Interesting! Well - I'll let them try with the head unit and if it is, indeed, the SD card, I'll have a brand new head unit to advertise when I list it... assuming a buyback isn't in the cards!

 

I traded a 2016 car to get this one simply because i didnt like the car.. The dealer sold it in 2 days..

 

That's interesting - I had a BMW 3 series for around 4 years prior to this and never had a noise from the sunroof. We also have a Toyota Sienna and Honda Pilot, both with sunroofs, neither of which make noises with the sunroof - warm or cold weather. Maybe we've just been lucky!

 

+1 My Lexus vehicles have never had any squeaks, rattles or noise from the sunroof.

 

from what I gather, most of the noise on the RCF is the weather stripping sticking from not being opened for several days when it is cold out. makes kind of a groan when it unsticks. Trunk does the same thing. doesn't rattle when driving, just groans upon opening in the cold.

The one issue that bugs the crap out of me is the wind deflector, mine sticks after the sun roof opens it doesn't go up smoothly like it does in the warm weather, it sticks and then "pops" up within a minute or so, or if I hit a bump, makes a loud bang when it does this. The dealer has greased it twice, but it doesn't seem to help. In the summer it is fine, it's when the temps get below 50° and it has been sitting over night.

My Chrysler was the worst for sunroof rattles. I stopped using it because it rattled and bounced when it was open. Known issue with them, 2005-2008 lots of complaints on several forums about the rattle and noise.
My Avalanche wasn't much better, but it wasn't the roof rattling it was the sun shield. I put some felt along the edges and it stopped.

 

I would never buy a loaner vehicle, they're beat on way harder than any ordinary used car.

 

Quick update - got my car back with the new head unit installed and extra felt installed on the sunroof... everything is working fine so far, but the sunroof makes a pretty pronounced "thump" when opening/closing. Assuming the extra layers of felt there is causing it to do this... should be interesting to see how this plays out.

Also - Lexus Corporate called me. Basically avoided every mention of a buy back and told me to call them back if the fixes I got from Lexus start to fail again and then they'd contact the dealer to resolve.

The best part out of all of this - they fully detailed my car, so at least it's in selling condition now... there's a pretty sweet pre-owned GS 450 awd on the lot...

 

Yes, that's definitely the most common reason, but I've never heard of a 1 year lease. The shortest lease I've seen is 24 months and those are not common at all. The most common lease terms are 36 months and 48 months. I've sometimes also seen 39 months or 51 months for some odd reason.

I just bought a 2014 ES 300h (with every single option there was including Mark Levinson, DRCC and Ultra-luxury pkg), but it was a 3-year lease return with the car having 33k on the clock, so it made sense to me.

BTW, before buying I checked the service history in the owners section to make sure the car was not brought back by the original owner for any "problems". (That was in addition to Carfax and Autocheck). The car was L-certified, but that does not mean much as I've learned from the past. However, the extra 2 years/unlimited miles warranty does give me peace of mind that if anything goes wrong I don't have to worry, even though my car still has about 10 months / 17,000 mi of the original 4/50 bumper-to-bumper warranty still left on it.

 

I haven't had any squeak issues from my lexus either, but I did have an avalon that had a very noticable "thump" from the sunroof whenever the temperature was in the low 40's or lower... It always sounded like it was coming from the right front part of the car, but after doing a little research, someone suggested it was the moonroof... so as soon as the temp drop and it started squeaking, I put my hand up on the sunroof and applied pressure.. sure enough, the thump / squeak stopped. Car was out of warranty and the dealership said they would have to send it to a trim shop and pull the headliner so they could get into it.. but I told them not to worry about it since turning on the heater and warming up the interior of the car stopped the issues... traded it in shortly afterwards anyway....

 

There are 1 year leases.

 

Update! My sunroof squeak, rattle returned last week with a vengeance. Emailed Lexus corporate and scheduled service with my local dealership. The day before my service was scheduled, the dealership called me and said Lexus corporate was involved and they wouldn't be able to take care of me until corporate figured it out. Couple hours later, I received a call from Lexus Corporate. They asked if I was interested in a Lemon Law Buy Back. I asked what the options were and they said it seems a buyback was the only option after all the issues I have had with the car. Said they are closing my case and transferring to the buyback department who would be sending me a letter to begin the process. Anybody have any experience with this? What to expect? Is it a done deal or do they need to do more homework to determine if it really does qualify for a buyback?

 

If they are voluntarily giving you a buyback that is great news! The law requires that they reimburse you the full purchase price minus a small amount for mileage driven. The mileage is generally deducted from the first time the problem was reported. Since you purchased the car used, you may be entitled to the full 100% of your purchase price + tax. If this is the case, it means that you used the car for free for how ever long you've had it.

I suspect that there's more problems to your car than what you know. There is likely some other issues with the original owner that's documented with Lexus which you do not know about. Surprised this is a CPO car. Just shows you that CPO really does not mean anything.

At this point, if Lexus is offering a buyback, there's nothing else you can do. They are not going to fix your car under warranty since they are agreeing to refund your purchase in full.

Lexus will offer you a settlement agreement. Once you sign, the refund is subject to a satisfactory inspection of your vehicle. PM me if you want me to review you buyback documents!

 

Thanks! I'm not sure where I am in the process - I did mention to them that I believe it qualifies for a buyback and they didn't hesitate to initiate the process, so hoping there isn't much more to the process. They said it could take 30-45 days from yesterday to complete the process.

And - CPO - I've had a CPO BMW and it was amazing - not an issue at all. This one, however, was the dealership loaner car, so assuming it was driven pretty hard 99% of the time.

I'll definitely PM you if I have any questions when I get the paperwork. Hoping for it to be smooth. Next step - figuring out if I want the same car in a newer year or something completely different!

 

i hope i never have to go through with this but I'm interested in hearing how it plays out so please update with details when you have them.

 

My 2016 ES350 sunroof does not make any noise while opening, though you might get a noise from it unsealing if t sticks a little. Maybe there is a simple dressing you can put on the rubber seal?