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Roof rattles when going over bumpy roads

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Old 03-28-19, 06:10 AM
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AlexNY
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Default Roof rattles when going over bumpy roads

anyone else experiencing this?

i have some random rattles when driving on uneven pavement or bumps, even on highways when is not 100% smooth roads.
i thought it was coming from the dash, but then upon careful observation/listening, it seems is coming from the roof.

now i did also notice the roof strips are coming off at the rear end. Does this even cause rattles?
I haven't noticed this until now, but now that i do it's pissing me off
Old 03-28-19, 08:28 AM
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Rafadog
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Originally Posted by AlexNY
anyone else experiencing this?

i have some random rattles when driving on uneven pavement or bumps, even on highways when is not 100% smooth roads.
i thought it was coming from the dash, but then upon careful observation/listening, it seems is coming from the roof.

now i did also notice the roof strips are coming off at the rear end. Does this even cause rattles?
I haven't noticed this until now, but now that i do it's pissing me off
If you do a search on the forum for sunroof rattles you'll find many other owners who have experienced this problem. From what I've read it appears it's caused from a faulty/worn weather stripping around the sunroof.
Old 03-28-19, 05:54 PM
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NachoNYC
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I'm experiencing a rattle in the rear roof whenever I'm over an uneven surface such as pulling out of my driveway. Initially I thought it was the rear shade, so I lowered it and the sound is still there. It's definitely not from the sunroof.
Old 03-28-19, 08:16 PM
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Albo
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I'm honestly waiting for the day I hear a rattle. It seems to be the scariest part about owning this car.
Old 03-29-19, 04:47 AM
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AlexNY
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got my solution in the mail since i ordered yesterday.

Got the part number for the rubber seal from this thread: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...tle-fix-2.html
hopefully it fixes the issue because is driving me mad. i'm starting to get obsessed over the rattles that i purposedly drive my car over bumpy and uneven roads just to pinpoint where the heck the rattle is coming from
Old 03-29-19, 05:35 AM
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rfriday
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I've got the same thing. I wouldn't call it a rattle, though. More of a creaking sound coming from what seems like the rear passenger side roof. It happens when the surface is uneven and there is torque on the body. Very strange and annoying. I'm under a 1000 miles from my first free service appointment so I'm planning to bring it up when I take the car in.
Old 03-29-19, 07:08 AM
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pab12
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>anyone else experiencing this?
What year is your car? This is a warranty issue with ES350s through ~2015. It requires the complete replacement of the entire sunroof module. It took Lexus 5 weeks to do that for my car (because of low supply of the modules). Without the warranty it would have cost over $2K. The problem is not only with ESs but, at least, some LSs, too.
If your car is still under warranty you should IMMEDIATELY bring it to a dealer and report the sun roof rattling problem.
When I took my car to the dealer and described the problem they were very familiar with it and took the car from me and gave me new loaner on the spot. There were at least two other ESs in the shop having the same repair done at that time.

As I said the cost of the repair would have been well over $2K and that does not consider the value of having a brand new Lexus as a loaner for about 40 days!!

The car has been as quiet as a bank vault since the repair was done well over a year ago.

If you car is newer then it might be some other problem but you should talk with the dealer about it.
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Old 03-29-19, 08:18 AM
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NachoNYC
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Originally Posted by rfriday
I've got the same thing. I wouldn't call it a rattle, though. More of a creaking sound coming from what seems like the rear passenger side roof. It happens when the surface is uneven and there is torque on the body. Very strange and annoying. I'm under a 1000 miles from my first free service appointment so I'm planning to bring it up when I take the car in.
This is exactly what I experience. I"m at 130k miles.
Old 03-29-19, 08:22 AM
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rfriday
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Originally Posted by NachoNYC
This is exactly what I experience. I"m at 130k miles.
Mine is a 2016 w/ just over 34k miles. I'll report back if/when they find and fix the cause.
Old 03-29-19, 08:26 AM
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I'm relieved to learn it's due to the sunroof module, for a moment I feared it could be frame repair due to an unreported accident.
Old 03-29-19, 09:14 AM
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Question being, do I report it even if I dont hear it yet on my 2015 before the warranty is up?
Old 03-29-19, 09:41 AM
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Originally Posted by Albo
Question being, do I report it even if I dont hear it yet on my 2015 before the warranty is up?
Of course not. Why would you do that?
Old 03-29-19, 10:04 AM
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AlexNY
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Originally Posted by pab12
>anyone else experiencing this?
What year is your car? This is a warranty issue with ES350s through ~2015. It requires the complete replacement of the entire sunroof module. It took Lexus 5 weeks to do that for my car (because of low supply of the modules). Without the warranty it would have cost over $2K. The problem is not only with ESs but, at least, some LSs, too.
If your car is still under warranty you should IMMEDIATELY bring it to a dealer and report the sun roof rattling problem.
When I took my car to the dealer and described the problem they were very familiar with it and took the car from me and gave me new loaner on the spot. There were at least two other ESs in the shop having the same repair done at that time.

As I said the cost of the repair would have been well over $2K and that does not consider the value of having a brand new Lexus as a loaner for about 40 days!!

The car has been as quiet as a bank vault since the repair was done well over a year ago.

If you car is newer then it might be some other problem but you should talk with the dealer about it.
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My karma just ran over your dogma
Current Hers: '13 Lexus ES350
Current Mine: '15 Jaguar XF (its aubergine)
it's a 2015 and i do have plenty of warranty left.

however, i have to go out of my way to bring the car to a REPUTABLE Lexus dealer to get this fixed.

unfortunatelly every single lexus dealer that is easily accesible to me has horrendously bad service due to over-crowding. just too many darn people in NY metro.

i did mention it to a service tech when i took it in for 40k mile service. and i already knew the answer before they called me "we could not replicate issue". i don't even want to waste time since they never have a loaner available. only time i got a loaner was when they messed up and couldn't finish my car in 1 day (that same day i asked for a loaner and they said they had none available, i took the train home after dropping off car). and then boom, suddenly they got a loaner available once they saw they couldn't finish my car same day. haah, i'm telling you this gets comical.

and this has happenned with every single dealer i have dealt with in the past 20 years around ny metro, be it nissan, infiniti, acura, ford. Always over-crowded, always busy, always trying to get minimal amount of work done. Never have loaners.

the only exeption, where service has been stellar, loaners always available, and service tech willing to go above and beyond: Mercedes benz. but you pay dearly for it.
Old 03-31-19, 07:33 AM
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I have a 2014 and have had the problem with the sunroof rattling. I was initially told by the dealer that they could not replicate the problem.
There is a technical service bulletin on this problem but it is not for the ES, it is for the IS. I went back to the dealer with a copy of this bulletin and I had this repair done to my sunroof, which involves removing the inside roof liner and resetting the sunroof. The repair lasted about 4500 miles and the rattle returned, although on an intermittent basis.
I had the sunroof "adjusted" and that repair lasted for around 3,000 miles and the rattle returned again on an intermittent basis.
I recently had the moonroof seal replaced with the newer version of the seal. This is the part number that was reported in the above mentioned previous thread. The repair cost $374. and was not covered by the extended CPO warranty. Unfortunately, seal replacements are considered "normal wear and tear." But there is a 1 year warranty on the repair.
I was told by my service advisor that the new version of the seal is indeed a little thicker than the one it replaced. I have driven about 800 miles since the replacement and so far, the car has been rattle free. In my case, a side benefit of replacing the seal has been a noticeable reduction in wind noise inside the car.
If you're having this problem, I think replacing the moonroof seal is the most cost effective fix. Time will tell how long this repair lasts.

Last edited by CFO; 03-31-19 at 07:42 AM.
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Old 03-31-19, 02:47 PM
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jmccw
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I am not handy at all but replaced the seal myself last weekend and it's quiet as a tomb now. I had the same annoying rattles but honestly haven't heard anything since. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out the angle to push in on but once I got that it was about 3 minutes to completion. Huge improvement for 50 bucks!


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