Abdul450h

Hi Guys,
I recently bought a 08 ES 350 from a dealer here in Toronto - been driving it about 3 months. Car runs silky smooth on straight roads except it gets a little rough on bumps, not too bouncy I would say. But now one thing I have started noticing is that it kind of sways and does a noticeable side-to-side movement in certain situations, like :
1. slightly wobbles standing still at lights - when another car passes in opposite direction.
2. sways with even slight left-right movement of passengers inside the car (standing still), the slighter the passenger moves, the slighter the car moves, but it still does. No squeaking or other noise noticed though.
3. Now recently, I have noticed it starts to slightly sway same way at turns, showing its unsteadiness.

It's funny, sometimes I normally just sit and shake myself at hips/bottom from the driver's seat without significant effort, I can still feel the car's movement - more significant at the rear I would definitely say.

To develop the picture further, it doesn't bounce/shake/sway in these situations :
1. it doesn't shake even when driving at considerable speeds (tried up to 85 mph / 140 kmph, no problems).
2. Tried testing it with abrupt braking, not much problem either, no nose-dive etc. That might add to say, its more at the rear.

I'm a first time car owner, fond of Lexus, still learning general car problems as I'm new.
I would highly appreciate to get an idea of the problem from you guys before I get it inspected by a professional so as to not appear like a novice in front of the mechanic.

I'm looking forward to hearing from the community, particularly those who might have went through the above. Thank you so much!!

spaceballs

The car swaying when a large vehicle passes it is a normal thing, it's present in every Japanese car I've driven. It would be interesting to know what benchmark you're comparing the sway to, as it happens on all cars to some extent, some "sport" cars have firmer suspension so it's probably less pronounced.

Abdul450h

Well, I see your point but from my past experience of driving and being driven around Toronto (a considerable amount), in Honda CRV 2018 and Toyota Corolla 2016, I felt the swaying more obviously in my car. In fact for me it only came to a point of being "noticeable" in my car first. And in my case its not only for large vehicles passing, its for any regular sized car passing. So yeah.

spaceballs

Cool, the ES should sway less than the Corolla so if you're noticing it then something may be off.

Check your rear shocks because it sounds like they're going bad, you'll want to push down on the rear corner next to the trunk and see that it springs back. If the car bounces up and down a little bit, then your shocks may be on their way out, do the same with each of the four corners of your car to check which shocks might be iffy. You can also use this opportunity to check if your shocks are OEM or aftermarket (if they've been replaced before).

Aside from your shocks, you'll want to check your sway bars, especially the bushings, that can be another cause of excessive sway.

Clutchless

How many miles are on it? I agree with Spaceballs. You probably need new struts all around and an inspection of the suspension. Get a few estimates from independent shops. This vehicle has a typical strut suspension that every car mechanic is familiar with repairing. You do not want to go to the dealer and get overcharged and then told a bunch of lies about other crap they want to repair.
Use Google and Yelp to find highly rated shops near you.

Abdul450h

Sure, that gives me a better idea of the potential scope of repairs. Thank you very much!

Abdul450h

It has got 167k miles. Like you said, I'm gonna get few estimates, avoiding going to the dealer. Thanks!