At some point in life, kids want to learn more about their daddy’s work, so they begin to ask questions. If said person works as an editor for an automotive publication or website, it’s quite natural that they will get to be around, and inside, quite a lot of vehicles.
Consumer Reports has a reputation for discovering malfunctions that others have failed to spot. Unlike what some manufacturers who were slammed by CR may believe, its editors are normal human beings, with families and all.
Director of testing Jake Fisher, for example, has two sons aged four and eight. Fisher says that they “already want to be car testers” and they “love exploring every new car I bring home and enjoy trying to fit into every small opening possible”.
Since 2002, all cars with trunks have an entrapment emergency release handle that glows in the dark and allows a person to escape if he or she is accidentally locked inside.
While Consumer Reports’ tests are very thorough, testing the durability of emergency trunk levers hasn’t exactly been a priority. From now on, however, it will join the list thanks to Fisher’s kids.
Moreover, Toyota will probably have to issue yet another recall in just a couple of days after the one concerning a faulty window switch in 7.4 million vehicles worldwide.
This time, the problem lies with the Lexus ES and GS models and, particularly, the aforementioned emergency release handle. When playing with the 2013 ES 350 test car that their dad had brought home, the lever snapped off in the hands of Fisher’s four-year old boy.
Alarmed, Fisher also tried the two other Lexus sedans that are part of Consumer Reports’ fleet, an ES 300h and a GS 350. When he tested the lever himself, he found that when it was pulled straight or towards the passenger’s side it worked just fine.
When pulled towards the driver’s side, though, in Fisher’s own words, “the plastic surround acts as a fulcrum and snaps the emergency release handle off easily” in both cars.
Consumer Reports tested other vehicles in their possession, but none displayed the same failure.
Naturally, both Lexus and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) were immediately notified. Lexus said that the IS may use the same mechanism and, thus, face the same problem, while the NHTSA responded that it is “aware of the issue and evaluating available information to determine if additional action is warranted.”
You can watch the Lexus trunk emergency release handle fail in the video that follows right past the break.
By Andrew Tsaousis
VIDEO