pdaeng

my rx450h keeps having issues. Very disappointed.
the most recent one is that every time I press the pedal, it makes a small "dang" noise. Not loud but very annoying. Took to the dealer for three times for this issue, they admitted the noise and bleed the brake. However it did not help. At last, they told me that this is normal for hybrid. They showed a brand new 450h and it indeed makes a silimlar noise!
Can not believe that!

The loaner I take is a rx350 2016. The pedal has no noise. But I do feel way more vibration than my 450h.

Probably the last Lexus for me.

the noise sample is here

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fquhg4rxf1...noise.mov?dl=0

ggebhardt

The noise you hear likely has something to do with the regenerative blacking system that put power back into the battery.

Lexus can not make everyone happy.

As all the 450h models do this, I do not see anyone else complaining.

pdaeng

I highly doubt that. During the holiday, I went a toyota dealer test drove a prius and rav4 hybrid.
Also, I went to another lexus dealer test drove another 17 RX450h. None of the vehicles made any noise from the brake.
And all the passengers noticed the noise.

Today, I called the dealer again and they even told me to go back to the dealer where I bought the car (which was one hour drive away).
WTF.

I am very unhappy. I will open a BBB case against this dealer and lexus no matter what.

s2000zr

I tried to look for this brake noise but nothing on mine 450h. I tried it with window down in a parking garage. All I hear is something in the engine compartment like electron moving around. Do you hear the muffler when you on the highway when the engine is at 1100rpm. Some kind of drone noise?

kitlz

pdaeng, I'm sorry you're having brake noise issues. Can I suggest contacting Lexus Corporate? Tell them what the servicing dealer has done to your RXh and also said to you. They'll take it from there Filing a complaint with BBB won't necessarily get the problem resolved. Good luck and please keep us posted.

pdaeng

This is the sound
I was in local EV mode, but I kept doing pulse braking.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fquhg4rxf1...noise.mov?dl=0

Let me know whether you think this is normal or not.

As a comparison, you can slightly hear the EV mode motor sound. Then you can feel how loud this brake noise is.

Does your 450h make this kind of noise or not ?
At lease, when I test drove another 450h, I did not hear any noise.

Thanks

s2000zr

Are you talking about the knocking sound about a second apart? Like hammer is hitting the nail at a distance? If so, mine do not make that sound. That sound so annoying. When I step on my brakes, I don't feel or hear anything.

Can you check a few things for me.

Can you tell when your gas engine cut on and off?

Can you hear the muffler when cursing, when engine is at 1100 rpm? It's like a low tone.

When in park, I feel like the car wants to move forward for a second when the gas engine charge the battery. Normal?

I was shopping for rx350 yesterday. I think there quality control is getting worse. I drove three rx350 and they all were different. One had more wind noise, one had vibration and the other smell like tar in the engine compartment

pdaeng

Are you talking about the knocking sound about a second apart? Like hammer is hitting the nail at a distance? If so, mine do not make that sound. That sound so annoying. When I step on my brakes, I don't feel or hear anything.

Yes, the knocking sound (each knocking is when I press the pedal) and dealer claimed that it is normal for hybrid.

Can you check a few things for me.
Can you tell when your gas engine cut on and off? Gas engine off

Can you hear the muffler when cursing, when engine is at 1100 rpm? It's like a low tone.
Since the engine is off. I can not answer this question.

When in park, I feel like the car wants to move forward for a second when the gas engine charge the battery. Normal?
I do not pay attention to that. I will let you know when I encounter this situation.

pdaeng

Exactly, every 350 loaner I drove feels different.
Lexus is way over rated for quality.
I think the high quality survey score is coming from brain wash from lexus.
I may contact Consumer Report to tell them to adjust this factor in their survey study.

s2000zr

If you can get consumer report to change their study, then please do it. Lexus Is living on its name when their cars were build better in Japan. I saw a review video about the RX, and the guy mentioned a new RX come off the assembly-line very 2 minutes in Canada. No wonder why we are having all these problems.

I don't have the brakes noise but, I get Nauseated when I take my 450h on the highway. The engine stays at 1100 rpm on the highway and it makes a drone sound from the muffler. My 10 year old Honda Pilot drives better.

ericsan13

I have been complaining. I have this noise and it's even louder. And now my brakes make another kind of even louder noise.

Will be spending a day at the dealership soon dealing with this various issues.

pdaeng

Update.
Complained to Lexus and they sent a field tech. The final conclusion is the brake actuator problem.
Replaced with a new one. Now. Still have similar noice when cold start, but after that the noise is gone.

The whole process of dealing with Lexus and Dealer were totally disappointing.
If I had not insisted, I would be brain washed to accept this problem.

If you google hybrid brake actuator, you will see a lot of reports from Prius and Camry hybrid.
It will cost you more than $3000 if you out of warranty even for Prius.
This is not an uncommon problem. Be careful, hybrid users !

ericsan13

Good warning. For me it started with the noise you posted, which they told me was normal during my 5K service. Then it turned into an even worse squawking noise. They had to replace the brake actuator (44050-48320), a $2.3k+ part. It took an entire week for this repair. Now even the original noise is gone.

ZnSaucier

Bumping an old thread because I had this issue pop up on my ‘17 450h (500 miles) last week. Took it to the dealership yesterday, and they initially diagnosed it as noise due to the tolerance of the brakes, and lubricated the moving parts. Found this thread and took it back this morning. They are attempting a full flush of the lines but the new tech said that likely they will have to replace the actuator block as once the air gets in, it’s very hard to get out. Just wanted to add another datapoint.

CaliTravel

Mine squeak too. I notice it especially if I'm in stop and go traffic. Squeak... Squeak... Squeak... It's so annoying. I've had two different dealerships look at it and they both told me this is normal. Certainly not something you expect from a $65K car.