ES350Bob

NGG,

No that I kn ow what i'm doing but I did the best I could in trunk area, even pulling away velcro atached fabric. I could see and feel nothing loose.

But I did identify source of my rattle I believe.

Mine is the metal lip that the back glass is attached to.

It is loose, as in metal vibrates and rattles against metal which you can hear in the glass too, where the top of the glass meets the rear of the roof metal. In the middle section there where glass meets roof.

Right now, I don't think it can be a safety issue unless there is something I am not thinking of and whatever is loose should not be for some safety reason.

Your problem, for now anyway, seems much more involved than mine. But thanks to your post I will keep a close watch on it for any getting worse. I want a break for now of bringing issues up to svc. Lexus given my experiences so far when doing it.

Dr John

My ES350 has 3000 miles & I have a rattle at normal road speeds in the passinger side door post. I've checked the shoulder belt device but the noise is still there. Is anyone else having this annoying rattle???

ES350Bob

Dr. John,

I thought I had a rattle in passenger door post area, turned out it was the head rest and back portion of passenger seat which I have not had fixed.

If you haven't yet, next time you hear it, reach over and grab the back of the headrest and put pressure against the back of it toward front of car and see if that's it, same with back of seat.

wanderer99

If you have a passenger in your vehicle and you can hear the rattle coming from the door post where the seatbelt retracts into, I know what you are describing. This was the second rattle I had my dealer fix - problem was the seatbelt mechanism in the pillar itself.

ES350Bob

NGG,

What is the latest on your car? Is it back together and with you or is it not resolved yet?

NGG

Bob:
Short answer: All resolved as the dealer traded my ES 350 with 1750 kilometers (~1150 miles) for a new 2007 IS 350. I am completely satisfied with the financial arrangements of this trade which will remain confidential. The IS is special order, so I have an approximate 2-3 month wait. I hope that the IS, now in its second year, will have all first year bugs worked out....IS Club Lexus forum seems to so indicate. I am very satisfied with this solution and it has reinforced my faith in the superior customer service/satisfaction of the Lexus brand. Note that this was a dealer solution that did not involve Lexus corporate. No doubt they did it as there are commercial advantages for them.(High ES 350 demand, short supply here in BC...not sure why). I suggested this solution to the dealer as I had lost confidence in my ES, was not happy with how much they had to dissasemble my car (see below), and from info on this forum, I was concerned that if my ES developed transmission and engine noise woes I would not be satisfied.

Long answer: The service here was the best I have ever experienced at a car dealer. They were concerned, caring and were willing to listen, accept and take whatever steps to resolve the issues. It was all handled very professionally at the service advisor level...I never spoke to the service manager and I was given a loaner to drive.

Driver's side rearview mirror rattle...fixed. Entire mirror replaced. Steering wheel rattle...fixed. Traced to an airbag part. Dash/instrument cluster rattle...fixed. Don't know what was the cause. Rear parcel rattle...most likely fixed, don't know if it has as I never drove the car as I traded it, but here is what they found and corrective measures taken.

The headliner, entire backseat, parcel shelf upholstery, rear sunshade, A,B and C pillars trim and front seat were removed. Technicians used new latex gloves to do this so no smudges on fabric. New headliner ordered as the old one was slightly creased on removal. There were three sources of rattles:

(1) The tire pressure monitor, which is mounted between the headliner and the roof near the middle of the top of the rear window. There is a Lexus TSB on this...the fix is felt tape.

(2) There are two braces (with a flattened "U" shaped cross section) that run from back to front across the parcel shelf that are spot welded to the shelf....presumably as stiffeners. The body shop owner advised that after the welds are done at the factory the car is painted. The parcel shelf flexes as the shock towers are mounted on the ends of the shelf. This causes the paint to separate between the braces and the shelf leaving bare sheet metal to creak, click/clack when driving over uneven surfaces. He said that he has seen this condition on other cars. A Lexus technical rep inspected the car and agreed with his diagnosis. The fix was to inject a compound under the braces and cover them with heat shrunk rubber material. This rubber was also secured along the entire length of the shelf at the base of the rear window. I inspected the finished job and think that this would correct the noises coming from those parts.

(3) The Lexus tech also located another source of a similar noise. There is a brace that runs along the entire width of the roof near the top of the rear window. The fix involved two bolts attached to this brace...not sure exactly what was done.

(4) Sub-woofer buzz at 3+ base setting. Body shop owner and I tried to locate cause. Speaker membrane and other "loose" parts eliminated. We agreed that only possible source is that the design of the parcel shelf allows it to resonate. He removed the speaker and insulated it from the shelf with a rubber gasket. This did not correct the buzz. Service advisor said they will replace the speaker...don't know the result...car traded.

Lexus tech took pictures of the dissasembled areas and advised that Lexus will learn from this experience.

In summary I am very satisfied with the level of customer service of the dealership...both sales and service department. This is an extremely professional and customer service driven shop. My disappointment is with Lexus corporate. It appears that their design and manufacturing process does not live up to their advertising slogan "The Persuit of Perfection". Obviously they still have a way to go. I beliece that they will heed all the complaints from customers and take corrective action as that is their culture and reputation.

I look foward to a trouble-free and enjoyable IS 350 driving/ownership experience.

NGG

ES350Bob

NGG,

That is really good news and I think you made a great choice of an arrangement involving an IS, last trip to service I was eyeing one of them and they are very sharp looking.

I intend to take the list above with me when I go to have my back area rattle looked into, it was very nice of you to post such detail as my rattle is centered in the area where back glass meets roof, sort of in the middle up there. Your descriptions will be very helpful.

My last attempt to get my car resoved involved both a Lexus corporate guy and the dealer svc. manager, tech foreman. The dealer svc. manager acted like he should be the one working for Lexus as he was trying to do whatever he could to make me happy only he was overuled by the Lexus guy, all repairs denied, all prior diagnosis of defects overturned and called normal and boy was I shocked over that.

I can see why a great dealer gets your respect. Lexus needs to rethink their approach to customers, and in some cases let the dealer call the shots.

The IS Second Generation forum on here from what I've seen is a very active forum so you'll have quite a few to go over things with over there other than problems.

When the new car arrives I hope you'll stop in for some bragging rights on here, it will be nice to hear about it. I think what you did and your dealer did is a perfect solution and that you will be happy.

NGG

For those whose cars have rattles and have followed my "Structural Integrity" post, see that title for my detailed report on fixes. Hope it helps others in similar situations. I am satisfied now.
NGG

jeffofla

Please don't cross post in multiple threads about the same issue.

NGG

Jeffola;
The intent here is to inform. The original post title inadvertantly did not represent the principal concern..rattles. This was one way of effeciently updating the status in response to queries. There are many other duplicate posts (transmission flare, engine noises, etc.). If this does not comply with forum protocol I am sure the system administrator would comment. He has not.
NGG

jeffofla

Spare me please. My post was not a personal attack against you, but your post is in violation of the forum rules, and moderators don't have the opportunity to be everywhere. But as a matter of courtesy to everyone, please refrain from multiple threads about the same subject. Your thread does not "inform" anything except that you made a post elsewhere in the forum.

Your original post in this thread is really self-centered and ineffective. You boast that that problem of rattles that you mention in the other thread was solved. What other thread? What rattles? This thread here is completely useless because it does not state the problem, nor the solution that you have mentioned in the other thread. If you posted said problems and solutions to them in the other thread, then great. But you don't need to post mutliple threads to tell people to look at the "other post" which you don't even link to here.

We welcome you to Club Lexus, but this is about helping people. This thread will do nothing but clutter searches when someone searches for "Rattles" ( a better descriptive term is actually "vibrations" in automotive forums. After being on the board several years and looking for information, you will agree with me.

Again, please only post in the same thread and don't create new ones to tell people to look at your posts in other threads which you don't even link to.

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

NGG,

Sorry for the delay in commenting, I'm in Maui on my honeymoon and not online as much as usual for a few days.

Jeff is correct, please don't start duplicate posts on the same subject when you already have an active post on exactly the same topic (especially when the post is just to point to the other thread). Just reply to the original topic and ask a moderator to update the thread title where appropriate.

Members who are interested in the topic will read the thread, even if the title is not updated. They can also subscribe to the topic and be notified when it is updated.

I've merged the two threads together and updated the title.


Oh, and congrats on the resolution, the IS is a great car!

riley2620

Just an update on my car. I finally got it back after being in the shop nearly three weeks. My problems were a serious rattle around the parcel shelf, rattle in the front passenger area and instability with the Toyo tires.

I'm not sure exactly what the dealer did but I do know they dissassembled the car once again and replaced the entire headliner along with all of its clips, added insulation to the roof and to the parcel shelf area. The front rattle had something to do with the a/c vent. I have since driven a couple of hundred miles and it appears the rattles are gone. I hope the fixes last!

Additionally the dealer replaced all 5 tires with Michelins - which I feel ride and handle better and are quieter.

Lexus corporate was not helpful in this whole situation - they made the comment that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the car or the tires - well 3 weeks and many thousands in warranty repairs later, there was obviously something very wrong with this car. Luckily the service director at my dealer does care about customer service and went out of his way to help me.

As for rattles - I have had multiple loaners during the approximately 5 weeks my car has been in the shop - RX330's, ES350's and a GS350 - all were low mileage and all rattled in one way or another. I recently drove a relatives' $15k Saturn, it was fairly new and was tight as a drum - what's going on with Lexus and rattles?

My experience with the various ES350's was like someone elses I read - each car ran a little differently, some had the cold start clatter (mine definitely does), others a little and the last one with 6k miles had none at all. A couple also idled smoother and were a little quieter than my car. I just wonder if build date makes a difference.

I'll update if I have an changes.

LexFather

THanks for the update.
I noticed that with very quiet cars, you can hear EVERYTHING, thus your keys or even a to go box of Styrofoam makes noise. Just today I was riding in my GS and I was like "what is that rattle". Come to find out it was an earing loose in my armrest.

Let me also say while Lexus is the highest quality and most reliable brand, they do have defects and they are NOT perfect. Lexus has never had "0" score for issues.

They have issues, just the lowest of all car makers and they work to resolve issues.

Good luck.

wanderer99

This is exactly what I've mentioned before. The variance between the cars should be almost zero - but that isn't the case. The engines should all behave the same, but they don't. Same with the wind noise, and the transmissions too. There is just no consistency here, and there should be as its the same model of car!!!!

I love the ES350 design, both inside and out. I love the features. I love to look at the car. But the execution, build issues (wind noise, rattles, missing or disappearing plugs, engine tapping\vibration\clacking\diesel noise, structural welds), and reliability (trans, nav unit replacements) is just all over the place. All these things scream quality control or in this case, a lack of it.

Ford or GM - I could understand, and this would actually be a 'worst' type case scenario for them. But Lexus? Wow, I'm stunned. And I own one.