Why Does It Always Happen Like This?

[13IS250C]

The rear window on my driver side pops and rattles really bad. I have checked on Club Lexus and it is a common problem that just needs an adjustment. Tuesday when I went to pick up my car they told me they drove it and didn't hear a thing which really made me angry. I drives me insane. They drove it with me riding and drove on the roughest roads and it didn't make a sound, of course. Now.....it is going loud and clear again. I'm going to try to record it with my phone. Why does the car always behave for the technicians? Arrrrrrrg!!!!!

[lenore]

You know, I was a technician for 38 years, and I would walk in the door and whatever was called in would disappear. That being said, a good tech knows these things can be intermittent, so I would from past experience check out the usual problem areas hoping to find the culprit. However in the Automotive shops they work on job/rate hours. I too was rated by the time for repairs, but a long time ago I decided that the little extra time prevented call backs (repeat problem call). It paid off, as my customers knew that I gave it 150% and didn't try to bullXXXX them when not doing anything. My equipment ran longer between calls, and the uptime for the customer gave them more productivity, a plus for not only them, but also for my company because they didn't have to eat more time and expense on the repairs. Sorry for the long explanation, but basically there are those that have pride in their work, and want to make customers happy, and those that think their half jobs will get the customer out the door. Its hit or miss, but I would take it back for a call back, and maybe you will get a different tech, that knows what the fix is.

[lenore]

I would print out those fixes from Club Lexus and take it with me to the stealership....embarrass them....

[13IS250C]

Thanks Lenore. What about the carbon buildup? Would that make a check engine light come on? My gas mileage has gone straight to Hell.

[lenore]

I haven't experienced carbon buildup on my RX's That is way too weird in todays engineering of engines and fuel injection. I suspect a problem with fuel injection. Too much fuel.?

[pj8708]

Hi Becki,

The best thing In your favor is that the noise is very localized. Insisting that the rear door panel be removed for inspection seems like a reasonable request. Always remember you have a car with a lot of warranty left on it. If you want, you can always go to Lexus direct for intervention with the dealer.

Paul

[13IS250C]

How do I do that Paul?

[pj8708]

How do I do that Paul?

Here is a link to Lexus Customer Service and other connections. Frequently, this number is used to help find answers to questions such as yours, or in particular, to facilitate a solutions between customer and dealer. They will usually start with contacting the dealer for whats been done to fix the problem so far. From there, the dealer is usually put under the contact of the National Lexus Technical Center. My suggestion is to work "nice and easy" with the Lexus corporate people. They are the ones that control the most leverage. However, I can't imagine this taking much time at all.It sounds like it could be a simple problem.

http://www.lexus.com/contact/

[13IS250C]

Thanks!

[13IS250C]

Ok. I just called Lexus of Memphis again about my poor gas mileage and window ratteling. The guy always tries to make me feel like such an idiot. He said there was nothing wrong with getting 2 mpgs less than I was 2000 miles ago. He told me not to put any faith in my tank average mpgs. Funny....it has always worked well.

I called Lexus to intervene. I tell you one thing. As bad as my purchasing experience was and as big of a runaround as I'm getting from the service end of it....I feel like selling the damn car. This is pathetic.

[VBdenny]

How bad is the gas milage? I figure this car will get around 19/25 (AWD).

As far as your window goes, sedans are nice and quiet.

[13IS250C]

I was averaging 25 city, 27 highway. This tank I have now is down to 22 mpg. Drastic drop. I could get the SA to hear the popping this time, thank goodness.

I just took it back in today. I have a really yummy GS for the night.

[LEX-SV]

How's the GS? I hope they can hear the window rattle/noise this visit.

[13IS250C]

Just picked it up. When you get Lexus involved, it must really light a fire under their butt. He said they did what I said I was going to do....stopped it in half cycle and lubricated every piece of rubber. Totally silent on the way home. I guess I will probably benefit from doing that procedure annually.

Don't really know what they did for the gas mileage, but they did plug it in and it showed nothing wrong with my engine. I'll see how I do next week on my trip to Charleston, SC.

[VBdenny]

Well, just ran this new IS250 AWD about 500 something today. I noticed that in the section where the limits were lower I averaged 29.4. However, once I got in the higher zones and ran 75, dropped to about 28. I'll call that good especially since unless smart phoners, I accelerate off the line. Nice car, ver comfortable so far.