Gamalot

I could be one of those buyers who do not know what Lexus Hybrid vehicles are! The sales force never explained a thing about them and probably because I was adamant that we had no interest in jacking up our electric bills. Sorry for my ignorance because I had a great F-250 with a diesel engine and when it was 10* I had to plug it in to get it started in the morning and my electric bills doubled. Where I did save on the fuel mileage I lost my !Removed! on the higher cost of diesel fuel, the electric to keep it warm and the 4 gallon oil changes every 3,000 miles. I never did see a single one of the Hybrid RX 350s they had because I was turned against them from friends who did have "Plug-in" vehicles here with nothing but high bills and battery issues. I don't think there is a single plug-in charging station up here in Sullivan County NY. On a different note, I do think there are some valuable features in the Gas vehicle we did buy, all the bells and whistles once we learn how to use or not use them. On the back country roads the lane assist drift is pretty much useless. The navigation system takes us around the block to get across the street unless we pick the correct route from 3 choices. I am sure we will figure this all out one of these days but wish there was a tutorial about all of this fancy new tech.

"I would've opted for the hybrid model after having one for over 16 years and saving thousands of dollars in gas but I can understand those who rarely drive, not needing to spend the additional money for one." I suppose this is a very geographical thing depending on where you live and how much your gas costs Vs the price of electricity. The salesman did say he has a very hard time selling the Hybrid models around here in NY but he didn't say if it was because the price was higher or the cost of electricity to charge batteries was the reason.

I do agree Jack, We would never have requested a lot of these additional features but finding a car in the color we wanted that was not a Hybrid model proved to be impossible. In the end we probably spent close to $4K extra but I do believe with the Microchip shortages the dealer lots are a bit sparse at the moment. I was a bit surprised to see the dealer had dozens of Hybrid models and only a few straight gas ones in stock and the few gas ones he did have were either totally base models or fully optioned.

We loved our 2015 RX350 and just traded for a new 2021 RX350. Wife loved the green color "Nori Green Pearl" and finally found one in her preferred color but it has just about every optional upgrade imaginable. Approaching age 70 and I must admit I am severely technology compromised. Learning how to use and set all the fancy features is driving me crazy. Is there a section here or anywhere that gives a tutorial on all the features? It has a 12.3" Navigation touch screen where all the stuff gets displayed on startup and I feel like I'm in the cockpit of a fighter jet. The heads up display in the windshield takes some getting used to but we have been able to get that mostly adjusted. I am playing now with the Intuitive Parking Assist and Cross Traffic Braking but honestly don't even know what all this is. Apple CarPlay is another of the illusive features and we do have Iphones but hardly do any of the functions they have. I am not yet comfortable messing with the navigation system because if I touch the screen while in the map mode it puts some stupid circle target where I touched and apparently it locks the screen there. I have not figured out how to get the target off once I touch the screen unless I turn the car off and restart. I find some of this stuff a bit frustrating and often very distracting while driving so I play while parked in the driveway and searching through the owner's manual for the answers. Smart Stop Technology, Lane Tracing Assist, Road Sign Assist, Pre Collision system with Pedestrian Detection, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist, Blind Spot Monitoring with Rear Cross Traffic Alert and the only button I have not yet found is the Ejection Seat. I am sure we will be much happier once we learn all this new to us gadgetry but it sure is very complicated for the moment. I actually made a recommendation to the dealership that they should give a class taught by one of their techno wizards to all new buyers going through all these fancy features. I never thought I would Not like a car because it has too many options and upgrades.

If you go to the second post in this thread that I started you can see the mess I had. Same as what you experienced. I had high hopes that someone from Lexus would have joined this discussion and given us some direction. Apparently after all this time Lexus could not care less and now it is you and Lex giving Lexus the real solution. There can be no doubt in my mind this has been an ongoing issue at Lexus dealership service shops from others with the same issue while still under warranty.

These Lexus vehicles are listed as Luxury vehicles but they never said they were not Luxurious for mice and other critters. Apparently, they left a few doors open! Thanks to both Jack and Lex for finally solving this mystery for me and many others with the same problems. To be honest, my wife has hated her 2015 RX350 ever since a dead mouse fell onto her feet from behind the glovebox. The car gives her the HeBeGibees every time she gets in it and she will absolutely never buy another Lexus because of this. She calls it the "Mouse Mobile" and we have never before had this issue with any other vehicle we have owned in over 50 years.

Great diagram if only they would show the actual duct work and all inlet and outlet points with directional arrows of the air flow.

We love the options and features but ours did not come with the remote start option. I installed an aftermarket remote start and could not be happier. It will be about 20 in the morning so push the button from inside and go out to a warm car in 10-15 minutes. One complaint other than it being a Mouse hangout is they did not offer a heated steering wheel back in 2015 and not sure if they do now. Our wheel stays freezing cold for the entire commute to and from work, about 18 miles. My 2016 4Runner Limited never had a mouse issue but I do like the RX350 better for just cruising and running to the market type stuff.

I have some things I think I know but apparently don't know as well Les. When the baby mouse fell from behind the glove box on to my wife's foot I pulled the cabin air filter out. Sure enough there were 3 dead baby mice on the top side of the filter and a nest. How one of the baby mice got from the top of the filter where his/her sibling died out and dropped on to my wife's foot is the real mystery I have never solved. My filter was completely intact and not chewed through at all and the fit in there does seem to be tight. If a baby mouse can get from the top side of the filter and drop into the passengers side floor mat from behind the glove box then that could be the path the adult mice take to get on top of the filter. Getting into the car is probably pretty simple for those critters but the path to the air duct system seems to be eluding us all. When you turn the heat blower on to warm up the car and the filter has dead mice on it the car gets a stink that requires fumigation. So much for buying a high dollar luxury vehicle that stinks of death.

I don't think mice can get to the top "Dirty side intake" of the cabin air filter from the under the seat air flow outputs. I also don't believe they can shimmy through the air intake vents on the fire wall. What I do know for sure is they can and do get onto the top "Dirty side" of the cabin air filter. Just a rather uneducated guess here but our heat/AC systems do have a setting for recirculating inside cabin air and then blowing it out through the vents. This is likely some sort of flap between the outside air and the interior air that opens and closes. I have no idea where the intake suction side of the recirculation vent might be but this is where I suspect mice can get to the top side of the cabin air filter. I am very sure mice can get inside the interior of my RX350 with no trouble whatsoever. They ate my candy in the cup holder. Once inside the cabin they apparently search for a way back out and some end up on the top side of my cabin air filter. I showed pictures of dead newborn mice laying on top of the filter and the car had a stink like dead mice until I finally located them and that happened when my wife had a dead baby drop onto her foot from behind the glove box. After all this time that this discussion has been going on we would think some "rocket scientist/design engineer" employed at Toyota/Lexus might have chimed in and shown us the possible route the critters could be taking. My bet is Lexus has the ability to show the entire air flow system in a simple computer generated schematic with all the other systems removed and arrows showing the flow direction. Basically just a wiring diagram but for only the air flow vent duct system. I do love seeing the trail cam pictures of the mice on the move. Too bad we can't see any points or racks on the critters. I have caught a lot of mice in my garage but never did check if they were bucks or does.

Watching my wife back out of the garage in her 2015 RX350 and I saw this plug blow out from under her car. It fits a 1 1/2" diameter hole but I can't locate where it came from. I suppose it is possible it came off some other vehicle but with the winds we had here it sure appeared to be off of her car. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you Gary

Our RX350 is 2015 and has the USB port that our old Apple Ipods works fine with. I also have a nice MP3 player with a lot of my music stored on it. The MP3 player works great in my 2016 4Runner limited but it can't connect to the 2015 Lexus. Am I doing something wrong or could this be the type of format I used when loading the MP3 player? The player uses file terms like MP3, WAP and a couple others but I can't find what works in the RX350.

Thank you Les. The very first indication of mouse intrusion was a dead new born mouse dropped from under the glove box onto the floor mat. I did a thorough search of the cabin to find a nest but none was present. A few days later my wife, it is her daily driver, reported the stink which was putrid. I dropped the glove box, found the cabin air filter and the dead mice and nest on the top of the filter. So now I know the mice can make their way through the ducts and up to the intake side. My thought if it is at all possible is to fasten 1/4 inch square chicken wire fencing over any holes where the adult mice could possibly enter from. As hard as I try I can't possibly keep mice out of the garage. I set traps and catch plenty all winter long but there is an endless supply of mice out here in the country. I expect them in the engine compartment nooks and crannies but have never heard of them entering the cabin air system and even worse, this system is designed to keep the cabin fresh but instead blows the stench of dead mouse throughout the entire cabin. Pretty sad that I as an owner must redesign the system in a premium vehicle such as a Lexus. BTW, Lexus did finally reply and simply said take it to the dealer and have them make the repairs at my expense. At around $100/ hour, No thanks. I would feel a great deal better if Lexus would simply tell me what fix a dealer would do to solve this intrusion. I bet they don't know of a cure but the dealer would be happy to turn his technician lose on my vehicle and take many hundreds of my dollars in the process.

Thanks Les, I am sure you are correct however when I open the hood on my 2015 RX350 the very first thing I see is plastic covers over the entire engine compartment. All of this will need to be popped off and removed before I can even see the vents you speak of. There appears to be an air intake tube that goes forward behind and under the plastic wheel well cowling as well. All of that would have to be popped and removed too. Knowing which of these air intake vents gets the mice directly to the top side of the cabin air filter is the key to tearing into this repair and so far I don't have the benefit of hearing from any technician who honestly knows this system. I could spend a full day dismantling all the shrouds and screening any entry points I can find and still not get it fixed. Back when I first posted this ordeal I also sent an email directly to Lexus customer service hoping they might have some advice. Never got a reply at all from the company. At the dealer while still under the warranty they offered to replace the cabin air filter for free but I had already done that when I first found the dead mouse babies. They had no clue where or how the mice could have gotten in to that area and really didn't care. They claimed this was the first and only time they ever heard this complaint yet in talking with a mechanic at an auto body repair shop he said he finds mouse nests and dead ones in all sorts of strange places when he is rebuilding cars after crashes, snakes too.

Cats! Yup, tried that until we realized we then need to kill all the coyotes that kill the cats. Trapping and killing the mice is the better plan and I have blocked their entrance into the garage all except for every time we open the new door. I posted this issue here in the hope of hearing from a Toyota/Lexus technician who knows the vent system and could describe exactly where the mice are able to enter up to the top side of the cabin air filter. If I knew where to look I would make a cover with chicken wire to block their entrance and glue it in if necessary. It just seems ridiculous that a premium vehicle such as a Lexus would leave such an obvious design fault open to mouse intrusion and the stench that follows when they die and permeate the entire cabin with dead mouse stink.

I bought my 2015 RX350 as a lease return with 20K on the clock. At 22K I did the same with all OEM parts, pads and rotors because the pedal was pulsing. Now the RX has 36 K and it is just starting again to pulse. I figured it had to be the rears so I replaced them. Turns out the rears were fine but I finished the job with all new OEM parts since I was there. I will be ordering the full front set again in the near future. IMO this has something to do with the anti lock system that I know very little about. I've replaced a lot of pads and rotors over many years but these are the first for me with the anti lock and I might be missing something in the process. Is it possible there is some relief valve or other step we should be doing when we compress the calipers for the new pads and rotors? I have considered paying the outrageous price and letting the Lexus dealer do the fronts this time just to see if they last longer but at more then twice the price of DIY they still would not warranty their work if after 15-20K the brakes need replacing again. I have had a few panic brake stops with the SUV when deer or bear jumped out and again when some bimbo on her phone needed my side of the road at 60 MPH. Would love to hear from a Toyota/Lexus certified mechanic about this issue.

You have about the same assessment as we do regarding the Rav4 and the RX350. Living here in the NY Catskill mountains, Snow Country, it was essential that my wife had a vehicle capable of severe winter driving because her work required her to be there no matter what. Snow country is also road salt country and the salt turns any vehicle into a bucket of rust in short order. With this in mind we leased 3 Rav 4s for her and turned them in at the lease end for a new one. Her last Rav was the LXE model and a bit nicer overall. The Rav 4s are just a basic vehicle but with good reputations and we never once had to have anything repaired on any of them. A promotion at work equated into an upgrade of her vehicle so I picked the 2015 RX 350 and she loves it. Yes to the junk tires standard equipment but I bought a complete second set of stock rims and outfitted them with Bridgestone Blizzak tires for winter treads and have never looked back. Great tires and turns the RX into a tank on snow and ice covered roads. My one and only complaint is with these damn TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems) every spring and every fall I have to get the wheels reprogrammed at a dealer or the tire place when I swap. One would think the system could be smart enough to have two sets of programmed TPMS sensors stored but it is just a PITA. I would buy the programmer myself except they are ridiculously high priced and subject to change as technology becomes obsolete. The Rav 4 rides jittery and is a sort of tin can while the RX rides very smooth and quiet. We test drove a new Highlander and she did not like it at all and we also tested a Subaru Forester that failed in every aspect. I know for sure the heated seats in the RX work great and once we get some hot weather here I will be testing the cooling function. We still had snow on April 30th so it will be a while before the AC is actively employed. Mice building nests in the vents and then finding a way inside the car is perplexing but I will correct this issue hopefully this weekend. I give Lexus a big thumbs down on this issue for sure. In 9 years with Rav 4s in the same mouse infested garage we never had this issue with them which leads me to believe there is a direct opening somewhere that should not be. Gam

I want to investigate to see if the system in our 2015 RX 350 is possibly different from in your 2018. I don't know if you have the leather seat option like ours but the leather has hundreds of tiny perforations for the venting to come through. Not sure how they could do that on cloth seats. I find these forums to be very informative for the most part. Sure there are the few who don't know what they think they know but need to sound smart. How the critters get in is my focus and once I get that figured out I will report my real findings here. Comparing my 4 runner to the RX is apples to oranges. The RX is certainly the luxury between the two and a pleasure to drive and take long trip in. The 4 runner is bigger and more capable for my manly needs of towing the boats and trailers with just enough luxury to make it a great and very comfortable ride. Two completely different animals but both are nice vehicles. My wife had 3 Toyota Rav 4s which got the job done through some nasty winters here in the NY Catskills but she absolutely loves her RX. I had a Tacoma before the 4 runner and in all reality I prefer the pick up for my needs but can live with the SUV 4 runner for a while.

Thanks Les, great info. I have to do some testing this weekend when the wife's car is here during the heat of the day. I do know this for sure in my 4 Runner limited with leather seats. When I have the seat cooling in max mode it works great and throughout the entire seat bottom and back. If while sitting in my seat I lean forward away from the seat back I can both feel and hear the air blowing through the back upright. After a day on the golf course and in shorts and a light shirt my seat gets noticeably cold on the ride home but I don't get to drive the Lex much as it is the wife's daily driver. Gam

Thanks again Les. My nephew runs a big auto body shop in NJ and is well acquainted with this rodent issue. Not just a Lexus thing but with many makes and models and they find the critters all the time during the cold months. He is sending me the push pins needed after I yank all the plastic covers over this weekend, weather permitting. He also agrees with you that under the windshield where the wiper motors are is where the air comes in and the most likely place the critters gain access. At his shop they have seen cars burnt to a crisp and totally destroyed as a result of mice and other critters gnawing on the wire harnesses. He will send me a couple pictures of fried mice later today. Sorry I have no input regarding your seats not cooling as they should. Ours in the RX and the ones in my 2016 4Runner limited cool very nice on hot summer days. I can hold my hand on the seat bottoms and backs and feel cool air flowing. Gam Helsupron-6 NAS Norfolk

I was a mechanic during Vietnam working on H-47 Helicopters but in this instance I am hoping to find the Easy Button so I need not tear the entire shroud under the hood apart to find where the critters gain access. Short of a Toyota/Lexus Tech chiming in here I could also just take it in to Lexus where I bought it and the 7 year extended platinum warranty and pitch a super BE-ich and force them to fix their defect. Gam

Thanks Les. I suspect there is an intake opening under the front wheel wells toward the front. I have not had the time yet to take off all the plastic covers in and around the engine compartment so it is very hard to assess where they might get in from. I had hopes there might be a Lexus Tech viewing some of these threads who might have first hand experience with all the covers off. I do have my own thread going on this subject and only posted here to give the OP some possibilities of what might be his issue. So far with our 2015 RX 350 the cooling for the seats works fine and once I get the dead mouse stink out I should be fine for the summer. Mice tend to seek shelter in the garage and cars only during the cold months.

Les, My response here is more for the OP 2011 RX owner who is getting no air flow through the seat ducts. Our 2015 RX is never left open either in or out of the garage. The mice do in fact come in through the vent ducts and this is the only way they could possibly get to the top side of the cabin air filter box. Once there I do believe they could build nests in any or all of the ducting throughout the entire car which would and could impede the air flow. Hiring a pest control company to rid my country home of field mice would be an effort in futility but certainly would make the company a major profit for their endless efforts. Mice are a way of life out here and they get in no matter what we do but they should not get into the ducts of our Lexus. A schematic of the actual duct work in my RX sure would help to guide me on where the intake is so I could fashion a screen or barrier of some sort to keep them out. Mice do build nests in my tractor, boat, shed, garage and just about anywhere else including on top of the engines. As fast as I can catch them the next generation is ready to invade. Very destructive critters BTW and capable of doing a lot of damage as they chew their way through wiring and materials while building their nests. Remember I did say they are not inside the cabin of the car but they are in the ducts and apparently only the tiny babies can wiggle their way through an opening and end up inside on the floor mat, no adult mice have ever gotten inside to the best of my knowledge and only into the upper cavity of the air box above the cabin air filter. We do agree on one thing. There should be no way for mice to get to where they are building their nests and that is a Lexus defect IMO. The stench of dead mice should not be blowing throughout the cabin of a very nice luxury vehicle the minute the fan turns on.

I have no idea where the air vent intake is located but can tell you for sure the mice get in my garage and then find their way into the car from the top side of the cabin air filter box which is located on the passenger side behind the glove compartment. First we found new born blind mice on the passenger side floor mat and when I investigated and removed the cabin air filter the entire area above the filter was loaded with a mouse nest and 2 more dead baby mice. I set traps in the garage all the time and catch the mice and suspect I likely killed the parents after they had the babies up inside of the vents. I have set traps in the car cabin on the floor mat but have never caught a mouse in the car cabin which leads me to believe the full grown mice can get in the ducts from outside but only as far as the top side of the cabin air filter and only the tiny baby mice can get inside the car cabin. My thought is if they can stuff the ducts above the cabin air filter full of nesting material it may be possible they could stuff the ducts for the seat cooling so no cool air or very little can go to the seat. Directly below the cabin filter is the squirrel cage fan that pulls the outside heated or cooled air in and blows it through the car. Gary

This may be related to the issue I am going through right now with mice getting inside the air ducts and building nests on top of my cabin air filter. How they can get from the ground and up in the air ducts and then inside the car only to drop out from underneath the dash is a mystery. Believe me, if they can build a nest on the top of the cabin filter then they can build nests in all the ducts and block the passageway. I have spent the past three days trying to get the mice out and in the process I have found dead baby mice in the ducts and on the passenger side floor mat. Since the temps are going up the entire inside of the car stinks of dead mouse and I have no idea where the culprits might be. Just imagine if you can having your wife driving along in her luxury Lexus and mice falling on her feet at 65 MPH.