soflGSguy

oh for got to say they had to replace my tints 4 times because they scratch them up ever time my car goes in, or that I had scratched my bumper, I bring it to there body shop they give me the car with a bumper 1/2inch off, and my headlight broken? Then tried to get me to buy then new head light then it turns out the could fix it but when they fixed it the auto head light stopped moving and just shacks, after 3-4 times they fixed it. Its sooo bad my nabobs thought I owned an RS330 because how long and how many times I had it they thought my GS was a loaner car they ware like nicer loaner big upgrade I am like no this is my car the SUV is the loaner.

I think M35 or RL s looking good right now. hack even a 530i looks to be more reliable lol

costanza

After about 5 days in the shop, we got the car back. The popping noise around the driver's side dash/windshield is back so it's going back to the shop AGAIN!!!!!!!

DaveJ

Sorry to hear that. Did the dealer replace/insulate the windshield clips? I thought the general concensus here was that was the cause of the problem.

I spoke with my service tech yesterday and he didn't feel they had a definite resolution to the problem. My GS's windshield noise seems to be getting worse, but then again maybe it's just the colder temps.

scottmyers

OK, I have had the car in twice and now it goes back a third time for these exact same issues. They have pulled the dash down and insulated where it attaches to the firewall, used sound deadening insulation in various ares of the dash and center console, and it still cracks and pops. Worse in the cold weather.

This has to be a serious issue, more people must be having this problem. Heck, my wife's Accord is quieter than the GS.

I thought this was a LEXUS.

WeDsMaN

You guys need to turn up your mark levinson's a little or get some systems installed ...You will be amazed by how much you wont hear!

marshmallo

That's a shame. Looks like you got a lemon. As for the underpowered complaint,
have you tried to drive with the POWER ECT button on? To me this makes a big
difference. Without it the car is about as fun to drive as a lawnmower. With it I
actually like the car.

Just curious, which is your dealer? I have experiences with Watertown and Ira Lexus
service and I like Watertown less... I have never dealt with Norwood.

marshmallo

I see. You just don't like the car. That's fair. For 50K I think the car should be more
powerful as well. It is definitely not a good value. I just bought it as a placeholder
for an LS460 or something like that. If it didn't snow in this hellhole know as MA I
would never have gotten it

marshmallo

I know the feeling. I had a V8 RWD car that used to cost about 50K .
I was really surprised they were charging this much for a V6.
But I guess everybody's price has gone up...

Barry O

Hello guys, I bought mine a Norwood as well and the creaks just started in the windshield at 1,500 miles. I haven't brought it in yet, but are you all saying they can't fix it? I had an early production SC430 that was a horrible rettletrap and Lexus took me out of the car and gave me a new one..............

marshmallo

I actually bought mine at Ira Lexus at Danvers and they were able to fix it, or
at least make it much less noticeable.

They said they needed to remove the dash and add cowling in the area near
the windshield. They kept the car for 4 days (including the weekend), but maybe
now that they know what to look for it may take less time. They had a great road
out back where there were repetitive bump patterns that brought out the rattles.

I'm sure they can find a sucky road in Norwood too, after all it is Massachusetts

Good luck with it!

mm9351

Just took out my GS today, ambient temperature is around 24 deg, and I noticed the popping sound for the first time! Definitey is non-existent when temps are over 40!

Just for the record, I am a vibration engineer! I too am reluctant to have Lexus pull out the dash, etc. for something as innocent as a cowl induced noise!

Thanks to the many contributors on this board, I inspected the lower windshield cowl area. The plastic appears to be quite thin, and I even got it to squeak when I rocked it around a bit. The loading on the cowl area is a bit complicated, when the hood is closed it is supposed to apply a downward compressive force on the gasket which compresses the cowl down to the windscreen glass. Now, it appears the cowl is linked via plastic clips to the covering housing over the RHS of the engine compartment. When you tap this area, there is plastic to plastic popping sounds, which although muted could be very well be transmitted to the passenger compartment. At this point, after reading many of the painful stories here, I feel confident that I could experiment with the 3M foam tape and do a better job than Lexus!

It looks like Lexus spent a lot of time cancelling out engine noise with the acoustic baffling but didn't take into account the dynamic forces on this material, which are a source of noise itself. Quite ironic! They solved one problem to create another!

yon

That's pretty much my take on the problem as well. My 02 ES 300 had issues with the plastic cowling tapping against the body and windshield glass. After two tries with the dealer, I ended up putting in some foam and electrical tape myself which fixed the problem. It definitely was worse in cold weather.

I noticed the rattle on my new 06 GS 300, and based on my previous experience and what I've been reading here, I knew immediately it was the cowl again. I popped the hood and tapped various places on the cowl and heard the tell-tale sounds.

So when I brought the car back yesterday for the 3M clear bra treatment, I told them to look at the cowl issue (which they immediately acknowledged as a problem) but to call me if they thought they needed to pull the dash. Turns out they didn't need to pull it, but rather just insulated the cowl mounting. So far so good, I didn't hear anything on the way home or on the commute this morning.

If you haven't had this problem before you could easily be fooled into thinking it was something inside the cabin, when in fact the problem lies in the engine compartment. I can see where it would be very frustrating to be on a wild goose chase, especially when you are ripping off the dash every visit.

mm9351

It appears that this issue of the tapping noise is very wide-spread indeed!

Lexus should implement a "service update campaign" (they don't like to refer to this as a "recall") that would remove / modify / replace the lower windshield cowling...etc.

Wouldn't this sit better with customers, than to have complaint after complaint, and different fixes attempted, ranging from drastic measures like pulling the dashboard and trim to insulating clips, depending on what dealership you seek service? I'll go for the dash pull only if they would throw in the DVD bypass mod ...then I might consider it!

It seems bizarre that Lexus hasn't taken a firm stand on such a well known issue. Owners who have just shelled out over 50 grand should NOT have to improvise with electrical tape, foam etc. for a fix, in order to avoid the service dept. performing an abortion on their dash, and possibly inducing other cosmetic flaws on their perforated leather trimmed interior and black birds eye maple. Come on, guys, this is a simple fix, let's roll out a service bulletin and set it right!

Just my 2-cents worth. I have an 06GS with 300+ miles on the odo and I freaked the other day when I heard the noise for the first time!

UDel

That is ashame this is happening to all you guys. I noticed a rubbing sound coming from the dash when I test drove a new 06 GS300. It sounded very similiar to the one on my 2nd Gen GS430. I have to question all these high ratings Lexus gets sometimes after test driving several when I was in the market that had rattles, creaks, moisture in the headlights, low/rough idle etc and reading several threads like this. It is unfortunate but I find that Lexus seems to ignore or not issue recalls or TSBs on several design flaws in their cars but they will fix or try to fix them only while they are under warranty. My GS430 has a door lock actuator failure, moisture in the headlights, low/rough idle, and several annoying horrible sounding rattles, creaks, and groans coming from inside and in the front suspension area of the car. These are not just odd wear and tear problems but known problems with this car. It is embarrasing and annoying when people are riding in your car asking what is that noise or I have to ask them to manually lock the passenger door lock because it is broke. I tried getting Lexus to fix the door actuator failure since it was very common and I was only over the warranty by 3 months yet still had well under 50K miles on the car. Not only did they not have a recall or TSB on this design defect known since the 1998 GS they refused to pay or offer any kind of assistance for me yet made me go through all the steps like getting the dealer to check it and enter it in the computer. The only excuse they gave was they were not responsible after the warranty ended and did not think it was big problem even though it costs well over $500 to fix each door. These things should not be happening or allowed to happen on cars this expensive from a company like Lexus and I hope they start taking more responsibility. I hope you guys eventaully get these things fixed and have better luck with your cars.

DrComputer

Longo has had my GS430 for over a week now to do a 10K server and fix a few squeaks and rattles I pointed out. They said they are replacing the front windshield and center arm rest to fix the rattle problems. I told them that I thought it was a little overkill, but said they can do whatever they feel was necessary to fix the problem. We'll see what else they wind up doing.