Since it was new in January, my 2015 RX 350's intermittent wipers have not worked correctly. It has the automatic rain sensor feature and even at the "fastest" intermittent setting they won't come on properly. It finally rained the other day so I stopped by the dealer to show them. I took it in today and the service advisor just now called and said the entire windshield needs to be replaced.

He said if there are any imperfections in the glass the rain sensor doesn't work correctly. It's under warranty but geez, replace an entire windshield ?

I'd read somewhere on this forum that if the rain sensor is disconnected the intermittent wipers function normally like those without the rain sensor. The dealer said they would not disconnect the sensor as it is a "safety feature". I argued that its a "convenience feature" not a safety feature, but still they said no, they can not defeat the sensor. So next week, new windshield !

 

I trust they will use a genuine Lexus windshield. I have the rains sensing wipers and after a rock cracked my windshield I learned State Farm would only pay for an aftermarket windshield as the Lexus one costs so much more. That was 6 months ago and except for the rain sensor falling off a week later, which they came back and fixed, it has been fine with no optical problems.

 

I'd be surprised if the dealer wouldn't use a Lexus windshield. They said they'd replace it to insure there wasn't an optical defect in the area of the rain sensor, so I'd think they wouldn't want to take a chance using an aftermarket windshield. I'll take a close look at the new one to be sure. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

You should check that to be sure. When we hit a deer in our RX the dealer's body shop had an outside glass service that did their windshields, so I doubt the service department does it either. We were going to pay the difference for a Lexus windshield, but we elected to keep the OEM windshield with a small chip rather than risk the trouble that comes with replacement.

 

Since it's a warranty repair I would hope they would use an OEM windsheild..

I don't like raining sensing wipers because they never seem to work right. In any car or SUV we've owned over the years (not just Lexus) the rain sensing wipers either don't wipe when there is clearly enough water on the windshield. Or they wipe too fast for no reason, or just wipe all the time when there is barely any water present.

I much prefer intermittent wipers..

 

I verified they will replace with OEM windshield. The dealership has several local stores representing 6 different brands and has their own body shop. I doubt if they will use an outside shop for glass replacement.