I have just been informed by Lexus that they will not be replacing my melting dashboard in my 2008 ES350 due to time limits on their "Warranty Enhancement". The limit was 10 years from date of service, and I am at 11. Obviously, I am upset that they refuse to take care of a problem that prompted at least two lawsuits which forced them to extend the warranties. Now that I know this, my group of potential next cars just went down, since Lexus will no longer be a consideration for me. The term "luxury vehicle" should mean something.

My question to the group is whether you think that car companies have a responsibility to keep their cars viable into the future. In this case, it is a faulty chemical compound used in the dashboard that can't handle the heat and humidity. As this is not considered a safely problem, Lexus is willing to draw a hard line on their responsibility. Going forward, this issue gets very tricky. For example, when a new car relies on technology such as Apple CarPlay for some of its core functionality, what happens when they stop supporting old software versions? This is a case where the car will no longer function in the way that it did when it was new. We are accustomed to car features being surpassed by newer and better features, BUT the car doesn't usually LOSE capability. This is going to be the new reality, where car companies will only have to maintain original capabilities until the end of the warranty period. This should scare anyone who wants to keep a car longer than 3-5 years!

I am expected to accept my melting dashboard because Lexus feels that their vehicles don't need to keep their original capability past 10 years. I guess they have already set their threshold.

 

Welcome to Club Lexus. Unfortunately, those years revealed there were issues with the dash pad formulation. They did what they could by covering this defect for a 10 year period. The other concerns mentioned that is up to what the owner feels is necessary for their term of ownership usefulness even with the technology changes. Navigation, sat radio and any similar tech device is bound to have a limited usefulness over time.

 

I like to think that Lexus stepped up pretty big by offering replacements for such a large amount of time beyond their stated warranty. Since its not, as you stated, a safety concern, they have no need to replace them for an unlimited amount of time. If it was an actual recall, and not a warranty enhancement, there would be no limit on time or mileage, and every dash would get replaced regardless of condition. I feel that Lexus is going above and beyond, as they usually do, to keep customers happy. If you choose not to buy from them again, that is certainly your choice and your right. They cant be expected to pay for out of warranty repairs for an unlimited amount of time, any company would go bankrupt. Just my opinion.