happyep

Finally decided to bring the car in. Not surprisingly, dealer said never heard about this problem. First complaint ever. Tech drove around. All normal plastic noise
Are we all going to live with it?

kalel2127

Chinachip

Thank you!!!!

happyep

Over the past weeks, one possible area of the noise is from USB and Aux outlet next to the front cup holder. I tried a few times to push it down hard, the creaking sound became less pronounced. But I have no idea how to fix it

anyone has some suggestions?

thanks.

Prado

sort of.. i bought F-sport ES 350 a week ago rattling noise comes from the dash .. i think i narrowed it down to glove compartment. tap it around you will notice it is flimsy. will take it back to the dealer.. i think it is a manufacturing fault

justaname2

I had this issue on my '19 ES back when I bought it new couple years ago. Took it in a few times and got turned away. I ended up folding up a receipt and wedging it between the driver side console panel and radio. That eliminated the noise but looked pretty tacky. When I took it in for the 5k service they finally took the console panel off and insulated inside and re-attached. Haven't had the issue since.

E46CT

It's easy to fix all these creaks, it's just a matter of removing the parts.

I have a roll of insulating tape I've used to quiet interior parts in various cars, including creaking and squeaking. The problem is car makers are using thinner materials (plastics) and tighter tolerances. The trick is wrapping tape around any "male" parts that clip or lock into another plastic piece.

My new ES has a creak of the front radio/HVAC control under acceleration and braking. The weight transfer of the actual part being pushed forward and backward is what's causing the squeak between what it's mounted to. Tape will fix this.

I'll show how I fix it.

happyep

So cool. Can't wait to learn how you did it.

E46CT

Thankfully my cupholder is quiet for now but if I can take it out relatively easy, i'll give it a shot. has anyone tried removing it?

Tootsall

My 2014 has a piece of plastic sheeting wedged in at the base of both A pillars between the pillars and the dash. I wondered if that plastic was "stock" but now I'm sure someone before me experienced the same, "creaky plastic" problem. I'm thinking it's time to trim/adjust that stuff so it's less obvious.

grp52

In the ES 350 Dashboard removal thread there's a video posted by Jan558 that shows the cupholder removal/disassembly as part of a dash disassembly for a multimedia screen and head unit upgrade job. I don't know what is the minimal disassembly needed just for the front cupholder but at least you'll be able to see what parts were removed to get to removing the front cupholder assembly.

E46CT

I solved the noise. 100%. I researched and found the problem to be the rectangle plastic blank plate right above the radio. It's made of extremely brittle/thin/hard plastic that's attached to another piece of plastic which is in turn attached to the stock stereo/headunit. The whole apparatus makes for a squeak and creak under braking and light acceleration as the plastic pieces flex and rub together. If anyone wants to tackle this i can help them. if enough people are interested i can do a writeup. I was a bit known for this in the BMW circles. investigating various rattles or noises, tracking them down, and solving them.

The DIY will take 40 minutes to 1.5 hours generally with basic tools, and insulating tape or other textured tape. electrical tape could work too but might be a bit thin. Either way my ES is now quiet! (at least from the radio area) Lexus really needs to take a more vigorous approach to NVH/quality of various interior pieces and assembly.

My B pillar noise is still present. my next project.

See area highlighted in red is where you'll want to lay down some insulating tape. Note this is one aspect of quieting this part. the other aspect is unclipping this piece from it's apparatus and using tape on that too.

rebel7254

My 2021 300h has the same problem. Only when it’s warm/hot. Doesn’t happen when cold and the creaks taper off as the a/c cools the cabin.

Absolutely disgraceful to have issues like this in a ~$50k luxury brand vehicle.

E46CT

Yeah the heat probably expands the plastic in such a way where it causes it to either flex more or touch its surroundings more. Thankfully I developed a fix for it! Just drove it now and yesterday (it's hot here in socal) and it's 100% silent

rebel7254

Nice. As for me I'm going to try to make the dealer fix it first when I take it in for regular service. I shouldn't have to spend my time fixing this problem when I just bought a $50k luxury sedan.