Rattle In The Rear, Squeeky Windows

[pinzabu]

Hi,

I have 7600 miles on the RX400h in the Washington DC area. Drives like a dream, mileage as most have reported. Two problems in the last six weeks, that seem increasingly annoying.. has anyone else had that same, and if so, what has the dealer done?

1. There is a rattle audible inside the car when moving. I have NOTHING in the car, seems to be coming from the back 'cargo' area. My spouse has driven and I have sat in the rear seats to try and isolate it, but can not.

2. Lately when it rains, ie when the door windows are wet, if I roll them down, after the rain stops, about a 1/2 way down they squeek, LOUDLY, Yesterday, it was just moist out, the humidity was up and it did it. Mostly the driver's window.

Small but annoying for such an expensive vehicle. Anyone else had similar?

Thanks in advance, Lydia

[KJC]

I have a rattle that sounds like it's coming from the rear of the vehicle also. When my daughter sits in the back, she says it sounds like the noise is coming from the front. It's not very loud, just sort of "there". Took the vehicle in this week for service and it turns out to be the roof rack. Apparently they have to replace part of the rail system. Hope this helps.

[shelt]

I'll tell you exactly what that squeeky rattle is/was in my 400h. It's the rear armrest! In the closed position, I get a terrible noise that sounds like leather/plastic squeeking. Opened up, it's totally silent, so I leave it open now....

Hope this solves your problem.

Hi,

I have 7600 miles on the RX400h in the Washington DC area.  Drives like a dream, mileage as most have reported.  Two problems in the last six weeks, that seem increasingly annoying.. has anyone else had that same, and if so, what has the dealer done?

1.  There is a rattle audible inside the car when moving.  I have NOTHING in the car, seems to be coming from the back 'cargo' area. My spouse has driven and I have sat in the rear seats to try and isolate it, but can not. 

2. Lately when it rains, ie when the door windows are wet, if I roll them down, after the rain stops, about a 1/2 way down they squeek, LOUDLY, Yesterday, it was just moist out, the humidity was up and it did it.  Mostly the driver's window.

Small but annoying for such an expensive vehicle.  Anyone else had similar?

Thanks in advance, Lydia

←

[jashev]

I'll tell you exactly what that squeeky rattle is/was in my 400h.  It's the rear armrest!  In the closed position, I get a terrible noise that sounds like leather/plastic squeeking.  Opened up, it's totally silent, so I leave it open now.... 

Hope this solves your problem.

Hi,

I have 7600 miles on the RX400h in the Washington DC area.  Drives like a dream, mileage as most have reported.  Two problems in the last six weeks, that seem increasingly annoying.. has anyone else had that same, and if so, what has the dealer done?

1.  There is a rattle audible inside the car when moving.  I have NOTHING in the car, seems to be coming from the back 'cargo' area. My spouse has driven and I have sat in the rear seats to try and isolate it, but can not. 

2. Lately when it rains, ie when the door windows are wet, if I roll them down, after the rain stops, about a 1/2 way down they squeek, LOUDLY, Yesterday, it was just moist out, the humidity was up and it did it.  Mostly the driver's window.

Small but annoying for such an expensive vehicle.  Anyone else had similar?

Thanks in advance, Lydia

←

←

Ditto. Rear armrest was squeeking until it was placed in the down position.

[katzjamr]

I have 5000 miles on my 400h and the cargo area rattle started about 500 miles ago. It is loud and irritating. I cannot find the source, with seats up or down and nothing in the rear its still there. I took out the privacy rollup screen, but that was not it. I will try the rear arm rest, I forgot it was even there LOL if that works, thanks very much in advance. Love the 400h otherwise.

[BarryD]

I've had my h for almost four weeks now, and I've driven it almost 1300 miles. The bonding process is proceeding nicely :D I've had a similar noise in the back. The armrest responses make sense to me, so I'll try that. Two other things may be contributing. Mine was really bad at first, and I discovered that the center portion of the seat back was not latched securely. That helped, but I still had an annoying rattle back there somewhere. I stowed the tanneau cover in its tray - no more rattle! I'm confident my dealer will resolve this permanently, once I've done a bit more diagnosing.

As for the window squeak, I had a really bad rattle/squeak on the way to work one day this week. It went away as suddenly as it started. We'd had cold rain, followed immediately by dropping temperatures (10 degrees F) and snow, hence the window noise. After the car sat in the company heated garage all day thawing and drying, no more window noise. The weather was pretty Minnesota weird, so I don't fault the car very much on this one.

[rexmiami]

Hi,

I have 7600 miles on the RX400h in the Washington DC area. Drives like a dream, mileage as most have reported. Two problems in the last six weeks, that seem increasingly annoying.. has anyone else had that same, and if so, what has the dealer done?

1. There is a rattle audible inside the car when moving. I have NOTHING in the car, seems to be coming from the back 'cargo' area. My spouse has driven and I have sat in the rear seats to try and isolate it, but can not.

Being from the Washington DC area it is probably just one of the many annoying noises that are eminating from the building with the big white dome at the east end of the mall. :P

[speedyg]

It sucks to be someone with good hearing. I have found a couple sources of noises in my RX400h.

1 - leather rubbing against leather between the two rear fold down rear seatbacks. if you put a cloth in the crack between the two sections, the noise stops. Some kind of leather conditioner may also work.

2 - rear tonneau cover - this thing makes some noise when you go over bumps because the vinyl/plastic rubs on the rear seats or where it attaches to the rear headrests. remove the tonneau cover. I just leave mine in the garage. I find it kind of a pain to use anyway.

3. rear tonneau cover attachement brackets (not what these actually called, but it's the plastic things attached to the sides of the cargo area that the tonneau cover slides into. There is something inside there that can become loose, I'm not sure what it was, but my dealer was able to fix/replace it.

4 - glove box light switch. if you hear a faint rattle that seems to come from the front passenger side, check this. with the glove box door closed, press hard on it. If you don't hear rattles while you are pressing on the door but do hear rattles otherwise, try putting some felt pads on top of the round flat black plastic piece on the glove box door that is opposite the switch.

5 - slight ticking noises seeming to come from the B pillar near your left ear or the driver's door or window. noises stop if you pull and hold your driver's door shut tighter when you are driving around. this has gotta be the door seals. This happens in regular RX'es and other vehicles also. I was in a 2006 RX330 with only 6000 miles and it had the same sort of noise that I hear occasionally in my RX400h. Not sure what the best permanent fix is (replace door seals? somehow get door to cinch tighter?) I've only tried talcum powder so far, but that either doesn't last very long or it doesn't help. If anyone has better suggestions I'm all ears :)

[Philly400h]

Just to chime in.

The rear armrest was making noise for us also. Quite alarming until we figured it out. We found out it's a "tight fit" getting it to latch - so now we just make sure it's latched well - noise is gone...

[billysbarn]

I'll tell you exactly what that squeeky rattle is/was in my 400h.  It's the rear armrest!  In the closed position, I get a terrible noise that sounds like leather/plastic squeeking.  Opened up, it's totally silent, so I leave it open now.... 

Hope this solves your problem.

Hi,

I have exatly that experince and it is also fine when armrest is down.

I have 7600 miles on the RX400h in the Washington DC area.  Drives like a dream, mileage as most have reported.  Two problems in the last six weeks, that seem increasingly annoying.. has anyone else had that same, and if so, what has the dealer done?

1.  There is a rattle audible inside the car when moving.  I have NOTHING in the car, seems to be coming from the back 'cargo' area. My spouse has driven and I have sat in the rear seats to try and isolate it, but can not. 

2. Lately when it rains, ie when the door windows are wet, if I roll them down, after the rain stops, about a 1/2 way down they squeek, LOUDLY, Yesterday, it was just moist out, the humidity was up and it did it.  Mostly the driver's window.

Small but annoying for such an expensive vehicle.  Anyone else had similar?

Thanks in advance, Lydia

←

←

[pinzabu]

Everyone,

Thanks for all the suggestions and comments. I assume what everyone means about the rear arm rest is the center one, will play with that, also will look at the cover over the back and its' attachements.

Two follow ups.

1. Lexus washed the car to try and repeat the skeaky noise, they found it, and it is the window runners. Had only three in stock and are ordering the 4th. That was ten days ago, still waiting.

2. I 'let' my husband drive the car and now there is a NEW squeak, on the driver arm rest, if he rests his elbow on it, NOT hard, just resting, and he is an average sized man.

So will add that to the repairs when they call me in for the window runners.

And when I find the rearish squeak will let you know, heading out for a 250 mile road trip and will work on it, really thanks for the suggestions. Interestingly, in cold weather, it seems better. Lydia

[katzjamr]

I have a loud rattle that is not fixed by any of the remedies mentioned here. It comes from the back seat area but its not the seats or seatbelts or armrest. It is loud and consistent, you would think it would be easy to find, so far it eludes me. I have checked the compartments with the tire jack, and to make sure nothing is loose or moving around back there. Lexus said to bring it in, its just a hassle time wise right now. The noise was not there until about 4500 miles. Otherwise the 400h has been great with the only other issue being cold weather mpg suffering.

[love2scuba]

I have a loud rattle that is not fixed by any of the remedies mentioned here.  It comes from the back seat area but its not the seats or seatbelts or armrest.  It is loud and consistent, you would think it would be easy to find, so far it eludes me.  I have checked the compartments with the tire jack, and to make sure nothing is loose or moving around back there.  Lexus said to bring it in, its just a hassle time wise right now.  The noise was not there until about 4500 miles.  Otherwise the 400h has been great with the only other issue being cold weather mpg suffering.

←

I have battled that rattle as well, and my dealer finally found it. It was the rear license plate frame. They put some thick padded tape around it, and now it's fine. I still get noise from the front passenger seat belt banging against the seat. Still have not found a way to stop that one.

[katzjamr]

Thanks, i have looked at my rear plate before to see if it was loose, ill check again. My passenger seat belt clip also rattled, i just move part of it around the headrest.

[katzjamr]

It sucks to be someone with good hearing. I have found a couple sources of noises in my RX400h.

1 - leather rubbing against leather between the two rear fold down rear seatbacks. if you put a cloth in the crack between the two sections, the noise stops. Some kind of leather conditioner may also work.

2 - rear tonneau cover - this thing makes some noise when you go over bumps because the vinyl/plastic rubs on the rear seats or where it attaches to the rear headrests. remove the tonneau cover. I just leave mine in the garage. I find it kind of a pain to use anyway.

3. rear tonneau cover attachement brackets (not what these actually called, but it's the plastic things attached to the sides of the cargo area that the tonneau cover slides into. There is something inside there that can become loose, I'm not sure what it was, but my dealer was able to fix/replace it.

4 - glove box light switch. if you hear a faint rattle that seems to come from the front passenger side, check this. with the glove box door closed, press hard on it. If you don't hear rattles while you are pressing on the door but do hear rattles otherwise, try putting some felt pads on top of the round flat black plastic piece on the glove box door that is opposite the switch.

5 - slight ticking noises seeming to come from the B pillar near your left ear or the driver's door or window. noises stop if you pull and hold your driver's door shut tighter when you are driving around. this has gotta be the door seals. This happens in regular RX'es and other vehicles also. I was in a 2006 RX330 with only 6000 miles and it had the same sort of noise that I hear occasionally in my RX400h. Not sure what the best permanent fix is (replace door seals? somehow get door to cinch tighter?) I've only tried talcum powder so far, but that either doesn't last very long or it doesn't help. If anyone has better suggestions I'm all ears :)

←

I went into the back while someone else was driving and i found your reason number three to be the cause of my main rattle, thanks again for posting that. All this time i thot it was the rear seats.

[RX400h]

You might want to try lubricating any suspect rubber seals with dielectric grease. Most dealerships have this but I bought mine from McMaster-Carr (online). My Corvette's owner's manual recommends lubrication of all door/targa top/hatch seals once every six months. That's normally overkill, as I have lubricated my seals every two years and have no squeeks. Still, it won't hurt to give it a try.

Regarding other areas of squeeks, the one that gets me (but that is easily fixed) is when my wife fails to latch the sunvisor after rotating it. The unlatched pin rubs and squeeks away.

[tep01]

I'll tell you exactly what that squeeky rattle is/was in my 400h.  It's the rear armrest!  In the closed position, I get a terrible noise that sounds like leather/plastic squeeking.  Opened up, it's totally silent, so I leave it open now.... 

Hope this solves your problem.

Hi,

I have 7600 miles on the RX400h in the Washington DC area.  Drives like a dream, mileage as most have reported.  Two problems in the last six weeks, that seem increasingly annoying.. has anyone else had that same, and if so, what has the dealer done?

1.  There is a rattle audible inside the car when moving.  I have NOTHING in the car, seems to be coming from the back 'cargo' area. My spouse has driven and I have sat in the rear seats to try and isolate it, but can not. 

2. Lately when it rains, ie when the door windows are wet, if I roll them down, after the rain stops, about a 1/2 way down they squeek, LOUDLY, Yesterday, it was just moist out, the humidity was up and it did it.  Mostly the driver's window.

Small but annoying for such an expensive vehicle.  Anyone else had similar?

Thanks in advance, Lydia

←

←

[tep01]

I'll tell you exactly what that squeeky rattle is/was in my 400h.  It's the rear armrest!  In the closed position, I get a terrible noise that sounds like leather/plastic squeeking.  Opened up, it's totally silent, so I leave it open now.... 

Hope this solves your problem.

Hi,

I have 7600 miles on the RX400h in the Washington DC area.  Drives like a dream, mileage as most have reported.  Two problems in the last six weeks, that seem increasingly annoying.. has anyone else had that same, and if so, what has the dealer done?

1.  There is a rattle audible inside the car when moving.  I have NOTHING in the car, seems to be coming from the back 'cargo' area. My spouse has driven and I have sat in the rear seats to try and isolate it, but can not. 

2. Lately when it rains, ie when the door windows are wet, if I roll them down, after the rain stops, about a 1/2 way down they squeek, LOUDLY, Yesterday, it was just moist out, the humidity was up and it did it.  Mostly the driver's window.

Small but annoying for such an expensive vehicle.  Anyone else had similar?

Thanks in advance, Lydia

←

←

←

I had the problem with my 400h and if you take a good leather cleaner to lubricate between the seats and it stoped the rubbing noise.

[billysbarn]

I'll tell you exactly what that squeeky rattle is/was in my 400h.  It's the rear armrest!  In the closed position, I get a terrible noise that sounds like leather/plastic squeeking.  Opened up, it's totally silent, so I leave it open now.... 

Hope this solves your problem.

Hi,

I have 7600 miles on the RX400h in the Washington DC area.  Drives like a dream, mileage as most have reported.  Two problems in the last six weeks, that seem increasingly annoying.. has anyone else had that same, and if so, what has the dealer done?

1.  There is a rattle audible inside the car when moving.  I have NOTHING in the car, seems to be coming from the back 'cargo' area. My spouse has driven and I have sat in the rear seats to try and isolate it, but can not. 

2. Lately when it rains, ie when the door windows are wet, if I roll them down, after the rain stops, about a 1/2 way down they squeek, LOUDLY, Yesterday, it was just moist out, the humidity was up and it did it.  Mostly the driver's window.

Small but annoying for such an expensive vehicle.  Anyone else had similar?

Thanks in advance, Lydia

←

←

←

I had the problem with my 400h and if you take a good leather cleaner to lubricate between the seats and it stoped the rubbing noise.

←

Alternatively sometimes the rails that carry the cargo cover have something inside that comes loose. This has been discussed on the UK LOC forum I believe.

[Snapjack]

The rattle described in November posts is probably from the plastic-on-plastic release handle from the rear center arm rest. One user mentioned keeping this down, but here's another solution:

I have wedged a small self-stick felt pad (from Walmart, made by SoftTouch, product # 7192) just under the left side of the release handle and the handle's plastic housing. The backside of the felt pad ensures that it will stay, because it had an adhesive. Very easy to do.

Voila! No more rattle. Hope this helps.

MHO - Lexus needs to do better with the fit and finish on a $50K+ vehicle.

[thesaintjim]

I'll tell you exactly what that squeeky rattle is/was in my 400h.  It's the rear armrest!  In the closed position, I get a terrible noise that sounds like leather/plastic squeeking.  Opened up, it's totally silent, so I leave it open now.... 

Hope this solves your problem.

Hi,

I have 7600 miles on the RX400h in the Washington DC area.  Drives like a dream, mileage as most have reported.  Two problems in the last six weeks, that seem increasingly annoying.. has anyone else had that same, and if so, what has the dealer done?

1.  There is a rattle audible inside the car when moving.  I have NOTHING in the car, seems to be coming from the back 'cargo' area. My spouse has driven and I have sat in the rear seats to try and isolate it, but can not. 

2. Lately when it rains, ie when the door windows are wet, if I roll them down, after the rain stops, about a 1/2 way down they squeek, LOUDLY, Yesterday, it was just moist out, the humidity was up and it did it.  Mostly the driver's window.

Small but annoying for such an expensive vehicle.  Anyone else had similar?

Thanks in advance, Lydia

←

←

←

I had the problem with my 400h and if you take a good leather cleaner to lubricate between the seats and it stoped the rubbing noise.

Same here. For my window, I took it to the dealer and they lubed the tracks. problem solved.

[patt]

I also get a rattle from the back sometimes. It isn't the arm rest. I've wondered if it is from the grills on the batteries. It kind of sounds like it comes from there.

[LexInfo]

In my 330 I have the similar type noise just during normal driving. It turned out to be the rear cargo cover release rubbing against the stopper on the rear hatch, i got some felt and trim it into the same shape as the the stopper and placed on the hatch and no more noise.... hope this helps....

[dadcat]

In my 330 I have the similar type noise just during normal driving. It turned out to be the rear cargo cover release rubbing against the stopper on the rear hatch, i got some felt and trim it into the same shape as the the stopper and placed on the hatch and no more noise.... hope this helps....

Another possible source of a rattle in the rear is the twist-on spare tire cover underneath the vehicle. On my RX400h I did not notice it while driving but noticed that it rattled when I closed the rear doors. I twisted off the cover and bent it slightly to get a tighter fit.

[bmt]

I had the same problem with noise from the rear seating area. It did turn out to be the arm rest when it rubbed against the other seating surface and headrest (sounds like a rattle but isn't). I simply applied a high quality leather conditioner and buffed it out. I also raised the center headrest very slightly so it no longer touche the armrest. The problem went away and hasn't come back and that was three months ago.