I believe I brought this issue to CarTalk community’s attention in recent past and so I’m asking kindly that everyone help me with this, please.
I brought the car to the Lexus dealer for this problem and they charged me $200 for diagnosis. Because they did not find any problem other than I needed an alignment, they waived the diagnosis fee and charged me $190 for the alignment and reduced the tire pressure from 40 to 35.
Interestingly, the alignment and the pressure reduction helped solve the issue about 75%.
The problem. At high speed ( between 65 to 72mph) the steering wheel locks but not lock as to be unable to release it.
Here is the closest example I can come up with in describing the sensation of the steering wheel.
My car has a center console next to the lever. Its purpose is to put the car in eco , normal and sport mode. I need to turn the console button to change mode, and when turning, I can feel a resistant pull ( like an elastic ) when doing that.
This is what happens with the steering wheel at high speed, except the resistant pull feels tighter and calls for concern. In other words, it puts my life at risk.
So let’s say I’m driving 70mph on the motorway and need to slightly turn the steering wheel to keep the car in the lane I’m traveling in. The steering wheel will have that resistant feeling and force me to aggressively turn the wheels to release the resistance.
I brought the car to Lexus a total of 3 times and this never happened once with the mechanic there who took the car for a test drive each time.
This also doesn’t happen to me every time I drive at high speed. It tends to occur randomly.
It does have electric steering. I will mention this to the Lexus dealer on my next trip for an oil change.
The dealer also told me that my car has an electric steering and that no code was reported during diagnosis. However, they offered me to replace the whole thing for nearly $5000 if the problem persisted.
Our RX350 will try to stay in the lane and resists going over the line into the next lane when changing lanes.
Could that be what you are experiencing?
Hello, Robert. Good question, and no — that’s not what I’m experiencing. But I know what you are talking about and that’s why I disabled lane assistance.
Yes. I’m thinking about trading my car too. I don’t like what I’m experiencing at all. It causes me to not trust the car on motorways. Not good at all.
I’m wondering if the 2021 Lexus IS might have the same problem since they are made from the same platform.
I can’t help with your problem, but this demonstrates my concern about making a car overly complex. We all know that a complex system might pass a system test but still have a problem that needs to be fixed. The only thing the dealer knows how to do is to read the codes, and there are none. At that point, a few simple tests might be done (checking connections), but no one at the dealership understands the complexity of the system. Unless they ramp up the questions to regional or further, there are no answers. Forums like this might help, but they don’t capture all the owners or dealers. Carmakers have forgotten the KISS principle.
I also think that the problem may be related to the Lane-Keeping Assist function… even though you think it’s turned off.
That system depends on the downward-facing cameras which are located on the underside of your outside mirrors, and you might not be aware of those cameras because they’re out of sight unless you stoop down to look at the underside of the mirrors.
So, here’s an experiment for you to try: Take a couple of pieces of duct tape, cover both of those downward-facing cameras, and then go out for a high-speed drive. If the “resistance” goes away, there is your clue that it’s the LKA feature, and you can give that clue to the folks at the dealership. (Or, if you really dislike LKA, you could just keep those cameras permanently covered…)
They are not built on the same platform. The Sonata uses the Hyundai-Kia N platform and the 2021 Lexus IS uses the Toyota New N platform, more commonly own as the TNGA-L platform.
I’m pretty sure Clueless was talking about his current older Lexus IS vs the 2021 Lexus IS, nothing to do with a Hyundai/Kia that Chris was using just as an example of a different issue… Kinda like someone else on here always comparing his 30/50yo vehicles to modern ones…
Exactly what is the steering doing at speeds over 50mph?
Is it binding/sticking at some point in its range of rotation(lock-to-lock).
I bring up my 2013 Hyundai Sonata experience because around town, it was a joy to drive, especially after a local dealer put the electric steering in the heavier/lower assist sport mode, but still exhibited some of the previous need for constant correcting to stay in the center of a highway lane.
Other drivers experienced kind of what you said: That the steering would stick/bind in a ‘dead zone’ close to center straight ahead. When the driver turned the wheel to break free from this sticking zone, it would be too far, and the driver would end up sawing the car left and right with the steering wheel. to maintain their lane.