2016 RX 350 Excessive noise and vibration
#136
#137
Lexus Test Driver
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Had the car for 11 days.
I too love sport plus mode.
Regular mode, the engine lags a little bit.
Not having th issues others are having with transmission mis shifts. I do know what that is like on my old car however.
Car drives like a dream with Michelin tires. Drove over 1000 miles already.
No ac peeing noise.
The fan is loud for the car seat but it's because it really shoots out the cool air from the seats. I love it.
No vibration in the car when I took off the trunk cover.
Only issue right now is the driver door creaking. I made a post about it.
I too love sport plus mode.
Regular mode, the engine lags a little bit.
Not having th issues others are having with transmission mis shifts. I do know what that is like on my old car however.
Car drives like a dream with Michelin tires. Drove over 1000 miles already.
No ac peeing noise.
The fan is loud for the car seat but it's because it really shoots out the cool air from the seats. I love it.
No vibration in the car when I took off the trunk cover.
Only issue right now is the driver door creaking. I made a post about it.
#138
Driver School Candidate
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Hello all fellow 2016 RX owners...
I wonder if anyone has considered fuel octane with respect to the engine noises, vibrations and hesitating acceleration. Please continue reading. If you experience any of these noises, vibrations, hesitations - how many of you use regular (87 octane) gasoline vs premium (93 octane)? I would really like to know.
This is admittedly my first Lexus. I have been personally driving BMW's for the past 18 years and in that time have owned seven other vehicles within five brands that my wife has been the primary driver on.
I am not here to bash the Lexus product even though after only owning one for 72 hours, I sure want to. I decided to purchase it because I wanted a vehicle which I intended to keep for a long period of time beyond the point where BMW's become costly to maintain.
That said, I am experiencing the engine 'droning' or honestly what I would consider a mid-pitched fluttering sputter noise (which does NOT sound like A/C refrigerant) which emanates from the engine compartment and more prominent on the driver's side when mild throttle is applied to the vehicle while there is some 'load' such as that from the A/C compressor and/or drive train; most noticeable between 1,000 and 2,000 RPM.
Additionally, the vehicle produces some noises you can hear outside of the vehicle - deeper sounding knocking and higher pitched 'tapping' noises.
I just purchased this vehicle on Sunday evening and unfortunately took a test drive with the radio going instead of listening closely to the engine sounds. That said, I vaguely recall lowering or turning off the radio for part of the drive and didn't notice the noise, nor hesitation or mis-shifts during acceleration.
The fuel tank was all but empty (even yellow light was on) when I took the test drive. The salesperson went and filled it up with regular (87) gasoline when I asked him what he put. I was disappointed and should have insisted proactively on premium.
Per the manual, the vehicle requires a minimum of regular (87) but the manual goes on to state "Research Octane 91" and both the service manager and assistant service manager of my Lexus store advised that the vehicle should really be filled with 93 (premium/super).
When I took the vehicle in to the service department yesterday they acknowledged a few things:
1. As aforementioned - the vehicle should be running on 93 octane and per the diagnostics ECU system, the vehicle was reporting an estimate based on the 'knock value' from the knock sensor of something just slightly above 87 octane.
2. They stated that the lower/deeper sounding knock I was hearing was the fact that they switched in the 2016 model year ES and RX engines to utilize a new style of fuel pump.
3. They also stated that the higher pitched 'tapping' noise is again a 2016 model year ES and RX design decision to use a different type of fuel injector.
4. Lastly, on a test drive with the service manager - whom is a top-fuel drag race car driver on the side (interesting fact but he knows a lot about engines) - he stated that he has heard the 'droning' noise that everyone on here is complaining about in many if not most new 2016 RX 350's and that it is a "3rd level" or "3rd stage" (I don't recall his exact words here) "engine harmonic" which (he hopes) Lexus will address through a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) at some future date.
In brief, #1: shame on the sales team; #2 and #3 in my view are poor decisions for a product line that prides itself in one of the quietest and smoothest drives out there. I believe that #4 is a complete shame. How does one not stop production on a newly released vehicle when someone hears this (they did try to listen for things like this from the first few non-prototypes off the line wouldn't they!?!?).
I would encourage all of you to please not just rely on your dealer to report this to Lexus; or worse be like my dealer which just stated that Lexus was already aware of the issue and seemed reluctant to tell Lexus to add me to the list of complaints. I called Lexus Customer Assistance and filed a complaint and have been told that I will hear back from a case manager this Friday.
I tried returning the car within 24 hours of purchase but the dealer was not cooperative. Disappointing!
Hoping to continue to run down this tank of gas and fill it up with Shell 93.
Look forward to your octane replies and CALL LEXUS with your complaint please!
I wonder if anyone has considered fuel octane with respect to the engine noises, vibrations and hesitating acceleration. Please continue reading. If you experience any of these noises, vibrations, hesitations - how many of you use regular (87 octane) gasoline vs premium (93 octane)? I would really like to know.
This is admittedly my first Lexus. I have been personally driving BMW's for the past 18 years and in that time have owned seven other vehicles within five brands that my wife has been the primary driver on.
I am not here to bash the Lexus product even though after only owning one for 72 hours, I sure want to. I decided to purchase it because I wanted a vehicle which I intended to keep for a long period of time beyond the point where BMW's become costly to maintain.
That said, I am experiencing the engine 'droning' or honestly what I would consider a mid-pitched fluttering sputter noise (which does NOT sound like A/C refrigerant) which emanates from the engine compartment and more prominent on the driver's side when mild throttle is applied to the vehicle while there is some 'load' such as that from the A/C compressor and/or drive train; most noticeable between 1,000 and 2,000 RPM.
Additionally, the vehicle produces some noises you can hear outside of the vehicle - deeper sounding knocking and higher pitched 'tapping' noises.
I just purchased this vehicle on Sunday evening and unfortunately took a test drive with the radio going instead of listening closely to the engine sounds. That said, I vaguely recall lowering or turning off the radio for part of the drive and didn't notice the noise, nor hesitation or mis-shifts during acceleration.
The fuel tank was all but empty (even yellow light was on) when I took the test drive. The salesperson went and filled it up with regular (87) gasoline when I asked him what he put. I was disappointed and should have insisted proactively on premium.
Per the manual, the vehicle requires a minimum of regular (87) but the manual goes on to state "Research Octane 91" and both the service manager and assistant service manager of my Lexus store advised that the vehicle should really be filled with 93 (premium/super).
When I took the vehicle in to the service department yesterday they acknowledged a few things:
1. As aforementioned - the vehicle should be running on 93 octane and per the diagnostics ECU system, the vehicle was reporting an estimate based on the 'knock value' from the knock sensor of something just slightly above 87 octane.
2. They stated that the lower/deeper sounding knock I was hearing was the fact that they switched in the 2016 model year ES and RX engines to utilize a new style of fuel pump.
3. They also stated that the higher pitched 'tapping' noise is again a 2016 model year ES and RX design decision to use a different type of fuel injector.
4. Lastly, on a test drive with the service manager - whom is a top-fuel drag race car driver on the side (interesting fact but he knows a lot about engines) - he stated that he has heard the 'droning' noise that everyone on here is complaining about in many if not most new 2016 RX 350's and that it is a "3rd level" or "3rd stage" (I don't recall his exact words here) "engine harmonic" which (he hopes) Lexus will address through a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) at some future date.
In brief, #1: shame on the sales team; #2 and #3 in my view are poor decisions for a product line that prides itself in one of the quietest and smoothest drives out there. I believe that #4 is a complete shame. How does one not stop production on a newly released vehicle when someone hears this (they did try to listen for things like this from the first few non-prototypes off the line wouldn't they!?!?).
I would encourage all of you to please not just rely on your dealer to report this to Lexus; or worse be like my dealer which just stated that Lexus was already aware of the issue and seemed reluctant to tell Lexus to add me to the list of complaints. I called Lexus Customer Assistance and filed a complaint and have been told that I will hear back from a case manager this Friday.
I tried returning the car within 24 hours of purchase but the dealer was not cooperative. Disappointing!
Hoping to continue to run down this tank of gas and fill it up with Shell 93.
Look forward to your octane replies and CALL LEXUS with your complaint please!
Last edited by Hydrogen; 06-01-16 at 08:50 PM. Reason: Adding context; bold certain text
#140
Driver School Candidate
#142
Driver School Candidate
#143
Driver School Candidate
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I probably bought the worst RX350 F-Sports AWD.
Issues:
AC gurgling noise
Engine drone noise on low RPM
Metal rattling noise when door shut
Took the car to the service; none got fixed. :'(
Issues:
AC gurgling noise
Engine drone noise on low RPM
Metal rattling noise when door shut
Took the car to the service; none got fixed. :'(
#144
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Hello, i have a 2014 is350 fsport and looking into/considering getting the 2016 rx350 due to a growing family. After reading all these posts about rattling and loud noises, im a bit concerned and its gotten me thinking twice about seeking a rx350. Hmmmmmmmm.
#145
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I think the vibration has something to do with a faulty software monitor for LKA.
At 120kms/70mph - mine had a shocking vibration going thru the steering wheel and centre console... thought is was dodgy tyres or a driveshaft issue.
Then I went into LKA settings and turned everything OFF, changed vibration warning to audio warning, turned sensitivity setting to the lowest Standard setting... then turned off car... and restarted.... instantly the car at the same speed range was now almost vibration free... a 98% improvement.
Dont be fooled into thinking just because you have the steering wheel button turned OFF for LKA it really is off... it isnt, something is still monitoring and interfering...
Ridiculous that it all has to be turned off to enjoy driving the car.
Those with a vibration issue.... try it.
At 120kms/70mph - mine had a shocking vibration going thru the steering wheel and centre console... thought is was dodgy tyres or a driveshaft issue.
Then I went into LKA settings and turned everything OFF, changed vibration warning to audio warning, turned sensitivity setting to the lowest Standard setting... then turned off car... and restarted.... instantly the car at the same speed range was now almost vibration free... a 98% improvement.
Dont be fooled into thinking just because you have the steering wheel button turned OFF for LKA it really is off... it isnt, something is still monitoring and interfering...
Ridiculous that it all has to be turned off to enjoy driving the car.
Those with a vibration issue.... try it.
#146
Lexus Test Driver
![Default](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
I think the vibration has something to do with a faulty software monitor for LKA.
At 120kms/70mph - mine had a shocking vibration going thru the steering wheel and centre console... thought is was dodgy tyres or a driveshaft issue.
Then I went into LKA settings and turned everything OFF, changed vibration warning to audio warning, turned sensitivity setting to the lowest Standard setting... then turned off car... and restarted.... instantly the car at the same speed range was now almost vibration free... a 98% improvement.
Dont be fooled into thinking just because you have the steering wheel button turned OFF for LKA it really is off... it isnt, something is still monitoring and interfering...
Ridiculous that it all has to be turned off to enjoy driving the car.
Those with a vibration issue.... try it.
At 120kms/70mph - mine had a shocking vibration going thru the steering wheel and centre console... thought is was dodgy tyres or a driveshaft issue.
Then I went into LKA settings and turned everything OFF, changed vibration warning to audio warning, turned sensitivity setting to the lowest Standard setting... then turned off car... and restarted.... instantly the car at the same speed range was now almost vibration free... a 98% improvement.
Dont be fooled into thinking just because you have the steering wheel button turned OFF for LKA it really is off... it isnt, something is still monitoring and interfering...
Ridiculous that it all has to be turned off to enjoy driving the car.
Those with a vibration issue.... try it.
Man...
#147
Driver School Candidate
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You are lucky to have not purchased and left the dealer yet. DO NOT purchase the 2016.
#150
Pole Position