mercer

This problem is becoming more common. See my response regarding someone else who has listed this problem on the most recent page of this blog. My car is a 2003 GS 430. Mercer

I have the same problem on my 2003 GS430. I have heard that others have the problem as well. I believe that the problem is related to the spring that actually moves the locking mechanism. It may be too weak but actually might work better in cold weather. For now I solve the problem my manually throwing the locking switch as I close the driver's door. The other doors seem to lock fine remotely. Check this out! When you put the car in gear and drive off the doors should lock automatically - check the driver's door to see if the manual lock has fully rotated. Mine doesn't. I wonder if this is enough of a safety issue (for women in particular) that Lexus would consider a recall. Does anyone know how to start a recall? J. Mercer

I have a 2003 GS 430 with an intermitent remote door lock problem. At times the remote feature will not work at all. I have noticed that the problem seems to originate when the car is placed in gear and the doors are supposed to lock themselves at some point. When this works normally I will have no problem locking the doors remotely when I leave the vehicle. Sometimes, however, the driver's side door manual lock does not rotate to the fully locked position. When this happens, I cannot remotely lock any of the doors - there is no beep or any indication of a remote function. To alleviate the problem, I have taken to cycling the manual door lock on the driver's side door after departing in the car. I believe that someone's suggestion that this may be do to a weak spring in the door locking mechanism is consistent with what I have observed. I do not know if replacing the spring independently from the door lock mechanism is possible.

I have a 2003 GS430 that came with a Lexus integrated cellular phone. The phone has a cradle built into the upper armrest and controls on the steering wheel that would normally control the radio. This phone is now obsolete and apparently Lexus has no replacement for the phone. Is anyone aware of an aftermarket replacement or conversion so that a late model digital phone can be used with the nicely integrated cradle, radio, and steering wheel controls?