krnboy817

so did anyone get this problem fixed? i just purchased a CPO and just started doing this... there is no such thing as a perfect car... but really? especially a Lexus...? theres got to be a fix for this by now.

dxerg3770

Mine does it too. Not to the extreme of other users have reported but vibration is very visually apparent. When I took it to the dealer, they just shrugged it off and its normal and they get a lot of reports about it.

bc6152

After viewing the video posted by Rustytank I believe that this vibration or shaking is excessive. I have a '13 350 and have nowhere near this amount of movement. I do have some seat shaking when I hit a bump in the road or the road is rough. I think that this is normal. Otherwise I have no noise from the passenger seat during normal driving.

lesz

I agree.

I will add that, on every vehicle that I've owned, including my GX, there will be some vibration/movement of the seat back from an unoccupied passenger seat at higher speeds and when driving on pavement that is less than smooth. What I've noticed with my ES is that, while there is some vibration of the seat back under such conditions, it is completely silent movement as long as the head rest on the passenger seat is locked into one of the 4 or 5 pre-set positions. If, however, the head rest is between two of those pre-set positions and not locked in, there can be a bit of chattering.

bc6152

One other thing that was previously mentioned by another member, is the seat belt buckle. If the belt is twisted and the buckle touches the hard plastic side it will rattle. The buckle should be suspended between the side of the panel and the side of the seat where it doesn't touch anything. This happened to me early on until I figured it out and eliminated it.

krnboy817

guys i have been searching the forums and the great world wide web and still no answer to the shaking issue... its unfortunate that ES models are only being sold in the U.S. and not Japan or anywhere else for that matter so guess that makes it much smaller pool to search for. i would take the seat apart... but even at that i wouldnt know what to fix to solve the issue.

Mike728

I have not experienced this issue with my ES, but you're incorrect regarding it only being sold in the US.

Good luck finding a solution!

bc6152

There have been inquiries on this forum from members who bought Lexus ES cars in Guam, China, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and others. I myself went into a Lexus showroom in Australia to see their version of an ES.
So I believe they're probably sold around the world.

teezee1000

I have been driving in my ES 350 in silence the last 2 days, and I hear nothing rattling (seat) when Im driving, I did hear the seat belt buckle a little bit, but nothing relevant.

krnboy817

if the ES are sold around the world... im not sure as to why many of us are having this issues with the front passenger seat shaking or vibrating but no solution can be found. i get that seat belt buckle gets tangled and hits the hard plastic on the B pillar but still doesn't answer the fact that the seat moves when the car moves.

its driving me crazy and annoying that its only getting worse and worse as time goes. now the seat vibrates or shakes every time the car moves... this is nuts!

jollick

If nothing else, post your complaint on the Lexus Customer Service forum on Club Lexus.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lex...r-service-271/

zes

The seat is shaking because it is resonating like a guitar string at its natural frequency. The motion of the car is exciting it. The only ways to stop it vibrating are
1) change the natural frequency so that the motion of the car does not excite it at its natural frequency. This can be done by adding some weight to the seat back (under the covers), or by loosening or stiffing the part which attaches the seat back to the seat bottom.
2) adding damping to the seat back so that the harmonics die. This can be done by adding some friction (like a towel) suggested by a member of this forum.

One other thing that can be done is to change the frequency at which the car is shaking so that the motion of the car does not excite the seat. This can be done by
1) changing the tire pressure
2) changing the tires
3) changing the shock absorbers/springs
4) throwing in some extra weight in the car.


I would try reducing the tire pressure first, then I would throw in a 100 lb bag of sand in the trunk, then I would try stuffing a towel between the seat back and the center console.

I would also look at the alignment of the car and perhaps swap the tires front to back.

Resonances are sometimes tricky to get rid of, but if one is persistent they do go away.

chromedome

I had the seat rattling issue on rough roads. After balancing and rotating the tires, the rattling is gone. The seat still does a shimmy sometimes when the seatback angle and the fore-aft adjuster are in a certain position but there's no rattling sound. Resonance maybe? I'd also check to make sure the seat belt buckle isn't twisted and knocking against the B pillar trim.

zes

This is an excellent observation by chromedome. Try balancing the tires first.
Test also different tire pressures. Lower pressure will make the ride more smooth, and excite the seat less.
You may also try putting a heavy book in the pouch at the back of the seat. The will change the resonant frequency of the seat and then if the car frequency and the seat frequency do not coincide, the shaking may go away.

bc6152

This post is one of the reasons I like this forum so much. A+ ZES