Hello everyone,

My friends mom owns a 04-05 rx300 (not sure of the exact year) and I noticed the vehicle has an absurd amount of dash cracks. The cracks were around the center console (radio/climate) and the passenger side air vent. The car has under 40k miles and is usually garaged or with a sunshade at all times. The car was bought brand new and is rarely driven.


Apparently the problem happened 1-1.5 years back, but the car was out of warranty for the fix.

Has anyone else had this problem? I figure I'd ask CL on his behalf to see, and if the dealership would fix this out of "good-faith".

Thanks for any help.

its doubtful that a dealership will goodwill a dashboard +labour to install, thats a high ticket item with a high ticket labour cost. not to mention the rattles you will more than likely get after replacing such an item.

a better bet will be to search for a repair guy. most cities have someone who can repair dash boards, leather seats, carpet, and door panels. they do excellent work and often times you cant even tell they have been there.

the other concern is what caused it? do you use armour all on the dash? if so thats the cause, that stuff dries the dash out enough to crack it. you need to use a product like 303 aerospace, the stuff even has an SPF.

by all means try the dealer, maybe at least they will split the cost to repair.

Yes, had the same problem on my 2004. And kiwi, have to disagree with your assessment. I use 303 and my dash still cracked in several locations around the passenger vent. Car is garaged much of the time and even in a parking garage when at the office. Sunshade in use otherwise.

My guess was that it was from caused by temperature extremes... going from very hot to very cold over the years. Cracks seemed to be in areas that would lend themselves to stress.

Dealer went 50/50 for me on the repair. Believe the total bill was somewhere north of $1600 total of which I paid half. Was dealer "good will" and they were not required to pay as it was long out of warranty.

Kiwi was right in that it did/does rattle a bit more than previous. Will be saying something when I take it in for the brake recall. Has not been to the dealer since the repair was done as I DIY most of the stuff these days.

I have not seen cracked RX330 dashboards. I do use AS303 all the time and yes sunshades. Then again we are located in ATL, none of the temp extremes.

speaking of... can anyone recommend a good brand of dash cover?

Thanks for all of the input and suggestions. We live in TX so there isn't too much temperature change besides hot and warm.

Hopefully my buddy's mom will be able to get it handled at a discount at least.

Thanks again !

Are we talking about the some what soft ledge or the plastic trim?

Assuming we are talking about the ledge

Lexus/Toyota have one of the best underlaying foam and skin for the ledge. UV breaks it down. It is factory treated, so if owners use cleaners/protectorants they do more harm.

If you are in/around Austin, I would suggest Leather Mender (shop).

Salim

Interesting. 03 - 05 GX 470 owners have experience problems with the dashboard cracking too! Production materials used in Lexus Vehicles during that time frame may be the problem.

There's a lot that goes into the dashboard asn Salim indicates. Lexus remains to be one of the better built ones.

I'm looking for a good dash repair place in ATL. Anyone know of any?

Try craigslist...google...good luck.

I don't think craigslist a good place look for that, no telling what you will end up with. Instead would visit the local Lexus dealerships and see who they would recommend to do the repair.

my wifes lexus 2005 rx also now has numerous cracks in it now too. Hopeful the deal will goodwill repair it waiting for response from rep

The repair guys are good but the trick is to get the cracks while they are small. Little ones can turn into cracks a foot long.

My RX 330 has 41K and cracked dash and I live in Birmingham. They are hairline at the edge of the console.