Random Beeping With No Obvious Cause

[Mashenka]

I have a 2003 RX 300, which I have owned for six months with no signs of any problems so far.

BUT.. a couple of days ago the car suddenly started beeping at me and shuddered (but no warning lights came on) ... so pulled over, randomly looked around it, couldn't find anything obvious and so carried on driving (albeit slowly!) and all seemed fine.

Today, on a ten minute trip it beeped again at me several times which is making me paranoid about even driving it again. Again, no warning lights came on. Car may have been loosing power a bit, but difficult to tell as I was driving up an extremely steep road at the time (one I drive up every day with no problems though).

I phoned the Lexus garage to ask their advice.. and have now got it booked with them on Monday. I am not sure a vague Brit waffling about random beeping sounds and asking for advice about if it was safe to drive was going to get any response other than "bring it in".

But.. my main question is: I live in a canyon (think steep hills, hairpin bends, rather large drops off the edges of roads, few areas to pull over if there's a problem and everyone driving just that bit too fast) - is it actually safe to drive it to the garage in the first place?

Oh - and any idea what the hell it might be?

The only thing I can see is that the tire pressure may be a bit low on the rear driver's side but nothing major. I assume that the beeping / shuddering is trying to tell me something - but have no idea what!

Any help gratefully received. I love my car. But nervous drivers on canyon roads is never a good thing!

Thanks

[tjmc11]

Some details needed:

How many miles are on the vehicle?

By "shuddering" what exactly do you mean?

Are there any differences in vehicle performance since you've noticed the problem?

[Mashenka]

Thank you for your reply... Lexus garage diagnosed the fault as a nail in the tire - which meant every time I went round a corner (of which there are a lot in the canyon where I live) the pressure on that side of the car pushed the nail in a bit more, though the tire wasn't flat.

I believe the the beeping / shuddering response has now been replaced on newer cars with an amber light on the dashboard. A good move, I reckon.

Lexus dealer fixed tire, cleaned my car inside and out... and gave me a free key ring. It was unusual to experience a garage that didn't want to rip me off and do nice things to make me a happy customer.

146k miles on the clock and I had been fearing the worst.

Feeling the Lexus-love again.

[jaswood]

Thank you for your reply... Lexus garage diagnosed the fault as a nail in the tire - which meant every time I went round a corner (of which there are a lot in the canyon where I live) the pressure on that side of the car pushed the nail in a bit more, though the tire wasn't flat.

I believe the the beeping / shuddering response has now been replaced on newer cars with an amber light on the dashboard. A good move, I reckon.

Lexus dealer fixed tire, cleaned my car inside and out... and gave me a free key ring. It was unusual to experience a garage that didn't want to rip me off and do nice things to make me a happy customer.

146k miles on the clock and I had been fearing the worst.

Feeling the Lexus-love again.

TC or VSC activation is often so brief that you hear the beep but by the time you look at the dash the event is already over and the indicator has extinguished. Either will result in a "shudder" as the engine is fully dethrottled and slective braking is used, moderately used, upon either event.

Low pressure in a tire can lead to inadvertent TC and/or VSC activation.