that if Corporate found out about the situation they would agree to a replacement.

 

Exactly, Since it's a brand new car you shouldn't be having any problems with rats infestations. Document the problems youve been having. Take pictures, talk to several reputable mechanics and get their opinions in WRITING.

 

I can't believe nobody has asked for pictures, where are they?

My girlfriend purchased a brand new BMW 328 last year, during the first two months she had to take the car for warranty work probably 4 times, all of them related to brakes. The last time the car was in the dealer for 2 weeks. She was driving loaners more than her own car, she was pissed, so she complained big time to the service advisor, service manager, and dealer manager. The answer was that they were covering everything under warranty and she shouldn't worry or complain. Paying more than $40k for a car, being a loyal BWM customer, wasting her time driving the car to the dealer over and over, doing the loaner paperwork, etc., she was so upset that she sent a letter to BMW of North America (corporate offices). She was contacted immediately by BMW and they opened a case, at the end they gave the dealer a warning and she got another new BMW.

Good luck.

 

Youre right the Lexus factory where the car was built must have a serious rat problem. Think about what you are saying, this is NOT such an uncommon problem. I have personally had this happen to me and know of a few other people that have had this happen to them.
At the very most this would be a DEALER issue. I havent said once to not document everything, in fact I encourage it for your own records. IF AND ONLY IF this is a wiring harness issue, assuming that you wouldn't want to shell out the 4-5k for repair yourself (depending on your stealerships hourly labor rate) you would probably want to go through insurance and make a comprehensive claim and all of this would be good for your records.

At the end of the day, if you cant prove that the car was defective BEFORE the time of purchase lexus is most likely really going to play hardball.

 

What a bummer... Totally not a good way to start enjoying your F...Hope everything turns out ok. Keep us updated.

 

This wouldn't necessarily be a lemon because a rat is eating up the wiring harness. If they try to fix and after about 3 or 4 reasonable attempts, there is still a problem, then you might be able to claim a lemon buy back and this would only apply to defects from the manufacturing process, not because a rat made the engine bay his home. Otherwise, if the OP is just going to go back in and discuss the problem as it currently stands, I think the best he may ask for is for Lexus to simply buy back the car as a good will gesture but my guess is they're not going to do that just because of "a rat." I'm guessing they're going to try to fix it first and then see where that takes them.

besides, he can't necessarily prove that the rat was there when he picked up the car and if it was, the OP really should have looked over the car when he picked it up. Maybe the rat was living in the garage and since he's brough home the new car, decided to make the engine bay his home.

I find it odd that a rat would successfully make an engine bay his home unless the OP isn't driving the car on a regular basis. If that's the case, then the likelyhood of the rat making the engine bay his home is more likely.

Good luck.