Need Help - Lexus says its fine! Does your car do this?
09-27-17, 12:55 AM
#16
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My car does the same thing and it's definitely not right. I just picked up a 2015 GS 350 F Sport this weekend. It's a CPO with 27k miles on it and on the drive home from the dealership, I came into some slow moving traffic where I had same thing happen to me. The car almost jumped over to the adjacent lane on the right when I was doing the stop and go traffic crawl. Then I noticed at speed that it had a slow pull to right as well. The slow pull the right at speed is 100% reproducible. Unfortunately it is very hard to reproduce that crazy wheel turn at low speeds even though its happened several times. Almost feels like the car is possessed.
Took it back to the dealership yesterday, and they said there are two things that it could be.
1. The alignment does look to be off a bit, so they are recommending doing the alignment
2. The previous owner slapped on the absolute cheapest tires he could buy before returning his lease so thats not helping things either
I'll probably call in the morning and have them replace the tires and do the alignment. That said, after reading through this thread, I suspect it'll only fix slow pull to the right when at speed, but likely won't fix that crazy steering wheel turn that randomly happens during initial acceleration. Let me know if you find a fix and I'll for sure let you know if find one.
Took it back to the dealership yesterday, and they said there are two things that it could be.
1. The alignment does look to be off a bit, so they are recommending doing the alignment
2. The previous owner slapped on the absolute cheapest tires he could buy before returning his lease so thats not helping things either
I'll probably call in the morning and have them replace the tires and do the alignment. That said, after reading through this thread, I suspect it'll only fix slow pull to the right when at speed, but likely won't fix that crazy steering wheel turn that randomly happens during initial acceleration. Let me know if you find a fix and I'll for sure let you know if find one.
09-27-17, 11:55 AM
#17
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My car does the same thing and it's definitely not right. I just picked up a 2015 GS 350 F Sport this weekend. It's a CPO with 27k miles on it and on the drive home from the dealership, I came into some slow moving traffic where I had same thing happen to me. The car almost jumped over to the adjacent lane on the right when I was doing the stop and go traffic crawl. Then I noticed at speed that it had a slow pull to right as well. The slow pull the right at speed is 100% reproducible. Unfortunately it is very hard to reproduce that crazy wheel turn at low speeds even though its happened several times. Almost feels like the car is possessed.
Took it back to the dealership yesterday, and they said there are two things that it could be.
1. The alignment does look to be off a bit, so they are recommending doing the alignment
2. The previous owner slapped on the absolute cheapest tires he could buy before returning his lease so thats not helping things either
I'll probably call in the morning and have them replace the tires and do the alignment. That said, after reading through this thread, I suspect it'll only fix slow pull to the right when at speed, but likely won't fix that crazy steering wheel turn that randomly happens during initial acceleration. Let me know if you find a fix and I'll for sure let you know if find one.
Took it back to the dealership yesterday, and they said there are two things that it could be.
1. The alignment does look to be off a bit, so they are recommending doing the alignment
2. The previous owner slapped on the absolute cheapest tires he could buy before returning his lease so thats not helping things either
I'll probably call in the morning and have them replace the tires and do the alignment. That said, after reading through this thread, I suspect it'll only fix slow pull to the right when at speed, but likely won't fix that crazy steering wheel turn that randomly happens during initial acceleration. Let me know if you find a fix and I'll for sure let you know if find one.
Yes please let me know if you find anything. My friend will be looking at the car next week.
I bought good tires so I know its not from having cheap tires.
09-27-17, 09:06 PM
#18
I would also check front brakes caliper if one of them biting rotor, not releasing front pads as soon as you release a break pedal. That also may cause one wheel not rotating freely and your steering wheel shakes. It looks like right side is suffering. Check it out.
09-29-17, 01:51 PM
#20
Advanced
For what it's worth, I find this car's steering to be very susceptible to the slant/angle/crown of the surface you're driving on. If I'm on a road that's slanted towards the right, as is usually the case, my car is going to pull a little bit right. If I'm on a road that's perfectly flat, my car WILL pull straight and stay straight. I'm 99% sure there's nothing wrong with my suspension or alignment. It's always been like this, but it is different than my past cars, which were better at staying straight on a road that is slightly slanted. Someone else on here agreed with me one time that this car's steering seems more susceptible to road angles than most cars.
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DallasDave (10-06-17)
10-01-17, 02:01 PM
#22
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10-05-17, 06:10 PM
#23
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Let me know if your friend finds anything. Thanks!
10-05-17, 07:19 PM
#24
Will do. Got my car back today after haveing four new Michelins put on plus the alignment done. As suspected, it didn't fix the problem. My car still has that slight pull to the right. But, the bigger issue for me is that every now and then, the steering wheel tries to level out at about a 45 degree turn to the right when driving at low speeds. The dealership isn't much help since I can't reproduce the odd 45 degree issue on demand and they claim that these models just tend to pull to the right.
Let me know if your friend finds anything. Thanks!
Let me know if your friend finds anything. Thanks!
10-05-17, 08:04 PM
#25
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1. If I loosen my grip on the steering wheel at any speed, it drifts slowly to the right instead of heading straight down the road.
2. 95% of the time my steering returns out to the proper default position when I loosen my grip on the wheel. However, at seemingly random times, when driving at low speeds, it tries to default to a 30 to 45 degree turn to the right. When this happens, it feels like the default position of the wheel changed to a 30 to 45 degree right turn. I then straighten the wheel (against the pull) and continue driving for a few seconds before it goes back to normal.
I tried replacing all 4 tires coupled with an alignment at the dealership, but that did not solve either issue. Any ideas on what root cause might be?
Last edited by mikeper; 10-05-17 at 08:35 PM.
10-06-17, 08:44 AM
#27
Lexus Test Driver
Absolutely. My car has two problems with the steering that seem related.
1. If I loosen my grip on the steering wheel at any speed, it drifts slowly to the right instead of heading straight down the road.
2. 95% of the time my steering returns out to the proper default position when I loosen my grip on the wheel. However, at seemingly random times, when driving at low speeds, it tries to default to a 30 to 45 degree turn to the right. When this happens, it feels like the default position of the wheel changed to a 30 to 45 degree right turn. I then straighten the wheel (against the pull) and continue driving for a few seconds before it goes back to normal.
I tried replacing all 4 tires coupled with an alignment at the dealership, but that did not solve either issue. Any ideas on what root cause might be?
1. If I loosen my grip on the steering wheel at any speed, it drifts slowly to the right instead of heading straight down the road.
2. 95% of the time my steering returns out to the proper default position when I loosen my grip on the wheel. However, at seemingly random times, when driving at low speeds, it tries to default to a 30 to 45 degree turn to the right. When this happens, it feels like the default position of the wheel changed to a 30 to 45 degree right turn. I then straighten the wheel (against the pull) and continue driving for a few seconds before it goes back to normal.
I tried replacing all 4 tires coupled with an alignment at the dealership, but that did not solve either issue. Any ideas on what root cause might be?
10-06-17, 10:51 AM
#28
did you check the right caliper if it stack? if your car constantly pulling to the right it could be an issue. What you can do is simply check the temperature of left and right caliper after drive (be careful they could be hot) if right one hotter then left, then definitely you have caliper issue.
10-06-17, 11:05 AM
#29
Intermediate
Lexus has had (at least in 2013 4GS models ... and maybe newer) an issue with the steering rack that sounds similar to what you are experiencing. I know of one case where Lexus had to [eventually] replace the entire steering rack after many weeks of one of its [Lexus] dealers trying unsuccessfully to determine what was causing the steering problem the owner had. Due to the length of time the car spent at the dealership's service department without the owner having access to a 'safe driving' car, Lexus corporate elected to buyback the car from the owner and it was given a 'lemon law' title. Lexus sat on the car for another month or two and replaced the entire steering rack, and the car was sold at auction. I've never heard how many other 4GS models experienced this same issue.
It sounds like a rack & pinion issue.
10-07-17, 09:16 AM
#30
Purchased a 2013 GS350, non Fsport, non Luxury with 39k miles on it, CPO'ed (or L-certified.) Same issue as reported here the past 21k miles driven.
- Changed out the tires to Michelin Pilot Super Sports, stock sizes on stock wheels = Pulls to the right and susceptible to road imperfections.
- Did an alignment at a race shop = Pulls to the right and susceptible to road imperfections.
If the road crowns to the left, it will pull to the left, but definitely not as bad as pulling to the right when the road crowns right.
Checked everything, LCA bushings, mounts, brake dragging, out of round wheels/tires, nothing was amiss.
I ended up with the same conclusion, this car is just sensitive to road imperfections and crowning of the road and it favors the right side pull more.
- Changed out the tires to Michelin Pilot Super Sports, stock sizes on stock wheels = Pulls to the right and susceptible to road imperfections.
- Did an alignment at a race shop = Pulls to the right and susceptible to road imperfections.
If the road crowns to the left, it will pull to the left, but definitely not as bad as pulling to the right when the road crowns right.
Checked everything, LCA bushings, mounts, brake dragging, out of round wheels/tires, nothing was amiss.
I ended up with the same conclusion, this car is just sensitive to road imperfections and crowning of the road and it favors the right side pull more.
For what it's worth, I find this car's steering to be very susceptible to the slant/angle/crown of the surface you're driving on. If I'm on a road that's slanted towards the right, as is usually the case, my car is going to pull a little bit right. If I'm on a road that's perfectly flat, my car WILL pull straight and stay straight. I'm 99% sure there's nothing wrong with my suspension or alignment. It's always been like this, but it is different than my past cars, which were better at staying straight on a road that is slightly slanted. Someone else on here agreed with me one time that this car's steering seems more susceptible to road angles than most cars.