I contacted Lexus national and international and posted on some social media sites that I was very unhappy about the poor customer service from the dealership. Suggested the service writer actually talk to his mechanics and ask if they had any ideas,also suggested he contact lexus and ask if this was a problem reported by any other owners, and suggested he actually be interested in the problem because in all honesty the dealership has a miserable track record and reputation but no other dealerships are within a 4 hour drive. Found out, YES, it is a problem and lexus was very aware of it and in fact some of his own texhs were aware of it through whatever lines of communication they were part of with Lexus. Lexus has even manufactured a specific part to fix the issue. Here's the problem: if you are touching the door handle from the inside of the car and have any pressure on the locking toggle when you get out, even just a small amount of pressure, and I'm talking about just having your hand brushing against the toggle, it positions a small arm within the locking mechanism to a point that makes locking the driver's door from the outside (with the fob) possible but causes it to be impossible to unlock with the fob. Sounds ridiculous and I doubted it but I could reproduce the issue as many times as I cared to. And, Lexus could instruct the service manager how to reproduce the problem and he could do it over and over. There's a small piece of hardware that's been manufactured and is added to the locking mechanism to prevent it. Since I've had the 'interim repair', it's only happened once. Prior to the repair, it happened at least once per day. I'd gotten into a habit of getting out of my car the same way every time and I was goofing up the mechanism every time. I wasn't doing anything stupid or special, it's just where the handle and toggle are positioned. It's not an uncommon problem turns out.

Quick thought though-see this is a situation where the service writer and previous poster were not correct-the problem WAS known to Lexus and when I got vocal and things got embarrassing for my local dealership, yep there was a known problem. All it took was exactly like I'd said to the service manager-do some damn digging. Ask Lexus, ask your techs, do some leg work. As it turned out, I did find other people that had the same problem when I started posting complaints and suggested some methods of investigating the issue. Those people incidentally got their door locks fixed as well.
Good luck. Who knows if it's the same issue but, maybe it is. Like I said, it's not an unknown issue. Mine is FSport IS350, 2014.

 

Mine is an '07 460. The drivers door lock does not lock or unlock using the fob, but all the locks on the other doors work fine. My independent said it was the motor and the part costs $800. Including tax and labor will total approximately $1,000. I wanted to see what was posted here before going ahead with the repair.

Greg

 

This just happened to me. (Driver's side door wouldn't unlock electronically). Is there a way to find the TSB number for this "known issue?" generally? I'm happy to search through them if there's a way to access all TSBs for Lexus. FYI, I own a 2017 RX 350.

 

I am having the exact same problem as the original poster on my 2008 LS 460. Has anyone figured out the problem or what I need to say to the dealer to fix it?

 

$1000 to fix a door lock, utterly ridiculous. This has been a known problem with Lexus vehicles for over a decade and a couple generations, I thought paying over $500 to fix my door lock actuator in my 2001 GS was highway robbery which I refused to pay. Very hard to understand they still are not capable of designing properly working door lock actuators and then dealerships have the nerve to gouge customers for the repair but maybe it is a nice money maker for both so they don't bother to fix the issue. I would check out DIY door lock actuator threads but you have to take half the door apart on the inside and after all that sometimes they still don't work.

 

Well, for me, every door lock has now failed on my 2012 LS460. Even by using the internal door lock/unlock switch, eventually each door lock has failed to the point where the only way to get in through that door is to manually pull on the lock itself.

Front passenger door - died a few years ago. Local Toyota dealer said there is a plastic mechanism in the door lock that wears out. Had to replace the whole thing - $900
Rear Right passenger door - died about a year ago. Died just before someone side-swiped me. So, the local shop fixing that side of the car made the same diagnosis on the door - $800
Rear Left passenger door - died a few months back. Been super busy so just let it go for awhile.
Front Driver door - just died this past week. Seriously?!?!

So, I'm wondering what to do next. This is just utterly ridiculous and I really can't believe I have to take a $90k car in the replace every single lock that has failed! Any advice?

 

That is utterly ridiculous, 2012 model and close to $4000 worth of repairs for lousy door locks that were not properly designed. Are they really incapable of designing a door lock that will last or do they simply make faulty ones to gouge customers on. Lexus has had major issues with power door lock actuators since the 90's. My old Accord and Eclipse never had a issue with power door locks in 130K miles. I would contact Lexus Corporate and complain on as many sites/areas as you can though Lexus corporate did not do a damn thing for me when my GS door lock actuator failed and I was barely out of warranty. There is a way GS owners are fixing them for cheap but you have to take your door apart, order aftermarket motors and do some work on the part and they often did not last too long.

 

Wow I didnt know it was so widespread. I had my drivers door lock giving me issues, but I thought it was just bad luck.

 

Faulty, poorly engineered and very expensive to repair door lock actuators have been a major issue with Lexus vehicles for 2 decades.

 

Why does the door unlock if I hit the button on the key fob but does not unlock when I touch the door handle? I think there may be two different issues going on here.

 

Did it unlock when you touched the door handle prior? If not I believe that is an option under the "Customize" tab on TechStream. Your dealer should be able to change that setting for you.

 

The door handle works about half of the time, its just an intermittent problem. When it doesn't work, I have to press lock on the key fob and then unlock and then it will unlock. Is there a sensitivity pad on the back of the handle that may need to be cleaned or replaced possibly?

 

Does the failure-to -unlock when you touch the handle happen every time, or just some of the time? What happens when you unlock the door with the wireless remote key, don't open it, wait for the auto-relock (you should hear it re-lock after a minute or so), and then try to unlock it by touching the door handle? The reason I ask is that the car is designed to disable the touch-unlock in certain situations. I believe your owner's manual explains this.

 

Of course, this week it is working perfectly! It is an occasional problem. Does anyone know how touching the handle unlocks the door? Is there a pressure pad or something else?

 

SAME issue. Intermittently, when I touch the driver's handle to open the door, the driver's door will not open. However all of the other doors WILL open. I have replaced BOTH key FOB batteries with brand new batteries. This is very frustrating as I understand that Lexus is aware of this issue. I will NOT pay to fix this. Will they cover any repair for free? The care is a Lexus 2015 300h. I love the car other than this issue. Additionally, anyone know how to turn on the beep when a car is in close proximity to my car....at present, the light will light on the side mirrors. I can't believe you can not turn on a beep to warn you when another vehicle is close. Honda's beep. Thanks! Fred