I recently picked up my 01" GS300 from Lexus of Manhattan. Dealership is fine, but the car has a few annoying problems that they say are "common" with this car.

I get alot of wind noise from the sunroof...sounds like a window is open.
I am getting wind noise from the front right corner..can't tell if it's under the glove compartment or by the windshield. (sounds like the roar of a jet overhead).

The car is Millenium Silver, but the front half of the car is a different shade than the back of the car!! (and yes, I did check to see if the car was ever hit or repainted....it wasn't).

The dealer tells me that he will have to get a rep to look at the car and go over the problems with it, but he's kind of making light of this, where for 43,000, I'm not.

Anyone have any similar problems like the ones I am experiencing?

David

 

David,

Expect your ash tray to rattle as well. AC vents will start to make some noise when you drive over uneven roads too. My 900 mile old gs430 is starting to rattle in the ash tray area.

Have you tried retighten the moon roof? (Lexus called them moon roof) Someone mentioned it before and it seems to work.
It is really not Lexus dealers fault for those noise you described. It is the way Lexus designed their GS so that A pillar wind noise and plastic rattle will always be there.

The plastic used inside is too soft and it will expand and flex under heat, because of the type of material used it will make rattle noise under pressure.

As for the paint not matching, I don't think factory paint will mismatch like that. So I would definitely persuit that issue.

 

david,

if the local dealer does not take care of your gs in any way, large or small, call the corp lex customer service, those guys would give the dealers wake-up calls.

 

Who is your dealer? Is it that asian guy? I forgot his name but he's the only asian guy there.

 

Dieselman:

The salesman's name is Jericho....I think he is of Asian decent. Nice guy, just not thrilled with the car.

I had an Acura 3.5RL before this, and never had a days problem with it....never ever saw a dealer!!

 

David2u:

I've had similar problems with my 01 GS3... I have identical wind noise in the same 2 areas.

I observed that in the closed position, the sunroof does not sit evenly flush (the noise is air leaking into the passenger cabin; to test theory, close the sunroof cover at highway speed to see if noise goes away). I brought this to the attantion of my dealership who proceeded to remove then reinstall te sunroof. The noise is gone, but the roof is now even more misaligned (so much for the relentless pursuit for perfection).
I also had wind noise from the front driverside corner. Dealer could not remedy this. I also have a rattle (high frequency) which occurs at highway driving. The rattle emanates from the console left of the steering wheel which houses the side mirror adjusters, dimmer **** etc. This noise is the most irritating to me. I have noticed that if I wedge something between the door and the console, the noise goes away...I'll try to fix this myself.

Hope this info helped!

 

David, i'm sorry for all your woes, but with the paint that is of different shade, I have never heard that before. You bought the car brand new right?

Next time go in there and let them know your "pissed off" with a more demanding voice and threaten to call lexus complaint #, it should do the trick with getting some quick responses to your problems.

Never go to Bay Ridge Lexus dealership BTW.

 

Dieselman:

So far I am waiting to see the Lexus Factory Rep.
If I don't hear from them by this coming week, I am ready to call Lexus directly.

Friday nite when I got home, I washed the car, then took it out for a ride. As the car shifted from 2nd to 3rd, the transmission banged in gear really hard. I thought it was a fluke and put the car in a dead stop...same thing!!.
Finally, I switched the mode to power, and it started to shift fine, I put it back into normal, and it was ok after that.
Took it to the dealer by my house this morning (Massapequa), they told me that it must have been some sort of computer glitch, since the car was fine now, but if it happens again, bring it right in.
Really nice guys...should have bought it there, but they didn't have the color I wanted, when I needed the car.

BTW, Manhattan Lexus and Lexus of Bayridge are owned by the same guy.
That's where they store and prep all of Manhattan's cars.

David

 

That behavior is in fact, NORMAL. They all do it. When the engine/tranny are cold, the car holds the rpm higher in 2nd even when accelerating very gently, making the shift into 3rd harsh. This was done to warm the car up more quickly and lower emissions, I believe.

The solution to this is just to floor it!

 

Whoa, bayridge and lexus of manhatten are owned by the same guy?? I never knew that, but bayridge service is outrageous. Let us know how it turns out man! Good luck !

 

I am having the same problem with the transmission hanging between 2nd and 3rd gear and then slamming into gear. This happened when the car was already warmed up. It has never happened when the car was cold. And it only happens occasionally.

 

Mine does it when it's warm and when it's cold. Also have rattle under/around glove box area that dealer has tried twice to fix. Also had to replace right rear shock due to popping sound. People, this thing only has 350 miles on it!!! Is Lexus going to crap? I got out of a Mercedes because of crap like this.

 

NEVER use that language again on here ! The hesistation is on most if not all the GS's in 98 and up. There is yet to be a solution for that.

Believe me, LEXUS is better in reliability against MB and BMW's. My brother-in-law is a bimmer mechanic and boy does he have horror stories to tell me.