lambu

Dear Lexans,
I am a new to the lexus world and I would like to share the issues I had been experiencing from the car I had bought a month ago. I sincerely appreciate if any of you could point me in a right direction!

The car's steering feels weird:

Almost at any speed it, the steering tries to center itself and especially at higher speed, I feel like driving on a thin ice. The dealer initially admitted it is TSIB related to "Notchy steering" and wanted to work on it but the warranty people denied the CPO coverage for this fix as they could not duplicate it! (For whatever reason they decided to dispatch an independent inspector)!

M&K subwoofer:

It is woefully bad! I am an audiophile and 10 year old passat sounded better. There is no low end (no bass despite bumping the bass all the way up) at all and the dealer did not find anything wrong. I consider myself as an audiophile and M&K was the main reason why I went for this car! 8-)

Squeaky breaks:

As part of CPO, I think the previous dealer (I bought the car in West Palm Beach) had replaced new breaks but the service dept at Tampa dealer could not reproduce the squeakiness to my frustration!

Rattling Rearview mirror:

What more, I can say? The name says it all!

What are my options? Should I reach Lexus directly? I really don't know how this CPO thing works!

Regards,
Steve

PS: I had expected a great deal of service from Lexus CPO as I deemed it to be a legendary in the industry.

bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

First off congrats and all of these are all true and have been issues. The steering is normal cause its electric it takes some getting used to, the brakes you may try to see if the TSIB will work and the ML system that is normal as the subwoofer can't handle hip hop or r&b bass, its more for classical where there isn't much bass. The CPO a whole lot better, you should have tried to extend the warranty.

hyperpm350

Stupid question on my part but have to ask. Have you driven a RWD car before? Asking in case sensitivity you're experiencing is this. Check tire pressure and alignment as well. I don't have ML but stock audio sucks as well, my non luxury cars stock system sounds better. Squeeky brakes appear to be normal due to performance pads. I wouldn't give up stock pads knowing it makes it stop better though. Just got my low mileage(22,700) single owner dealer maintained 07 350RWD car and everything inside creaks/squeeks to the touch. Dash/center console also rattled. Fixed it by stuffing felt everywhere. Very disappointed as well but can get over it since overall car is great.

lambu

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I had driven 5 series BMW for a while. While I know CPO warranty does not cover rattles, I was hoping that they would at least address the steering issue!

M&K home systems are pretty decent and I had hoped it to be good for this car too! But there is no bass at all and I suspected the sub-woofer has gone bad too! Any hints on improving the bass? After market speakers or sub-woofer?

IXI187IXI

iTrader: (3)

ML ML system

everything you mentioned is covered by tsb's however even with a cpo tsb are not covered free of charge.

yes the ML system sucks in the GS. steering issues could be a lot of things. bad tires, out of balance tires, bad alignment, etc..

bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

Yes I figured, my sister had the same problem its gonna take a while to get used to but since you came from hydraulic steering vs the GS electric steering is very different. I would say bring it in but I have a feeling its gonna feel the same as your used to the BMW driving. I have this problem every time I switch into my BMW.

TWong350

iTrader: (8)

Welcome to Club Lexus!

A few things....

1. The steering in this car is one of my biggest gripes. Really sensitive and no road feedback. This could be what you're interpreting. The power steering is 'powerful' and requires very little effort to steer.

2. The ML system isn't the greatest. I was content with it, though, but I'm no audiophile. That said, you mentioned that you are one. Just curious if you tested the ML system out to see if it met your needs? The sub in the ML system definitely does not hit the lower frequencies as well as I think it should. Mid and highs aren't too bad, IMO, though.

3. All of the other things are common too

Good luck!

lambu

Thank you all for your suggestions and assurances. 8-)

I forgot to mention about the starting issue with this car. At times (mostly cold) when I press the start button, steering comes up and engine cranks but it does not start! I am thinking it is a user error. Any advice?

Can I have an after market sub-woofer install in my car without affecting the CPO warranty?

I also hope steering issue does not get worse progressively.

Regards,
Steve

IXI187IXI

iTrader: (3)

could just need a new battery

yes you can install a sub without effecting the warranty. it will void some things but if the engine stops working, they cant blame it on your sub

lambu

According to vehicle's service history, the battery was replaced less than a year ago!

sawnzo1212

Ill share my experiences with you regarding CPO...My 08 gs350 has a steering wheel pulling to right so just to keep it straight my steering wheel has to be off center to the left...so since its Cpo, i took it into dealer....u know what they said? Its my tires...radial pull to be exact. Alignment is in spec, i cant stand lexus service reps. at least the ones i have to deal with....u know it took me 5 months and 3 appointments for them to acknowledge the grinding noise i complained about before they finally said the water pump was bad. Wow...just wow. U really have to get on them because they will brush u off and treat u like all the other suckers that they feed that bull shiet to....TRUST

KJSmitty

This is an older thread yet for those stating tires or "normal" for the electric steering when referencing the "notchy" or unstable steering feel as I call it... There is nothing normal about it - there is an issue with the rack exactly as described by the TSB. And IMO it should be a "recall" due to it being unsafe, not a TSB. If you have the notchy rack you would understand why I say "unsafe". Imagine going around a corner yet when you try to straighten out the steering it feels "locked" in that position... Or while driving with a cross wind the steering acts like it assumes the wind is an input from the driver to turn thus steers sharply in that direction... Very disconcerting to say the least.

Now, stuff wears out and this can be looked at as a pure maintenance issue. I agree yet it shouldn't happen at 50K miles... My comments are primarily to point out that this is another one of those issues where if you don't have it or have not experienced it, you have no business telling someone it's "normal".

Cheers

MCCR

which dealer in CA? I have an extended warranty BTW.

MCCR

I'm going to stuff felt in the dash. where else did you stuff it, lol. im in OC, you?

MCCR

I don't think my steering is notching, etc. but if i'm slowing down and drive over an even piece of road, the car will pull hard to the right, but this is only if i'm slowing down while braking, coming to a stop. I'll have to double check when the alignment was last done since I have the service records, was serviced at Tustin Lexus in OC. the tires are good, no uneven wear. but this car has to much swaying. Installing my f-sport sway bars this weekend.

would my extended warranty cover the EPS if lexus found it to be bad?

07 GS 350 RWD