Anyone else found this annoying?

[normski2]

Having had my 250 for over 6 years there are very few things in the design that have either puzzled me or that I disliked. But, there was one that I became intensely aware of on a 7 hour drive in France.

For some time now I've noticed a peculiarity in the direction of air flow from the fixed grills on the passenger and drivers side. The passenger side directs the air flow towards the window area whereas the drivers side directs the air flow straight at my right eye. These upper vents are permanently open. I'm thinking its a design fault on the drivers side that just wasn't picked up on ... but there is a simple cure if it bugs you at all.

This is the drivers side grill with fixed grill indicated by the green loop.

So I removed the side of the dash and extracted the grill. It comes out quite easily with gentle force and has one plug to disconnect for the motorised flap controlling air flow to the lower grill. I then made a blanking piece of black card cut to the outline of the pipe and neatly taped it over the rear opening .......... where the foam can be seen as indicated by the yellow loop.

Put the whole lot back together and its worked a treat.

No more dry, irritated, tired right eye..........RESULT!!!

This has no effect whatsoever on the lower grill as the piping connectors are independent of each other. So you can still direct air flow wherever you wish with this lower vent

[is200 Newbie]

Good spot - never noticed this before

[65mike]

Hi all.

Never felt a great deal from this vent i find it ideal in the winter for demisting side window but never had a issue with it.

Has your fix sorted it out for you now Normski.

65mike

[normski2]

It has totally fixed it for me .... well happy!

The upper vent won’t demist the side window as it does not direct air flow at the window. The larger vent underneath would clear the side window.

[Verbout]

“Anyone else found this annoying”?

No actually, but thanks for pointing it out. I’m sure the next time I get in the car I WILL notice it and it WILL start to annoy me.

Again, thanks.

[ColinBarber]

22 hours ago, normski2 said:

It has totally fixed it for me .... well happy!

The upper vent won’t demist the side window as it does not direct air flow at the window. The larger vent underneath would clear the side window.

Are they all like this or do you have a damaged or incorrect vent? This one looks correct and will direct air to the window.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lexus-IS220-IS250-O-S-RH-Driver-Side-Front-Dashboard-Air-Vent-55650-53031/222957280186?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D49131%26meid%3D98ffd2fb8bc448e8a19924f93dda26e6%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D11%26sd%3D182952212407%26itm%3D222957280186&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

 

[normski2]

1 hour ago, ColinBarber said:

Are they all like this or do you have a damaged or incorrect vent? This one looks correct and will direct air to the window.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lexus-IS220-IS250-O-S-RH-Driver-Side-Front-Dashboard-Air-Vent-55650-53031/222957280186?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D49131%26meid%3D98ffd2fb8bc448e8a19924f93dda26e6%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D11%26sd%3D182952212407%26itm%3D222957280186&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

 

All the vents I've seen have been the same. Mine is not damaged in any way.....you cannot move those fixed vanes at the top of the unit.

That vent you've linked to (the fixed part) will not direct the air flow to the window. By the time you've positioned that unit to the far right of the dash where it sits you'll find the air flow is anything but at the window. You can see the fixed vanes are tilted to the left ... they need to be tilted to the right.

[ColinBarber]

4 minutes ago, normski2 said:

You can see the fixed vanes are tilted to the left ... they need to be tilted to the right.

They look tilted to the right to me in the eBay photo but possibly the angle of the photo. Weird that it is wrong, the whole point of those vents is to defrost the side window and on all other Lexus models they direct the airflow correctly.

Good that there is a simple fix though. 

[Linas.P]

That might only be an issue in your car, never had issue on mine. They only blow air if you set the A/C to demist windscreen and they are directed more or less to the side windows. I personally quite like the design as you can direct some flow to yourself whilst dedicated went still demists the side windows, so it is not binary -either your face or window. I guess another thing is if you wear glasses or contact lenses  - I don't so I am not very sensitive, but I know such things drives my mate mental because it "drys the lenses".

[Verbout]

The vents on my car are same as the OP.

The passenger side top vent points to the window, the drivers side onwards towards the driver, very odd.

It doesn’t bother me but I would really like to know the reason.

[chr15gb]

That eBay photo is like one of those optical illusions.

If you look long enough, you can make the vents point either way lol.

[J Henderson]

The vent in my car is definitely aimed at the window, not the driver.

The thought that it might indeed be an optical illusion made me double-check by placing a thin screwdriver flat against one of the vanes, and sure enough, it points in the general direction of the tweeter.