lexus has the most rattles & squeaks of any luxury brand?
01-04-07, 10:58 AM
#46
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Kristen's car, right ? I remember when you bought it.....used, if my memory is correct, and brought it back from Texas.
Did you buy it with the aftermarket exhaust or with the stock one and then convert it? The reason I ask is that I don't know if you got a chance or not to hear the car with the original one on it. Every Porsche I've ever driven or listened to has been just like music.
Did you buy it with the aftermarket exhaust or with the stock one and then convert it? The reason I ask is that I don't know if you got a chance or not to hear the car with the original one on it. Every Porsche I've ever driven or listened to has been just like music.
They don't sound bad at all (nice in fact), but their sound just isn't as sweet as the others I mentioned to my ear.
01-04-07, 12:26 PM
#47
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I LOVE Porsches but I'm with Dave totally on this one. Porsche's exhaust sound is a bit 'thin' to me, and the turbos sound like a turbine of course.
I was at my local Ford dealer a while back and a new Mustang GT was pulling around and oh my, what a sound. Maybe it's the 'subwoofer' nature of it that's compelling over the Porsche.
I was at my local Ford dealer a while back and a new Mustang GT was pulling around and oh my, what a sound. Maybe it's the 'subwoofer' nature of it that's compelling over the Porsche.
01-04-07, 01:46 PM
#48
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OK...no problem. Different ears, different opinions, that's all.
And...I admit, I'm not the world's best judge of muffler barks, because I don't often drive at really high RPM's.
And...I admit, I'm not the world's best judge of muffler barks, because I don't often drive at really high RPM's.
01-06-07, 03:26 PM
#49
The newest Lexus products seem to vary quite a bit in how well they are made. I have reviewed several of the new Lexus regular passenger cars.
The LS460 and GS300 AWD are both superb, from a build-quality and fit-and-finish point of view. The IS250 AWD has nice fit-and-finish and generally good build quality but is noticeably less solid than the old IS300, especially in interior hardware. The ES350, IMO, is a disappointment....cheaper-quality interior materials and poorer fit-and-finish throughout.
It is also worth noting that newer Lexus models, aside from just the interior components, are more LIKELY to develop squeaks and rattles than their predecessors, even if they in fact do not do so, from the fact that suspensions and tires on the new ones are generally stiffer than the outgoing models, and jolt the car's frames more. This was done in an obvious effort to make the models more " sporting, " which is FINE
for cars like the IS250/350, which competes with the BMW 3-series, but was TOTALLY out of place on the ES350
which is not SUPPOSED to be a sports sedan.
The LS460 and GS300 AWD are both superb, from a build-quality and fit-and-finish point of view. The IS250 AWD has nice fit-and-finish and generally good build quality but is noticeably less solid than the old IS300, especially in interior hardware. The ES350, IMO, is a disappointment....cheaper-quality interior materials and poorer fit-and-finish throughout.
It is also worth noting that newer Lexus models, aside from just the interior components, are more LIKELY to develop squeaks and rattles than their predecessors, even if they in fact do not do so, from the fact that suspensions and tires on the new ones are generally stiffer than the outgoing models, and jolt the car's frames more. This was done in an obvious effort to make the models more " sporting, " which is FINE
for cars like the IS250/350, which competes with the BMW 3-series, but was TOTALLY out of place on the ES350 which is not SUPPOSED to be a sports sedan.1999-2005 Yaris had very strong plastics everywhere, yet the damn thing rattles like box full of screws.
2000-2005 Rav4 had thicker and stronger plastics than 2006-2007 Rav4 YET new one has 0 rattles, while old one had few common rattle complaints.
It is really about how good they tested the setup and how many miles they have driven to find possible issues.
01-06-07, 07:27 PM
#50
Lexus Fanatic
The 2006 4-door Yaris I reviewed last year did not have any noticeable rattles....my chief complaint on that vehicle, like with the Saturn Ion, Nissan Quest, and Scion xA / xB, was the center-mount gauges.....which, IMO, s* * k.
01-06-07, 07:36 PM
#51
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01-06-07, 08:41 PM
#54
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01-06-07, 09:13 PM
#55
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Let's get back on topic.....luxury car squeaks and rattles by brand.
I don't know if there is any way to measure something like this by cold, hard numbers, but my experience is that among so-called "luxury" brands, Cadillac, in general, until very recently seemed to have the worst quality control, poorest fit-and-finish, and easily the most rattles. Mercedes-Benz, with its well-known monstrously stiff unibody structures, seems to have the fewest, despite its recent severe downturn in overall quality control and poor interior hardware. Lexus, in general, I would rate towards the quality side...few squeaks and rattles, especially from IS300 models. The Lexus unibody structure doesn't have the Rock-of-Gibraltar stiffness of Mercedes products, but the obvious care in Lexus assembly techniques generally makes up for this. The new ES350, though, unlike past Lexus products, has clearly been a disappointment.
I don't know if there is any way to measure something like this by cold, hard numbers, but my experience is that among so-called "luxury" brands, Cadillac, in general, until very recently seemed to have the worst quality control, poorest fit-and-finish, and easily the most rattles. Mercedes-Benz, with its well-known monstrously stiff unibody structures, seems to have the fewest, despite its recent severe downturn in overall quality control and poor interior hardware. Lexus, in general, I would rate towards the quality side...few squeaks and rattles, especially from IS300 models. The Lexus unibody structure doesn't have the Rock-of-Gibraltar stiffness of Mercedes products, but the obvious care in Lexus assembly techniques generally makes up for this. The new ES350, though, unlike past Lexus products, has clearly been a disappointment.
01-07-07, 07:03 AM
#56
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mmarshall - only 1 data point but my mother-in-law's 3 yr old Cadillac CTS has zero squeaks and rattles. It actually drives very nicely. Don't like the ugly dash though.
01-07-07, 08:54 AM
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01-07-07, 10:03 AM
#58
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Both the Original, Opel-based Cadillac Catera and the CTS replacements I've driven have had body and dash creaks even brand-new right off the lot. So did the last-generation Escalade. The last new Eldorado I drove (by request ) before the car was dropped several years ago....did not have rattles but had poor fit-and-finish.
The CTS-V has been especially troublesome ( read the Four-Seasons long-tern tests of them in the enthusiast magazines ).
Things may slowly be changing a Cadillac, though. The new STS is quite impressive...and shows markedly better fit-and-finish and interior quality than many other recent Cadillacs.
Last edited by mmarshall; 01-07-07 at 10:06 AM.
01-08-07, 10:56 PM
#60
Sorry about the 911's, but they just sound like loud vw's
Regarding squeaks and rattles, I have wondered about these complaints of other members have anything to do with harsh weathers: extreme cold or extreme heat where some of these components are shrinking or expanding.
And these complaints are pre-suspension mods too.
My 99 GS (tein cs with 245/40/18s, new ball joints) with 135k has not made any interior noise of squeaks or rattles, moaning or groaning-good California weather?
I have this annoying click/clunking untreated noise though (bad endlinks?) after installation of daizen sway bars.
