I have my second appt. with my dealer to fix the dreaded 'windshield dash rattle creak problem. My dealership wants the service guy to ride with me to 'find' the rattle. I have a suspicion that the rattle will not be there while the service guy is riding with me.

It also seems to be unnecessary to have the service guy 'find' the rattle when we are all suffering from the same problem. I would rather give my service the name of a Dealership and the Service Guy's name and phone number to discuss how to fix it. That is the key to problem in my mind. Locating the rattle and coming up with new ways to fix it, sounds like re-inventing the wheel. I am surprised that Lexus still does not have a workable TSIB for this problem yet.

So all of you GS350 owners that have successfully had your windshield creaking fixed by a dealership that knows how to deal with this problem.
Could you give me the name of the Dealership, The service guy's name if known and the location and phone number (if you have it) - Then at least I could give my service guy the info and he could spend a few minutes on the phone listening to the solution to the problem, instead of riding with me to try and find the same rattle that we all have.

Thanks you in advance.

 

you could call Stevinson Lexus of Frederick, in Colorado.
Ask to speak with Russ, in service, then ask RUss if you can speak with Brad(specifically).
He is the tech that worked on my car and fixed my problem.
I have the GS450h, and if you mention that and my name, Jason, he will know exactly what you are talking about. 303.772.5999

 

McGrath Lexus of Chicago fixed my gs350 dash rattles. Took two visits and kept the car 8 days the second time, but now everything seems solid. Mike Stokes is the Service Manager. Said they had 4 others in with the same problem.

 

I don't think your dealer will make that call cut-throat. They are riding with you to be on the same page in the problem identification. The fixes are out there and they should be able to take care of you.

 

they have to ride with you to verify which rattle it is, and if it's the same one that typically occurs. that's the process in order to get it paid for via warranty. the procedures are very specific when it comes to warranty repairs; if they aren't followed then the dealership doesn't get paid, the mechanic doesn't get paid.

 

Well, I hope the service guy is not tied up for a week or so. He'll just have to sit in my backseat until the rattle starts. To expect it to be there 10 minutes after I arrive at the dealership is not reality.

 

Well, if this is true, why didn't they ride with me the first time I took it in? They have heard of the problem and said that they would fix it. They made the problem better, but it is not gone.

They told me that no one else came back and complained. I believe that no one came back, because they didn't want to go through the hassle again. Especially if a Service guy wants to ride with you to hear a problem that now only happens 20% of the time. That way he can look at you like you're hearing things and raise his eyebrows at you when the creaking doesn't happen at that moment.

 

the reality of your situation is that fixing noises doesn't pay. mechanics only get paid under warranty when they are actually fixing a car.
because of warranty, mechanics and dealerships don't get paid very much at all to fix noises if there is no actual broken part. besides that, noises take the longest to diagnose. diagnostic time is not paid for beyond a few minutes worth of time. after that, the mechanic and dealership is basically working for free. you can see how motivated they are to fix noises. it's in their best interest to not hear the noise and get the car out of there so that they can get another car in there that will pay something to work on.

it's unfortunate but true. i see it all the time, considering that i am a mechanic! i'm guilty of doing the same thing; i'll drive a car for a couple minutes, if the noise isn't readily apparent, i'll say i didnt' hear anything and get another car that pays. i hate doing it this way, but it's a matter of economics. i have to make money and fixing noises doesn't do that.

 

When I was in the software business, if we had some nagging issues that we were looking for solutions to; If someone gave me someone to call that had a solution to a customer's problem, I'd be on the phone with him in a New York Second.

If that is the way you mechanics deal with these problems, maybe I'll take that service guy for a long ride next week and have some fun. I'll tell him about a place that I drive that the rattle always manifests itself. I just won't tell him that it's 30 miles away! - Then I'll watch him squirm as he says he has got to get back to work in about 15 minutes. I'll explain that I have been trying to get a service guy to hear this noise for 6 months and I really wish he would hang in there with me! - After he insists that we go back to the dealership, I'll promise I'll buy him lunch and we can have a few beers! That it may take me the whole afternoon to get the car creaking. - By then making a call to another Lexus Dealership will seem like heaven! - I might even make him promise me that he'll call the dealership I suggested, if I take him back to his shop! - And I'll follow up with him the next day!

You see - I am retired and have all day! - And there is more than one way to skin a mechanic that is playing games. Hopefully he reads this and calls the people I suggested and just fixes my problem. Because I won't go away. I am the guy that causes Lexus to have "The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection"

 

good luck with it, i hope you get it fixed. i know how bothersome those rattles are; i hate them too!
i'm sure they will be more than happy to ride along with you, after all we are representatives of lexus and are expected to treat customers in a professional manner.
by the way, they are not playing games, they're just trying to earn a living. nothing is more frustrating than working on a noise/rattle all day knowing you're not making a dime, while you watch the other guys flag 10 or 12 hours doing a service and a brake job.

 

Longo Lexus - El Monte, CA.

My rattle issues are non existent now......for the time being. So far so good.

 

Lexus of Knoxville. Tech's name was 'Dennis'. Did a great job! First visit was for the window clips. Decreased noise about 50%. Second trip was for TSB involving Vent Cowl. Took care of it completely.

 

Thanks for posting that comment. That makes sense to me. It's an unfortunate truth. I get paid just as much to see a patient with a runny nose, as a Medicare patient with a list of problems as long as my arm (almost always involving their bowels in some way). What's my motivation for seeing the Medicare patient? There is no motivation.... but we do it because it's our job and we have a responsibility to do it. I see your point...and I'm glad you guys continue to diagnose and fix our rattles.... even though it's neither easy nor lucrative.

 

i'm glad you at least understand the situation then! most people think it's ridiculous and they don't care. they never see that we make literally NO money doing some of these jobs. they never see that this is our job and our career; we pay our bills, and support our families on our paychecks just like everyone else, but they think it's ok for us to work for free...

 

Well, you probably would have lost that bet. The Service guy that I talked to was 'No Bull****' like the 'Sales Service' guys that I have been dealing with. We went for a ride, and because the temps were close to 30 , I told him we probably wouldn't hear any creaks or rattles. He heard a very slight noise from my dash area and he 'There it is - it should not do that, and he said that at temps of zero I would really have problems'. I didn't even hear it and I told him that if that was all that happens, I wouldn't even care about it.

He then explained to me that they have had quite a time trying to quiet the GS dash rattles on the 3rd generation. He told me that they had a conference with some Japanese engineers about the dash rattle. The engineers explained that they had to redesign the dash/windshield fit because of the passenger airbag. he also said the engineers took 'quite a beating' from the service depts. He was as upset about the 'un-lexus like' problem as us folks on this forum are. He even confided in me that he does not know if 2008 is 'safe yet'. The Sales service guy, would not even acknowledge the problem for me.

I asked if the TSBs were successful, and he said no - Every GS is different. He knew all about the clips, the cowl etc. - I showed him my list of service depts that had successfully fixed the problem. He thanked me for the list and said that he regularly communicates with other service folks at other dealerships and that he would get a hold of them as soon as we got back to the dealership. He told me that he was a bit surprised to see California Dealerships on my list because of the warmer weather. I have great confidence that they will fix my problem now, because this guy had a true understanding of the problem. Which is the first step of fixing any problem.