Lexus Driver Reaches For Windshield Wipers. Then He Discovers An All-Too-Common Toyota Glitch

'Can I please have some wipers?'

Lexus Driver’s Windshield Wipers Won’t Work

Photo by: Unsplash.com

Madeleine Wagner

By: Madeleine Wagner

Feb 27, at 11:00am ET

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Driving a luxury vehicle has mostly upsides. Nonetheless, there might be days you wish it weren’t quite so technologically advanced, especially when it is raining and the windshield wipers aren’t cooperating.

That’s where Facebook can take the wheel. Take a recent Reel posted by Lefler Motors, a self-described "junk car enthusiast," that tackles the annoyance of locating an "innovatively" placed switch.

Lexus Driver’s Windshield Wiper Glitch

The Reel’s been watched 206,000 times and almost demands an immediate leap to the comments section. In the video, a man’s hand can be seen toggling the Lexus's windshield wipers on and off. But nothing is happening.

"Can I please have some wipers? Can I please have some wipers?" he asks.

Then, he answers himself, "Oh yeah, let me just caress the mirror." He reaches up and taps the windshield just behind the rearview mirror. As soon as he does, the wipers come on.

Commenters React To Lexus Driver’s Windshield Wiper Caress Hack

The comments section has Facebook users ready to talk. They’re speculating about what’s wrong with the wipers and offering explanations as to why the "tickle" worked.

Karen Carothers has got one way to get the wipers to work: "Talk nice to her. You have to whisper sweet nothings in her ear," she says.

However, there are more reasonable-sounding explanations. "Its the rain sensor pad needs replaced or the retainer clip isn't on right easy fix with any glass company," speculated Art Mendez.

Brandon Larson quips that they’re the "first touchscreen wiper [crying laughing emoji]."

While Patrick Michaud points out that "some cars have a auto mode for wiper... in modern years, it's set up with the rain sensor that is usually mounted on the [windshield] ... all he does is [trigger] it with his finger since its not mounted properly."

Rain-sensing Windshield Wipers Explained

The technology behind rain sensing is straightforward: It’s all about the light. Sensors measure the number of raindrops on the windshield by detecting the light reflected internally by the windshield glass. The more rain, the less light, and the harder the wipers work.

So, when Lefler Motors points his finger at the spot just behind the windshield where the small black sensor box is mounted, the sensor thinks it's pouring rain because no light is reflected.

The only problem? When he moves his hand away, the vehicle adjusts the wipers because more light is present. So while it is a neat trick, it’s not a particularly useful hack. Better to just replace the stalk in the steering wheel housing that controls the wipers and cease all the hand-waving.

In a Facebook message to Motor1, Lefler Motors explained his specific situation: "The car is a 2004 Lexus LS430, the auto wiper setting is controlled by a rain sensor at the top of the windshield behind the mirror."

Then he explained that after years in the sun, they can get loose, "or if they get installed wrong when the windshield gets replaced." He explains that he was pushing on the housing, so it made full contact with the glass, and he was able to work again while being held.

Asked if he fixed it, he told Motor1, "Yeah. It's a pretty easy fix and common on 20-year-old Lexus/Toyota cars."

What do you think?

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For a Lexus, those replacement stalks for vehicles circa 2004 run about $107.99 on eBay. And if you can’t DIY it, labor runs between about $81 and $118, per RepairPal.

Either way, better safe than soggy.

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