DiabloNino

Robdog, thanks for keeping your fellow '13 ES owners in the loop on your progress. I too have been working with a Lexus rep and he stated that the new amp should be out by July. Just goes to show that holding Lexus accountable for their poor quality will benefit everyone. Also goes to show how good Lexus is for not brushing this under the rug.

Music4ever

I would have to disagree, if it was not for all the complaints and some of us excelling to higher lever this would of been put under the table. I believe Lexus did not like the bad rep they have been getting and this is why they did what they did. J.D. Power & Consumers Report and other organization were informed of this issue. This is been going on for sometime now and all they did was bandaid the issue hoping we would all go away or get tired of complaining.
Sorry if no one agrees with me, but this is my opinion dealing with Lexus.

bc6152

I think that Lexus, like most other companies, do whatever they can to deny warranty claims and protect their reputation. When an issue gains steam and becomes out of their control, that's when they act to resolve it. This, IMO is what happened here. Remember - it's not over yet and most of those with this issue have not had it resolved.

BigDaddyTX

I've been following this thread since I first googled my issue back in October.

My SA (Clear Lake Lexus) at first had no knowledge, but kept my ES300h overnite and tested the system. They came back with "it's operating as desgned, but not well". They then agreed to contact Lexus/ML. I was assured that no matter what they'd make me happy even if it meant a dealer installed SW, but asked me to be patient and let Lexus wqork the issue.

About 2 weeks went by and I got a call. Lexus/ML are aware of hte problem and are working a solution. I think it was early this year that I got another call, an amp is ready. Dropped the car off, got it back the next day. Not much improvment with the amp v1 fix.

Life got busy, so I hadn't done anything about it beyond a call letting them know I'm not happy. I just checked back here yesterday to see if any updates, as I was leaving a message for my SA. Funny I saw Rob's update about a new amp. My SA called back about an hour later telling me that new amps were available, and arranged for me to bring my car in Thursday to drop off.

Hopefully I'll get the fix Rob did and I'll finally be happy. Love the car except for a few minor complaints: noisy A/C fan, driver seat not cooling a lot, crappy SW.

I drive alot: 15K in 8 months alot. I like my music, and this issue wouldn't affect me all the time, but having to constantly adjust the levels on a "premium" system is idiotic.

My old Sequioa with a self-installed radio/Sub NEVER distorted no matter what my new head unit/amp threw at it. So that was my "bass" line (pun intended).

Music4ever

Looks like I do not have to wait for Lexus to buy back my vehicle, the vehicle has been written off, I wish everyone luck with the new amp and hope it is a fix.

khatieh

How did you manage to do that? Was the amp problem alone enough to do that?

Music4ever

Do you think I would get into an accident to write off a vehicle because of an amp, my case waste going in a great direction ?????? My wife was driving the vehicle when a truck drove into her passenger side, lucky their was no passenger. My wife claim she tried to stop the vehicle while the truck was driving into her lane but the brake felt spongy and was not braking properly. I told my wife it must of been her nerves.

Arty101

Maybe it was the ghost of the ML that made her do it .

Music4ever

Really Arty101 making a joke, of someone getting Into accident, my wife was in the hospital for a few days. Nice joke

Arty101

Sorry music. No foul intended.

khatieh

Easy with the disgruntled attitude. I misunderstood your post and didn't know you meant that by saying the car was written off. I am sorry for your accident and hope everything is alright.

coach1

Aside from the ML issue....How did the car hold-up safety wise? Wife recovering well? Wish her a speedy recovery.

uicandrew

I'm going in for my 10K service tomorrow and I've been having the same issues with the distortion.

Is there any service bulletin or reference number that I can have them look into ? I've been to the dealership 2 or 3 times and they say that it's operating within spec.

Robdog1515

@ uicandrew

have your service tech call Robert at Riverside Lexus @ (951) 353-0903. tell your tech to ask Robert about the recent ES350 owner that came in and met with the mark levinson engineers and had a new amp installed that fixed the bass distortion issue. He is very aware of the problem and the resolution. He would give your tech all the info and tech notes to possibly get an amp ordered for you. There is a fix that vastly improves the bass in the car, however I don't know if it is released to the public yet, my amp was a prerelease to get me to stop my lemon law case. the new amp rocks BTW.

Good luck

jollick

Thank you Robdog. I went to my dealer on Tuesday 7/16/13 for the 5,000 mile check up and told the service advisor about the distortion, he said it was the first he had heard about it. I gave him the information you provided and asked that they call your dealer if they had any questions. They serviced the car and when he came to get me, he said that he did see a mention of the issue on come report from Lexus, however the resolution was still in the works.