tftrue69

I recently bought my car and it is pristine, though a 2007. I was so excited, that during the final inspection I apparently tried to close the trunk instead of letting it lower itself. I still bought the car and have this as issue #1 to deal. We thought a battery reset might work etc. After a couple of weeks and research it became clear there is a flaw in the design.

Checked with my sources and got a part only price of $1200 for the truck motor assembly OEM part #64650-50040. That was not going to happen. Considered a used part but actually found a great guy on eBay named Ian and his store is here:
http://stores.ebay.com/fastpartshipping/
Part is $405 including shipping and he accepts returns if needed with no restocking.

I ordered the part today 5/16/16 and will have soon. I will take pictures of both the new and one I take out of car and see if there is a bendable part that will solve it for other forum members. Good part is that Ian says there aren't many other parts on my car that he sees failing over and over, and that's what he looks for and gets directly from Japan in bulk. Drivers side window switch assembly gets wet and fails but not much more.

I will be in touch.

Tim

franktx1

I have a 2008 LS 460 that I haven't been driving much so the battery became partially discharged. I put it on a battery tender even though it would still start.
The trunk would no longer open even with the key.
I disconnected the battery for a few seconds and was able to open the trunk with the metal key.
Now the trunk will not close. After another battery reset I could hear the trunk motor cycling through close an open so I held down the lid hoping it would close.
It did not. After about one minute (after the battery reset) the motor stops cycling.
I've tried the key fob release as well as the glove box button.
Nothing seems to work.
I'm stumped...

jmcraney

I don't think your trunk difficulty and battery problem are related

Your trunk latch has likely been damaged by forceful closing - some people slam trunks like they did on their '49 Fords - and will have to be replaced.

You should have your battery tested by a battery dealer and replace it if indications are that it has reached the end of its life.

franktx1

I am not one of those people. I use the inner handle and gently close the trunk lid.
The part that stumps me is that after I reset with the battery disconnect, the trunk motor starts opening and closing over and over and over for about one minute and then stops.

jmcraney

I wasn't suggesting that you abused your trunk latch. My apologies - I should have chosen my words more carefully.

For me, no matter how hard I try to prevent it, someone always finds a way, you know, like the valet at the hotel or the helpful guy at the grocery store, or someone helping my wife. It just takes one time to break it.

I think your latch is broken, perhaps from wear and tear.

Craiger

You could always...


Personally, I'd rather Lexus had used a conventional, non-motorized lid. You know, one that is reliable and won't let you down in the middle of a long road trip. One that works reliably over the long term and doesn't cost a relative fortune to replace.
These lid mechanisms are one of the weak points on the LS's.
When I see a trunk that closes on it's own I feel like the machine has been dumbed down for housewives. But hey, I have arms and hands and would be able to handle a big, scary trunk on my own.

Hosed

Hello,

I had the same issue on my 2012 ls600hl. It started to auto close when I pushed the close button. I got in the car as I normally do while the trunk does this, but it didn't latch. I didn't notice until I started driving and the car said the trunk was open. The latch wouldnt open so that I could close it, but after I took a flathead to open the latch back up, I was able to close it manually, carefully of course.

I tried checking everything, and yes, battery is in the trunk, and even though I could still open it with the key, I didn't try that. I could hear the motor attempt to do something, and it would just beep from the button on the trunk, dash release button, as well as the key fob, but still did nothing.

I took it to the dealer. They thought it was the latch right away. They explained the motor is attempting to talk to the latch, but wasn't receiving the signal back that it released the trunk, basically opening the latch. Makes perfect sense. Once replaced, all was good.

There is no way anything was bent as I'm the only person who touches the car and I take great care of it.

Good thing I had an after market warranty as it would have been around $1k. Whew.

I hope this helps someone looking for answers.

Happy holidays!