sfuad

Thanks for all the replies. I am sorry for not replying in time as I was out of town. Based on every one's input I am leaning to consider this vehicle again. However my attorney is telling me that this specific model has many issues and he has successfully negotiated buy back on atleast 7 cars on similar problems.

When I had issues with my vehicle, Lexus district rep test drove my vehicle and as usual every thing was normal. Transmission would flare but most of the time it was had to duplicate. On two occasssions, the tech did verify the flare. My vehicle has a build date of Feb 07. Purchased in last April.

I don't know exactly about the time line. I think it varies from State to State.

Lexus was not willing to accept the problem. I contacted an attorney and he advised me to initiate the case again company. Once they receive a letter from attorney, they offered the buy back. Not only they paid the total cost of vehicle but also for the taxes and interest plus the attorney fees. They deducted a small amount of mileage charge. All in all it was a nice settlement.
The way the company offered the buy back, it shows that under hand they are aware of the problem and don't want to admit it in public. Any one who goes through the legal route, they offer them buy back. I guess it might be cheaper option than a recall.

Jfhardwick

I purchased a loaner ES350 with 16000 miles in Dec 07. To this date, the dealer with Lexus involvement, has replaced the transmission twice. I am interested in info on the buyback, and how to proceed.

Jfhardwick

I purchased a loaner ES350 with 16000 miles in Dec 07. To this date, the dealer with Lexus involvement, has replaced the transmission twice. I am interested in info on the buyback, and how to proceed.

2007es350

When my ES350 was bought back, I was never charged for mileage. In addition to the full purchase price, I was also refunded sales tax and registration.

sfuad

Get in touch with a good lemon law attorney in your state. In my case, they told me that they would try to get their fees from manufacturer which they did. Also, for your protection / satisfaction, their is a clause which says you owe nothing to them if you don't accept settlement. So if lexus does not offer you a good settlement or refuse to pay attorney fees you can always decline the settlement without paying any fees. In other words you have nothing to loose.

Check your state lemon law and see if your vehicle meet your State's requirement for lemon. In my case it was 20 days. My ES was in shop for more than a week for transmission once and then more than a week for faulty Nav unit. Then it went few times for transmission issue. Once it passed the 20 days threshold, I filed for it. Every time you take your vehicle in for service, make sure you document your transmission complaint.

One thing that surprised me that transmission was never even replaced. They always reprogrammed it. Dealership as usual would say it is working normal. They told me the same thing after I filed for buy back and Lexus asked me to take it to their nearest dealership so that their field rep can look at it.

I am convinced that they are aware of faulty transmission design and instead of a massive recall, Lexus is buying back from customers who complain and meet lemon law requirements of their respective State.

garsarno

I'm contribute / read the other forums for my other vehicles: wwnaioa.com for my Impala SS and www.jeepforum.com. fpr our Grand Cherokee. No other forums do we discuss buybacks / transmission flares / cold engine noise etc. I am truly disappointed in Lexus that they sweep these problems away as normal to some of the vehicles. As I stated long ago, we had a RX350 loaner while our transmission was being fixed / replaced back in 12/06 and this vehicle had no cold engine knock noise whatsover.

MD350

There are still a select few of us 07 ES owners who bought in 06 and reported these issues then. So many on the forum thought we were nuts, continually standing behind the product. Now, as we see, more and more owners are not thrilled with this car. I agree, a disappointment.

I am at the point where I am not even taking the car in to the dealer anymore. I don't need the hassle to be told everything is normal.

350Dave

I have had no issues with transmission. My build date is 04/07, I currently have 15,000 miles on the car. Also, the so-called 'cold weather knock' many on these forums dsiscuss is merely the fuel injectors making noise. They operate under very high pressure and the fuel temperature/pressure disparity is mistaken for 'engine knock'. Good god, this is not a 1962 Chevy. These engines are built in a surgical grade clean room to tolerances of greater than .000001 of an inch (that is 1 hundred thousandth of an inch). These engines will go over 400,000 miles if maintained normally.

garsarno

So, my Chevrolet Impala SS / Hemi Grand Cherokee is quieter than a Lexus upon start up? WOW.

ES350Bob

Several months ago you claimed it was the timing chain making the noise even mentioning your service advisor. You do realize that both excuses you mention have been repeatedly reported by other owners given them for the noise with nothing done for them, sending them away with their complaint.


p=3169522#post3169522
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php

MD350

Add my wife's 07 Honda Pilot with a 3.5L engine in it as well. Quiet as can be

Wasn't it a Lexus tech on this forum that reported this noise as piston slap?

2007es350

At one point, one of the dealers claimed the loud engine knocking sound was coming from the direct injection fuel delivery. The funny thing is that the ES350 does NOT use direct injection.

My LS460 does use direct injection, and the sound is entirely different from the cold knock sound in the ES350.

350Dave

Some people obviously need to 'get a life' - if you are unhappy with your car (or your life), change it.

garsarno

Soon as the lease is up..............

MD350

Dave, I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt. Honestly, I don't think you are experiencing what others of us are. It lasts much longer than 2 minutes, and mine now makes the noise no matter what the outside temperature is.

You seem to know a lot about cars and by reading your posts, I don't think you would find this noise acceptable on your car. You get upset just reading about it, I can't imagine what would happen if your car actually had the problem.

There are many on this forum who say their car does not have any issues, and I feel you are one of them. But, for those of us who have it, it is frustrating. It is not normal. I guess there are a few thousand others like me who have called Lexus customer service, because the operator was very well aware of the complaint. So, I guess we all need to get a life. Shame on us for wanting a $40K product that runs right.

Do you know how embarassing it is to drive through the neighborhood to get out to the main road, and your neighbors are walking their dogs and look at you drive by because your car sounds like a hoopty?

And lastly, if you think I am going to get rid of the car now and take a huge financial loss on it, you gotta be crazy. My cost per mile would be through the roof. All I want is the car fixed. Is that too much to ask? The dealer heard it, they know about it, they won't fix it. So, I live with the knock, the minor flares, and the rattles. So, YES, the car is a disappointment.