My 2006 Lexus IS 250 was having issues with the battery not being fully charged. The dealership suggested I drive the car more often and for longer distances, especially after the 3 years of the pandemic's shelter in place policies in urban areas. I found it ridiculous that I would have to drive the car every other day.
Finally after 4 tows, in 8 months, the dealership finally replaced the battery and the alternator, after I mentioned there is a whirling sound when I would start the car. They were not able to charge the battery anymore, and that never worked in the first place.
4 days later, and after 2 days of rain, the car did not start again. It is a city car, and often parked outside. I tried not to park it under trees. It was parked downhill, which may have contributed to the sunroof tube causing water intrusion.
After the 3rd tow, I had run out of AAA services for the year. With the 5th tow, the service manager kindly showed up in person and used his AAA services to tow my car to the dealership. I would say the customer service was excellent, even though it took many months and multiple tows to repair the car not holding its battery charge and dying while I was driving it.
The insurance company has deemed the car a total loss. This could have been avoided, if the problems were discovered and remedied sooner.
Clearly, water intrusion from the the sunroof's overall design is a Lexus problem, and a recall should be issued.
