Es350 Rattle

[curlywasastooge]

My first post in this forum. I bought a 2007 ES350 CPO back in Oct. 2009. Overall dissapointed with the vehicle. Between numerous oil leaks, water pump failure, dash rattle etc. it has been a major dissapointment.

Now a recent rattle sound when pulling into driveway or over a speed bump (both obviously very low speed). Sound like something loose in left rear tire area. Hard to determine. Will need to have dealership look but curious if anyone noticed anything similar?

My wife loves the car more so i think due to Ruby Red Metallic color. Does look nice, and rides fairly decent. Keeping 35 lb. psi in tires makes things a bit rough but tire pressure light comes on if we don't. Dealer says it needs 35 yet recommends 32. Forget 32. light comes on immediately.

Dash rattle worse in colder weather (like now). There was a TSB on that but per dealer i'm past the deadline....great, most of the time lost when it was leased prior to sale in Nov. 2009...thanks Lexus.

Headed in tomorrow for 4th oil leak in vehicle.

Water pump leaked and at least that got fixed under warranty.

For now though any thoughts on what this metal rattle sound (only hear it once) and only occurs every so often as i described above.

3 year warranty runs out end of this year, so most likely good bye Lexus.

[LexBob2]

My first post in this forum. I bought a 2007 ES350 CPO back in Oct. 2009. Overall dissapointed with the vehicle. Between numerous oil leaks, water pump failure, dash rattle etc. it has been a major dissapointment.

Now a recent rattle sound when pulling into driveway or over a speed bump (both obviously very low speed). Sound like something loose in left rear tire area. Hard to determine. Will need to have dealership look but curious if anyone noticed anything similar?

My wife loves the car more so i think due to Ruby Red Metallic color. Does look nice, and rides fairly decent. Keeping 35 lb. psi in tires makes things a bit rough but tire pressure light comes on if we don't. Dealer says it needs 35 yet recommends 32. Forget 32. light comes on immediately.

Dash rattle worse in colder weather (like now). There was a TSB on that but per dealer i'm past the deadline....great, most of the time lost when it was leased prior to sale in Nov. 2009...thanks Lexus.

Headed in tomorrow for 4th oil leak in vehicle.

Water pump leaked and at least that got fixed under warranty.

For now though any thoughts on what this metal rattle sound (only hear it once) and only occurs every so often as i described above.

3 year warranty runs out end of this year, so most likely good bye Lexus.

With all of the problems you're having with the car and the fact, you're just not happy with it, it's probably a good time to move into something different. Hopefully you'll have better luck.

I had an early build (4/06) 2007 that was problem free over 4 years. No warranty or TSIB work at all, but there were issues reported by other 2007 owners that seem to have been work out.

[SW03ES]

Welcome to the site!

Now a recent rattle sound when pulling into driveway or over a speed bump (both obviously very low speed). Sound like something loose in left rear tire area. Hard to determine. Will need to have dealership look but curious if anyone noticed anything similar?

How many miles are on it? Obviously if you bought it off a presumably 3 year lease in Nov 2009, it was one of the very first ES350s manufactured and there were some new model issues that were basically solved in the subsequent models, and even later 2007s.

and rides fairly decent. Keeping 35 lb. psi in tires makes things a bit rough but tire pressure light comes on if we don't. Dealer says it needs 35 yet recommends 32. Forget 32. light comes on immediately.

You need to reset the TPMS system. Set the pressure where you want (I run mine like 32) and then push and hold the reset button under the dash. It'll reset to your selected pressure. That will make a HUGE difference in the ride. Mine rides great.

Dash rattle worse in colder weather (like now). There was a TSB on that but per dealer i'm past the deadline....great, most of the time lost when it was leased prior to sale in Nov. 2009...thanks Lexus.

This is a little unfair. Wasn't time lost, the vehicle was owned by someone else before you owned it, and they enjoyed the primary part of the warranty. Thats part of the deal when you buy used cars.

BUT, the TSB should be covered under the CPO warranty. I would press them on it.

Leaky oil pump is not a big deal...

Whats troubling are the oil leaks. Have they told you what specifically has been leaking?

[rob_es350]

My first post in this forum. I bought a 2007 ES350 CPO back in Oct. 2009. Overall dissapointed with the vehicle. Between numerous oil leaks, water pump failure, dash rattle etc. it has been a major dissapointment.

Now a recent rattle sound when pulling into driveway or over a speed bump (both obviously very low speed). Sound like something loose in left rear tire area. Hard to determine. Will need to have dealership look but curious if anyone noticed anything similar?

My wife loves the car more so i think due to Ruby Red Metallic color. Does look nice, and rides fairly decent. Keeping 35 lb. psi in tires makes things a bit rough but tire pressure light comes on if we don't. Dealer says it needs 35 yet recommends 32. Forget 32. light comes on immediately.

Dash rattle worse in colder weather (like now). There was a TSB on that but per dealer i'm past the deadline....great, most of the time lost when it was leased prior to sale in Nov. 2009...thanks Lexus.

Headed in tomorrow for 4th oil leak in vehicle.

Water pump leaked and at least that got fixed under warranty.

For now though any thoughts on what this metal rattle sound (only hear it once) and only occurs every so often as i described above.

3 year warranty runs out end of this year, so most likely good bye Lexus.

sucks that you have been so frustrated with these problems that all seem very resolvable

first thing I can say definitively is that your dealer is an idiot

recommended PSI for mine is 30PSI..as steve said, the TPMS needs to be reset..the dealer is clueless when he tells you that 35PSI is required to keep the indicator from coming on

other problems also seem that they should be easily diagnosed and fixed

having said all that..sometimes you get to a point with a car where "it is dead to you", lol, in other words, not even interested in resolving the issues anymore, would still not be happy with it..relationship with car may not be repairable, ha

it is a great car, and I would give fixing the issues another shot, but if you have had it, that is understandable, and should unload that headache, and go with to something else

let us know how you decide to proceed..either way good luck

[LexBob2]

Try another dealer. As Rob said the problems are fixable. Might be worth a try...

[curlywasastooge]

Thanks for all the great reply's. Going for oil change later today and will again address the oil leak problem. Last time....Duh, we can't find anything.

WIll push on dash rattle as well. The rear tire area rattle will need a road test i'm sure and hopefully they'll do etc.... concerned with it.

Mileage wise a bit over 61000 miles. Produced in late summer time frame 2006 and lease apparently around that same time frame.

Forgot to mention the memory seat adjustment acts up. Wasn't working for awhile (still does once in awhile). Took in, the manager confirmed situation. Guy working on car said working fine. It was then. Manager had him relook since he saw same thing. Anyway, nothing ever fixed, but a on again/off again problem.

I've heard about changing tire pressure so and reset so may give that a try. With cold temps just came on again so i'm sure pressure dropped with temps some (need to check spare too).

Actually thinking later this year when CPO warranty runs out looking for something else. Maybe a Lexus, but not sure. We're retiring (hopefully) by summer 2013. And do want something nice for trips.... And regardless of whether all issues resolved this car not in those long travel plans. Probably the luck of the draw.

Again thanks for all the responses.

[SW03ES]

Thanks for all the great reply's. Going for oil change later today and will again address the oil leak problem. Last time....Duh, we can't find anything.

So you're seeing oil on the driveway/garage?

Is it moreso right after the oil change? It might be that they are spilling oil down onto the shield underneath the engine and its pooling there and leaking out. It should be pretty clear where an oil leak is coming from to a mechanic. Have you tried taking it to another dealer or even an independent shop to see what they think? Sounds like your dealer sucks.

Mileage wise a bit over 61000 miles. Produced in late summer time frame 2006 and lease apparently around that same time frame.

Yeah that was right when the 350 first came out. Would have first been available in late August 2006. Would have been one of the first cars off the boat.

Forgot to mention the memory seat adjustment acts up. Wasn't working for awhile (still does once in awhile). Took in, the manager confirmed situation. Guy working on car said working fine. It was then. Manager had him relook since he saw same thing. Anyway, nothing ever fixed, but a on again/off again problem.

Make sure that you aren't trying to use the memory system with your foot on the brake. My Dad had the same issue on his old 98 LS400 and he took it in a few times, and we realized that sometimes he was trying to use the system with his foot on the brake, and having your foot on the brake deactivates the system...

Actually thinking later this year when CPO warranty runs out looking for something else. Maybe a Lexus, but not sure. We're retiring (hopefully) by summer 2013. And do want something nice for trips.... And regardless of whether all issues resolved this car not in those long travel plans. Probably the luck of the draw.

Good for you. I might think about something like an LS, best highway car out there IMHO. Get a later run one...the LS460 is at the end of its design life, and I think by around 2013, a 2010 will be a great car to buy and keep...

Again thanks for all the responses.

No problem, hope it helps. Keep us posted!

[lenore]

I found a rattle on my RX400h was on the tire cover....added some foam and rattle gone...I cant remember whether the ES has tire under carriage like the RX400 does...but it was a simple fix.....

[SW03ES]

The tire is under the trunk floor.

[K.C. Dia]

The rear tire area rattle will need a road test i'm sure and hopefully they'll do etc....

I developed a similar rattle in my 2010 ES350. At first I thought it was coming from the trunk but couldn't find anything. Finally rode in the backseat with the wife driving and decided it was coming from the passenger side rear wheel area. Took it to the dealer and they immediately knew what it was and took less than three minutes to fix it. It was some rubber tube, gasket, etc. in the wheel area that had come loose. I don't know the purpose of that rubber thing but the dealer fixed it in less than three minutes. Maybe your problem is that simple. Sounds like you need a better dealer.