I have a hairline crack on mine to that travels from the right of the gear shifter towards the passenger seat in an otherwise mint condition interior. I wonder if someone who does paintwork could sand off the clear, fill the crack and reclear?

 

Yea nospinzone..I figured getting an answer from him would be hard. The low humidity thing definitely seems plausible. But how does someone make the inside of their car more humid? Mobile humidifier? Probably not.

Aristo300, getting a painter to sand it down to fill the crack then refinish the spot doesn't sound like a bad idea in theory. But it still sounds very expensive to fix a very minor thing. My conflict is that my car is under CPO warranty..which is supposed to be bumper to bumper..I havent dealt with Lexus to fix anything yet so I dont know how it works exactly. But am I wrong to assume that this is something they would have to cover? This is a piece cracking randomly in an interior, a piece that has had no physical stress on it besides a normal harsh NY winter. Its not supposed to just crack while youre driving. When I was looking at LS's, I noticed about 4 out of 15 of them had minor wood grain cracks just like mine does, and 1 of those 4 had pretty back cracks on most of the woodgrain pieces throughout. So this has to be a reoccurring issue that Lexus is aware of. It just sucks that less than a month ago my woodgrain was flawless and now its not. If anyone else wants to chime in, it would be appreciated, and in the meantime I'm going to try to get to the dealership to make my case.

 

I had mine replaced under warranty and I was led to believe dealer was aware of this "common occurrence" on LS460. Mine is 2008. Call your dealer and see what they say.

 

Greezy as I read your last post I was going to tell you that it should be covered under your warranty. Then I saw dimapb's post stating that his was covered.

The point I wanted to make is don't take a simple "no it's not covered" response from the dealer if that is what they say. I know you are new here so haven't probably read a lot of threads from the past. When the dealer says no, you can pursue it further with Lexus Corporate. Many members here have gotten satisfaction through that route.

I think you have a legitimate warranty claim and hopefully your dealer will agree right up front.

Oh, and I think I'm going to market a mobile humidifier, it's the next big thing!

 

Thank you and Ill let everyone know what Rallye Lexus in Glen Cove says

 

Greezy note that CPO and even extended factory warranty is not bumper to bumper as you state above. Only the original 4yr/50k factory warranty is. You should read your coverage so you know what is covered. It may be covered and if it is not they may even goodwill it.

 

The salesman that sold me my car led me to believe that this warranty is bumper to bumper. He literally said "bumper to bumper warranty" several times. I am surprised he would mislead me like that. Still haven't gone to the dealership..unfortunately in the real world work is more important than my wood grain..but will definitely let you people know what happens..

 

It is to a certain extent, just not as comprehensive as the original warranty which pretty much covers everything including trim related issues. I'm not saying they won't cover it as they most likely will but technically they don't have to even if it is a known issue. There are many known issues that they don't have to cover once you are outside of the original warranty including any TSB's. Here is what is excluded (see item in bold):

The following components are specifically excluded from coverage under the Lexus Certified Pre-Owned Limited Warranty:

Standard Upkeep Items:
accessory drive belts, batteries, filters, fluids, heating and vacuum hoses, lines and tubes, tires, spark plugs, windshield wiper blades (rubber component).

Wear and Tear:
Examples include brake pads, rotors, shoes and drums and manual clutches.

Body and Interior:
bumpers, carpet, chrome, dash cover and pad, door trim, handles, fabric, glass (including windshield), headliner, hinges, interior and exterior trim and moldings, cupholders, ashtrays, covers and vents, lightbulbs, nuts, bolts, clips, retainers and fasteners, paint, rust and corrosion damage, seat covers, shiny metals, weather stripping.

Accessories:
any non-Lexus accessories or modified components, including but not limited to wheels, radar detectors and cellular phones.

Other:
any component which has not failed, but that a repair facility recommends or requires to be replaced, repaired or adjusted.

 

I think only our steering wheel is real wood. The rest of the wood trims are made out of plastic I think.

 

Anyone found a solution or fix that doesn't require buying the entire center console/shifter panel new from Lexus?

 

No, it's wood veneer. If it was plastic, it wouldn't be cracking.

You could do the old Tijuana "is it a real turquoise stone?" test. Hold an open flame to it. If it is plastic it will melt, if it's real, it won't. But don't try this at home, or on your own car!

 

I have some hope for anyone whos 460's wood trim cracked on them..
I brought my car to my dealership last week (Lexus of Smithtown) and pointed the crack out to the service specialist, and after a day I got a call saying that the dealership reached out to corporate lex, and out of "good-will" the dealership got me a brand new center piece and installed it for free. It's amazing how much newer the car feels with this shiny new, scratch free, gorgeous slab of wood grain in the center of my car. I recommend anyone who's had this problem to get this taken care of at their dealership because it's something Lexus definitely knows about and are willing to fix. At least in my case.

 

There is a TSB for some model years for cracked wood. My car fell within the VIN range but it never cracked. It only counts for the 50k mile warranty.

The extended platinum covers everything except parts with the word "trim" in there, rattles and squeaks, and stuff like batteries and windshield wipers.

 

Such a defect would be covered by the original factory limited warranty but not by CPO or Platinum extended warranties. Lexus may do a goodwill replacement but it's a crapshoot, depending on which "case manager" you get.

 

Lexus should replace the crack wood trim.