I bought my 350 back in July, upgrade from the 300. I have almost 3000 miles on it, about 1200 miles ago by chance I turned the radio off when I left the house and I heard this funny noise coming from the engine. I thought maybe it was just because it was early morning and the car needed to warm up. Well, the noise never left, it does it all the time. I took it in to the dealership and they said its normal. Does anybody else experience this sound(sounds like a diesel) with thier 350?

well noise is commonly blamed on the direct injectors in the engines, sounds like ticking. ive always thought my car was louder than a luxury car should be but thats t he way it is.

The engine note is tweaked a little from the Lexus cars to sound more "trucky"...

mine does until it warms through.

I've Rx330 and it does make same noise...sort of Dodge truck engine noise...lol
Funny thing is... I brought brand new IS250 (brought two Lexus within last 3 weeks) and it makes that funny noise at idling (very distant).

I have an 07 350 and noted that when I start it up I hear a clacking noise. It sounds like an unlubricated pushrod banging against a rocker arm....I took it to the dealer last week and had a tech listen to it and was told it is completely normal and that the injectors make that noise till they warm up.

I'm glad to hear from other owners that this is apparently normal.

I guess one question I would ask is...are there any owners who DON'T hear this when they startup up a cold engine?

-ursa

I bought my RX350 last August. In warm weather it starts and sounds fine. When the temp falls below 40 degrees the starter sounds like a 69 Dodge Dart. I swear to God it makes my 2001 F250 Superduty diesel pick up sound nearly silent!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dealer says this is normal. I say dealer service managers are either hard of hearing or covering up an issue hoping owners will forget it until warrenty is up.
I guess I forgot to mention that my NEW RX350 (had 6 miles on odometer when bought) did not make it thru the very first weekend before it was returned to the dealer for a week while the entire power steering system was replaced.
For a $40,000 + vehicle.... NOT IMPRESSED!! Will not recomend!! Vehicle now has almost 10,000 miles and if dealer does not repair with satisfaction I will persue lemon laws. I will not purchase another lexus.

Good luck with yours

Thanks to all of you for putting my concerns to rest. I agree that when first started the engine reminded me of an improperly adjusted push rod banging against a rocker arm.

This is my first Lexus and I'm not impressed, just disappointed in the quality in many areas considering it is a 40K vehicle. I'm reminded every time I open the driver's door.....it feels and sounds cheap like an older GM vehicle.

I will not buy another Lexus RX.

Somewhere on this forum, it was reported the engine noise was due to Lexus switching from a timing belt to a timing chain - saving us from having to spent the $800 to replace the belt every 90k miles (or whatever). If that's true, I'll put up with the noise to not hassle changing the timing belt (as I had to do with my old Acura and Miata). Just my opinion..

Our RX350 is our 5th Lexus and by far the worst! It is not only noisy when cold, but when warm. I've heard like most of you that "It’s the DFI" "It’s the timing chain" "It’s the a/c pump.” A $40+k car and it sounds like it needs a valve adjustment. We hear it not while driving, but when stopped next to a wall, like an ATM or drive-though. Maybe Lexus thought that if you can afford a Lexus you don’t need money or fast food.

It’s funny that our ten year old ES300 (125k miles) is whisper quiet next to our rattling RX350. We’ll trade our rattle-tramp in on something other than another Lexus. It’s too bad, we really loved all of our other Lexus cars and suv’s.

General Motors made great cars long ago, and then went to hell. Is Toyota/Lexus now on the same path? Maybe they should spend less time on all the silly bells and whistles and get back to basics.

Mercedes engines have timing chains and they don't sound like the Lexus RX350. I got a 2009 RX350, and the A/C makes a continuous light 'clanking' noise, and the engine, at higher revs. (3.5KRPM+), sounds like an engine where there is some valve bounce. Very un-luxurious sounds. Much worse than a previous RX300 I owned.

The RX350 does not have a direct injection engine.
Ours is not noisy by any means unless you get the revs north of about 5k rpm, for whatever that is worth. On idle it does have a 4Runner type burble, which is not a very pretty engine note, but is by no means noisy.