Toyota Motor’s new Lexus ES and GS sedans have emergency trunk release handles that break too easily and risk trapping someone in the cargo space of the luxury cars, according to Consumer Reports magazine.
The flaw was found by accident during an evaluation of 2013 models of the two cars, the nonprofit publication said in a statement. The 4-year-old son of Jake Fisher, director of vehicle testing for Yonkers-based Consumer Reports, got into the ES 350’s trunk to try the interior release, Fisher said.
The boy’s “small hands snapped off the lever that opens the lid. He was not able to escape from the trunk until I opened it from the outside,” Fisher said.
Tests of handles in 2013 ES hybrid and GS 350 sedans showed they too could snap if “pulled toward the driver’s side,” he said.