rains

A long-time Toyota driver, my mother decided to make the leap to a Lexus RX350. Sparing no expense, she purchased a fully-optioned RX. Less than a month into driving, she began to notices excessive wind noise (yes, I reviewed this thread) coming from the roof when driving at highway speeds (no, no roof racks, just the standard rails). So, I began to research panoramic moon roofs and confirmed that they are naturally a bit louder than just a standard sun roof. She called the dealer (who is an hour away) and advised of the noise. They told her that it was likely nothing and probably just a product of the panoramic moon roof's nature... despite the fact that she reported a noticeable increase in sound over the month of ownership as if something had changed, rather than the sound always being there. They said as long as she kept the sun shade closed, that should take care of any excessive noise. It didn't. Is the only way to enjoy the panoramic moon roof to gaze at it from afar or perhaps while the car is in park? The dealer noted that they would take a look at her first service interval. She drove it with reluctance and sparingly over 50mph until then. As she grew concerned, I decided to put my decibel reader to the test. Using my own Subaru as a benchmark, the Lexus, even with the excessive wind noise was significantly quieter (which caused me to notice just how loud my Subaru is). I told her that maybe this was part of the reason Lexus equipped 835 watts of Mark Levinson. At her first service, she again expressed the distaste for excessive wind noise as well as a noise that she thought was coming from the rear driver suspension. She explained that the noise was noticeable at highway speeds and asked them to take it for a drive. The report she received stated that they drove it 1-2 miles and noticed nothing in excess of standard parameters. Reluctant, she drove the hour back home with the excessive wind noise in tow. Most of her driving, thankfully, is around town, and she only exceeds 40mph about once a week. Having paid for a luxury SUV with such a glaring issue is unsettling. So, it has been a few months, now, and finally something gave.

Incident
She was on her once a week interstate drive going about 70mph when she heard a noise coming from the roof accompanying the excessive wind noise. And then, suddenly, the excessive wind noise increased to an alarming level. She pulled over to the side of the road, and, upon inspection of her vehicle, found that the panoramic moon roof was completely gone. All that remained was a thin strip of adhesive covered in glass shards. I'm guessing that the adhesive failed.

Report
Immediately, she contacted her dealer and reported the issue. Service told her that she could bring it in the following day for an appointment or there was availability the following week. She expressed that this was not situation that should be handled by a routine service appointment. They redirected her to another representative who was understanding and advised that they would send someone to drop off a loaner and pick up the failure given her busy work schedule and the distance from the dealer. In the meantime, she drove our Infiniti coupe. Within the afternoon, the dealer rep dropped off and picked up the car. By the end of the day, a service technician advised that this was an insurance claim rather than a warranty claim. He said that a rock must have flown up and hit it. She countered and advised that there were no vehicles anywhere near her on the road. His next point was that there was a hail storm the night prior and it was possible that could have caused the issue. She countered and advised that the vehicle is garaged and was not exposed to any hail in the storm. She also noted that there would have been a collection of glass in the sunshade if it was a break. He said he would get back to her. A few days passed and we were advised that a claim was submitted to corporate. The next day, we were advised that corporate was sending someone to take a look.

Corporate response
The following day, we received a call and were advised that corporate would not accept the claim and that this was an insurance claim for glass. Given that Kentucky has a non-deductable glass policy, they think this should be taken care of by an insurance claim. They also provided the estimate for the repair: $4,500. keep in mind, the sunroof itself is intact and the moon roof does not move. It is just a piece of glass that apparently is only held on by an inadequate adhesive. The dealer told her she was welcome to call corporate herself and enter a claim. They advised she was fine to keep the loaner in the meantime. The representative advised that he pleaded her case and was on her side, but they would not relent. She called corporate and made her claim which was just a standard incident report with a representative. The following day another representative called back to confirm the report details. The representative seemed to suggest she should go the easy route and make an insurance claim to take care of the issue. She asked if we had retrieved the piece of glass that had blown off of the roof. I dont think it would have survived the fall myself. She didnt see it anywhere. I'm thinking of trying to go find it on the side of the interstate. So, now... I guess we wait for them to tell us they're not responsible for this.

I just wanted to share the story. I can't imagine the panic, I'm glad the sunshade was closed or the dog in the back seat may have had more problems than what he was going to the vet for. We had high hopes for Lexus. We love most everything about the vehicle. It's just a shame...

JSracer

so the part that opens blew off, or the rear fixed part, or the entire thing ??
shame, sounds like it was defective from the start, my pano roof is extremely quiet, no issues at all

a ML system to overcome the windnoise of a defective part ?? really ?? "I told her that maybe this was part of the reason Lexus equipped 835 watts of Mark Levinson."

the usual is for service to take one off the lot to compare noise, or other issues.

rains

The rear, fixed moon roof blew off. The front, moveable sun roof remained in place. I am happy to hear that yours quiet, at least. We are a little over an hour away from 3 dealers, and at the time of purchase there was only one model with this option at each dealer. True, there should have been at least one for service to compare against.

Pardon my sarcarsm regarding use of ML to counter the noise.

mikemu30

Has to be a warranty issue and you have on record the complaint of abnormal noise prior to the event. Clearly a defect.

JSracer

Wow, crazy deal for sure. That's a big *** piece of glass too.
No worries about the ML, 😀

SoCalRX

Too bad Kentucky Small Claims Court limit is $2,500 or I would say file there. Since it is documented, and provided that Lexus keeps passing the buck, I would go with the documentation that your mother has from visiting the Lexus dealer and find a good lawyer. Also, do you mind me asking what year and where was the RX built?

rains

This is a 2017 RX 350 built in Canada. She happens to work for a pretty good lawyer who, in passing, offered to stand behind her if it became an issue. I was just hoping it wouldn't have to come to that. I also read several of the experiences people have had in this forum with the Lexus Buy Back process. In my research, I, of course, stumbled across the many exploding sunroof stories people have across brands and the refusal to cover the damages under warranty, but I haven't quite found another scenario like ours.

mjeds

had the sunroof on my 2001 Impala fly off on the freeway one day when I opened it. was told the same thing my GM, insurance claim not a warranty item.

without getting a lawyer, I suspect you are going to have a fight on your hands to get Lexus to cover it. was cheaper for me to just do the insurance claim.

mikemu30

But not on a car one month old where the OP complained to the dealer from the start. Seems like a no brainer to me. And yes - there is a history with every brand where pano roofs are fragile. I have one on my four year old Azera but so far no issues with it.

mjeds

the problem is burden of proof is on the consumer, who will have to prove it was a defect and not a rock, and Lexus has all the time and money to fight it and probably will.

minusplus

I'm sorry you have to go through all of this. Unfortunately without legal consultation, the dealership won't do anything about it.

SoCalRX

Doesn’t matter that Toyota has lawyers on retainer throughout the country, courts and judges will be sympathetic owed to the fact that she informed Lexus about the issue, and she felt there was something wrong, before it led to the unfortunate outcome. Lexus should have asked her to come in immediately. I find it hard to believe that the panoramic glass is $4,500 to repair. I would shop for bids and if falls under $2,500 go directly to Small Claims Court and file.

raysmd

I'm curious as to why so many cars are going the panoramic roof look? what happens in a rollover? is the glass roof as safe as the steel roof?

ut2sua

It sounds like a factory defect. My pano moon roof would not close when the car had 20 miles on it, and the dealer fixed it (so it is not like Lexus never had any factory defect). But the pano roof still keeps the RX very quiet without having to close the shade. Unfortunately, it sounds like you need to go to court for this one.

ut2sua

It is personal preference. I would not buy an 4RX without it, but others dislike it. As far as safety is concern, it is a lot safer than a soft top convertible. For me, it is not how the car look with pano, it is the view from the inside out.