I was parallel parking in my work parking lot. As I was turning the wheel to the left to back into the space, I felt a jolt in the steering wheel & heard a noise which I believed was just a rock slipping from under the tire so I ignored it. At the end of the day, I get back to my car to pull out of the space. As I'm turning the wheel, I felt the jolt again and it was much more noticeable. As I tried to accelerate to pull out, the car was not moving. Something must have been wrong. I look underneath the vehicle; first under the drivers (left) side, and then to the passenger (right) side. Immediately, I noticed the inner tie rod was snapped in half on the passenger side. This explains why my car was not able to move since the two wheels were facing in different directions. With the tie rod snapped, the right wheel was not connected to the steering rack. Let me say that my car was never involved in an accident, nor did I ever hit anything on the road, hit a curb, or run anything over while driving. I called Lexus to explain what happened & the service adviser told me it's covered under warranty. They tow the car to the closest dealership, investigate to see how the part failed & determined the they cannot cover it because the tie rod looked bent. They said the rod must have been bent prior to snapping in half. My argument was if that were the case, I would feel it in the steering/alignment while driving. Could the snapping/crack and turning of the wheel cause a bend in the tie rod? certainly. I don't know what could have caused the crack in the tie rod other than a faulty rod and the dealership couldn't give me a definite answer. I would think other components would have been bent if there were any prior impact or accident. This should not fail in 3 years under normal driving! if I had been driving, I certainly would have been in an accident! please investigate!

- Redwood City, CA, USA