RX - 4th Gen (2016-2022) Discussion topics related to the 2016 and up RX350 and RX450h models

Are rattles & other noises a common issue?

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Old 03-21-21 | 03:13 PM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by dannnn
The dash also squeaks and it drive me crazy and my dealership can also not figure it out. It gets to the point where I clean out the whole car and remove everything and take a drive to prove to my self im still sane and its the car and not a piece a paper or wrapper on the floor or something stupid making the noise. Ever since they started making them in canada these rattles/squeaks seem to have shown up.

Nailed it!!I toured the Cambridge, Ontario plant & it is spotless & the most efficient factory I’ve ever been in & I’ve been in lots of automotive & aircraft factories. The root cause in my opinion, is that the supply chains in Canada are different than Japan & parts are not made as well. The Canadian workers appear to do an excellent job, so labor is not the cause of the poor quality.
Old 03-21-21 | 03:40 PM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by dannnn
The rattles I have are very apparent and easily heard/reproduced. Its loud enough to hear unless every tech at lexus is deaf. My issues are when its cold the door has a loud buzzing sound on both sides and when its hot, something in the steering column is rattling and also the piece of plastic behind the nav. Not to mention something under the passenger seat makes an awful amount of noise, pretty sure its just the stickers on the cables that feed power to the passenger seat but I'm not going to go cut off all the stickers and nick a wire lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnCFr07z93s

If this isnt obvious enough then I dont know what is lol
I heard it! Not good & very similar to the crap I get from mine. Here’s my sunroof:
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Old 03-25-21 | 03:17 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by bamalam
Dealers aren't going to fix non-obvious rattles or those that are difficult to troubleshoot; they won't spend the time to do it properly. We can argue that they should, but it doesn't change the outcome.

I've had what I seems to be driver-side B-pillar rattle for a few months. The dealer replaced the seat belt adjustment mechanism, but that only fixed it for a few days. I've had the B-pillar apart twice since and think I've fixed it, only for it to return a couple of days later. Quite perplexing. I have another thread going that I'll update once I figure out root cause.
I have what sounds like a passenger side B pillar rattle in my 2020 but I’ve narrowed it down to something with the way the window seats in the door seal. It rattles most with the window all the way up and diminishes significantly if I just bump the window down a hair. I would have thought it would be the opposite, so it’s weird. I’m going to try stuffing bits of felt in the door seal in the upper corner of the window.
Old 03-25-21 | 05:38 PM
  #34  
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I have had an intermittent rattle issue that I finally located today! It was a buzzy type rattle that would come on as the car heated up then after 1/2 hr to an hr driving would go away again. Dealer never could hear anything. As usual, quiet as a church mouse when I took it in. Turned out to be the passenger console storage slot (passenger left hand slot in console). There is a flat panel with 2 pry slots on it that although seemed tight, would buz when it felt like it. I just ran a piece of gorilla tape on the upper edge where you cannot see it, then stuffed a rolled up dark wash cloth in the lower portion as it is rarely used anyway, but still usable. Problem solved!! This car is exceptionally quiet, and I've driven many over the years. Got rid of my 2016 Rav 4 mostly cuz of road noise that even $1200 worth of sound deadening ripping out the entire interior didn't solve to my liking.

I'll say that noise I could swear was coming from the dash, so don't zero in on one location when you are trying to find yours!
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Old 03-25-21 | 05:40 PM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by dannnn
I'm in the same boat, dealership "fixed" all the rattles every service visit i go in yet when I drive out of the dealership parking lot its very apparent they didnt fix it. I get the run around stating that the tech cannot reproduce the sound and I cant do ride along to clearly point out the sound because of covid. Seeing that they dont give a damn nor care to fix it, I've givin up and turn the music up.
Pull out your phone & take a video when you hear the squeak/rattle. Try to document the date, time & conditions in your video to show how fast you are driving, the road surface conditions, etc. The more documentation you have, the better. I’ve been down this road & had a buyback. Records & videos are your friend. Don’t ever give up! It’s your money paying for their junk car.
Old 03-25-21 | 05:56 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by gadgetman1
Pull out your phone & take a video when you hear the squeak/rattle. Try to document the date, time & conditions in your video to show how fast you are driving, the road surface conditions, etc. The more documentation you have, the better. I’ve been down this road & had a buyback. Records & videos are your friend. Don’t ever give up! It’s your money paying for their junk car.
That is exactly what I did! I have video of mine that I was going to bring in next service visit. I found my issue and solved it myself. Easy fix, that took 3 months to locate (on and off effort I put in) LOL.
Old 03-26-21 | 08:27 AM
  #37  
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my center arm rest console squeaks like mad. I already took it in and they added foam to it, but its still squeaky. Its better than before but still annoying. Considering this is a part of the car that i touch quite frequently, its really getting on my nerves.

The car is so quiet that i also hear a whole myriad of noises like the rear driver side suspension making a click when going over bumps (strut, or maybe caliper rubbing?), my seat also making some clicking noises when accelerating / decelerating, and the driver side seat belt B pillar making a squeaky noise if you accidently compress it..

I think my pano sunroof also makes a click occasionally going over bumps but its harder to replicate

Canadian build quality is horrible compared to all my other lexus products that were built in japan.
Old 03-26-21 | 08:46 AM
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Originally Posted by Badhobz
my center arm rest console squeaks like mad. I already took it in and they added foam to it, but its still squeaky. Its better than before but still annoying. Considering this is a part of the car that i touch quite frequently, its really getting on my nerves.

The car is so quiet that i also hear a whole myriad of noises like the rear driver side suspension making a click when going over bumps (strut, or maybe caliper rubbing?), my seat also making some clicking noises when accelerating / decelerating, and the driver side seat belt B pillar making a squeaky noise if you accidently compress it..

I think my pano sunroof also makes a click occasionally going over bumps but its harder to replicate

Canadian build quality is horrible compared to all my other lexus products that were built in japan.
Your frustrations are certainly warranted, but I wouldn’t be so quick to blame the Canadians. I have been to the factory in Cambridge, Ontario. That factory is by far the best “well oiled machine” I have ever viewed. I worked in manufacturing & manufacturing management & the Canadian factory is truly amazing. From what I have been told & what I have observed, the supply chains are very different. The sunroof in a Japanese RX is NOT the exact same as the Canadian built RX. I personally think we are experiencing the difference in tolerances of multiple makers of the same parts. Just FYI, Fiat Chrysler (FCA) has horrible quality problems based on multiple part manufacturers. Toyota used to only use certain suppliers for each part, but they got bigger & have become just like the Detroit Big Three, with manufacturing all over the globe. Given what’s happening in world right this minute with supply chains, it’s going to get exponentially worse really fast. I doubt any automaker will be immune from interruption in supplies.
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Old 03-26-21 | 11:12 AM
  #39  
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well said gadgetman.

The more i think about it, the more it seems to make sense that toyota corporate is to blame for the lack of quality in their recent products and not so much the individual assembly

My 2008 RX400h was almost 75k out the door (loaded with everything available including the rear seat entertainment package)

Adjusted for inflation that's 93k in 2021. Given the significantly more tech and features of these newer cars, the price hasn't really changed all that much and i think the cost cutting is happening in the material used and suppliers.

Old 03-26-21 | 11:56 AM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by gadgetman1
Your frustrations are certainly warranted, but I wouldn’t be so quick to blame the Canadians. I have been to the factory in Cambridge, Ontario. That factory is by far the best “well oiled machine” I have ever viewed. I worked in manufacturing & manufacturing management & the Canadian factory is truly amazing. From what I have been told & what I have observed, the supply chains are very different. The sunroof in a Japanese RX is NOT the exact same as the Canadian built RX. I personally think we are experiencing the difference in tolerances of multiple makers of the same parts. Just FYI, Fiat Chrysler (FCA) has horrible quality problems based on multiple part manufacturers. Toyota used to only use certain suppliers for each part, but they got bigger & have become just like the Detroit Big Three, with manufacturing all over the globe. Given what’s happening in world right this minute with supply chains, it’s going to get exponentially worse really fast. I doubt any automaker will be immune from interruption in supplies.
I've owned quite a few cars over the last 30 years (mostly Toyotas and some Porsches). The 2019 RX 350 is the worst car I've ever owned. I'm quite disappointed with their recent products. My 2017 Highlander had a blown transmission and took the dealer 3 times to fix it. Then I got a transmission recall of the one that they put in the car, but only after I sold the Highlander so I couldn't claim a lemon. Traded the Highlander for a 2019 450H and within 200 miles all the issues showed up (e.g. hesitation, drones). Traded it in at 500 miles for a big loss for a 350RX Luxury package. Within 200 miles the nightmares continued as the 350RX has the drone&vibration, hesitation, and squeaks. The car has been in the shop 6 times so far and Lexus continued to deny everything; they've applied all the TSBs and the issues continue to get worse. For comparison, my 2006 Tacoma drives better than my 350RX. I'm never buying Toyota/Lexus again.
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Old 03-26-21 | 04:42 PM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by Squiggy44
I have what sounds like a passenger side B pillar rattle in my 2020 but I’ve narrowed it down to something with the way the window seats in the door seal. It rattles most with the window all the way up and diminishes significantly if I just bump the window down a hair. I would have thought it would be the opposite, so it’s weird. I’m going to try stuffing bits of felt in the door seal in the upper corner of the window.
I just had my driver door apart chasing what I thought was a B-pillar rattle and found something that might interest you. I did not take photographs, but will describe it here. Taking the door panel apart is not difficult, if you are careful, have non-marking trim tools and once you get past the gonad ascension that occurs when dismantling your $50K car.....

There is a long plastic piece with weatherstripping on the inside window. See the illustration, below. It is affixed to the inner door panel with little bendable half-clips (like half the butterfly clips on business envelopes.) I couldn't believe how "clacky" it was against the inner door panel, and was sure I'd found my rattle. I used a lot of cloth tape to make it quiet. I also put butyl putty on on the little clips that hold the inner panel to the metal door frame.They, too, were very loose and noisy. Unfortunately, this effort did not fix my rattle. Given the description of your rattle, though, that piece of weatherstripping could be the culprit. Lowering the window might put pressure on the inside weatherstripping, since the glass has a curve, which would tend to make it clack less.

It's amazing all vehicles don't sound like a bucket of bolts
Even though the soundproofing effort did not fix my particular rattle, I'm fairly convinced that it helped the door yield a more pleasing 'thunk' when it's closed. I've thought my driver door sounded poor for a 'luxury' car, but it seems better now. There are a large number of loose plastic parts under the covers of these vehicles. The amazing thing to me is that they don't rattle a lot more than they do.


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Old 03-27-21 | 02:30 AM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by bamalam
I just had my driver door apart chasing what I thought was a B-pillar rattle and found something that might interest you. I did not take photographs, but will describe it here. Taking the door panel apart is not difficult, if you are careful, have non-marking trim tools and once you get past the gonad ascension that occurs when dismantling your $50K car.....

There is a long plastic piece with weatherstripping on the inside window. See the illustration, below. It is affixed to the inner door panel with little bendable half-clips (like half the butterfly clips on business envelopes.) I couldn't believe how "clacky" it was against the inner door panel, and was sure I'd found my rattle. I used a lot of cloth tape to make it quiet. I also put butyl putty on on the little clips that hold the inner panel to the metal door frame.They, too, were very loose and noisy. Unfortunately, this effort did not fix my rattle. Given the description of your rattle, though, that piece of weatherstripping could be the culprit. Lowering the window might put pressure on the inside weatherstripping, since the glass has a curve, which would tend to make it clack less.

It's amazing all vehicles don't sound like a bucket of bolts
Even though the soundproofing effort did not fix my particular rattle, I'm fairly convinced that it helped the door yield a more pleasing 'thunk' when it's closed. I've thought my driver door sounded poor for a 'luxury' car, but it seems better now. There are a large number of loose plastic parts under the covers of these vehicles. The amazing thing to me is that they don't rattle a lot more than they do.

My shop foreman at my dealership added felt tape/fabric where your arrow is, on the top of the door panel and it solved my rattle half decently. It occasionally does make noise but damn it, its annoying.
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Old 04-02-21 | 11:11 AM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by bamalam
Dealers aren't going to fix non-obvious rattles or those that are difficult to troubleshoot; they won't spend the time to do it properly. We can argue that they should, but it doesn't change the outcome.

I've had what I seems to be driver-side B-pillar rattle for a few months. The dealer replaced the seat belt adjustment mechanism, but that only fixed it for a few days. I've had the B-pillar apart twice since and think I've fixed it, only for it to return a couple of days later. Quite perplexing. I have another thread going that I'll update once I figure out root cause.
I finally fixed what I thought was a driver-side B-pillar rattle. It turns out that the problem was weatherstripping friction and a few minutes of cleaning and application of dry silicone lubricant was the fix. You can read the whole sordid tale here: Driver door/seat belt adjuster rattle - resolved - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion.
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