2025 Lexus Nx

The interior door latch is electronic with a manual lever in case it loses power. The problem is the electronic latch will occasionally malfunctions, and the door is partially open. When this happens, you cannot get the door to open all the way with the electric door latch or the manual door latch. The only way to get it open is to pull very hard on the door to close it again or get someone to push on the outside of the door. I alerted the dealer about this, and they said I have to push harder when I open the door. This has happened to me many times. The safety issue here is plain. If a person is not strong enough to pull the door closed it will not open.

On [XXX], I tried to move my vehicle from my driveway into the garage. The car would not start, and locked me inside the car. None of the electronics and electrically-operated functions worked -- the door locks, window controls, hatch release and lights were all dead. And unfortunately I did not have my phone with me so I could not call anyone for help. Even the Lexus Safety Connect system (SOS) did not work. I eventually got my wife's attention by honking and she came out and brought my phone (fortunately the horn still worked). She was unable to find the slot to insert the mechanical key (that's stored in the key fob) so we couldn't use that. I was finally able to call Lexus Roadside Assistance from my Apple Watch. The Lexus representative instructed me to pull on the inside door release lever two times and that would open the door. It didn't work. So I tried it on the front passenger door and it opened. But as soon as I got out of the car and the door closed, the car locked again. Thus I was unable to get back inside to see if I could jumpstart it or charge the battery. I did find the keyslot for the mechanical key and it did not work. In total, I was locked in the car for nearly 45 minutes. In an emergency, that could have been fatal. The Lexus dealer said they could not find anything wrong with the vehicle other than it needing to be charged. They tested the mechanical key and the inside door handle and said both worked. They could not explain why it didn't work for me other than telling me I need to drive the car more often to keep the 12V battery charged. There's nothing in the owner's manual saying that the vehicle needs to be driven frequently else this problem could arise. My concern is this happening to others where the electrical system is compromised in an accident or the car being submerged in water. If the occupants are locked inside, the result could be devastating. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)