Hi.
I need some help please.
I have an 09 IS-F that has developed a click / clunk from the driver's seat. The click happens mainly when turning.
I've had one Lexus dealer look at the seat several times and typically they say there is nothing wrong!
Another Lexus dealer initially performed the procedure to remove the guidance pins (as per service bulletin). This didn't help and after further investigation they told me that the issue was a metal on metal issue with the seat and the rails. Only fix - a new seat costing £6500 ($8300).
Although the car is under warranty, Lexus say that some wear should be expected at 55K miles and therefore this is not a warranty issue

I really don't know what to do.

Options I've considered

1. Trade the car in (as the driving experience is driving me potty)
2. Find a replacement second hand seat. Question - how hard is it to swap out a seat? Am I right in thinking the seat and the rails are one unit and there are just four bolts holding it in place?
3. Try and get a mechanic to look at the issue. I'm reluctant to do this as two Lexus dealers have both failed.

Thanks in advance for any help / guidance

 

If it was my car I'd start by tightening the 4 bolts that hold the seat rails to the floor. They're covered by pieces of plastic. 14mm 27 ft.lbf (or just carefully tighten the crap out of them like I did). I know you said it was a clicking sound but doing this would at the very least fix any creaking/groaning sounds.

I would lube the seat rails with lithium grease for good measure.

Apparently there's some white box under the seat that might be making a noise as well. See this thread. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...eat-bolts.html

Keep searching the 2nd Gen IS forum. There might be something out there. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...2006-2013-163/

Good luck and keep us updated. I never knew about the guidance pins until now so thanks for posting.

for those of you also wondering, I looked it up: "driving me potty" isn't a good thing. It means "driving me crazy" lol

 

Loose seats were common in early cars and just took tightening the mounting bolts as mentioned above. My 2008 did this early on. Likely the dealer already tried.
There are also likely plastic guides in the seat rails that could be worn and causing movement, IDK. Not sure if that would be a replaceable part. 55K seems like pretty low mileage for this kind of wear and tear. Do you have multiple drivers that re-adjust the seats a lot?
When you say "Lexus" call it wear and tear, do you mean the dealer/store or do you mean you called Lexus Corporation and received that response? If not Corporate, I would get on the customer support line and start complaining. For a car (Lexus) with a reputation of running 100's of thousands of miles a seat that shows mechanical failure from wear at 55k is ridiculous. Be persistent, be noisy, but be polite. What else is a warranty for? Good luck. It would be crappy to sell a car like the ISF for this simple flaw/failure.