COOLIS

I know this subject has been brought up a lot, but damn it is annoying. My 2006 IS350 just hit 102,000 miles and i'm not sure I want to drive it any longer. The thing rattles, transmission hesitates, it feels like it has less power than when I got it, subs rattle (according to Lexus this is "normal") and a lot of other little annoying things. I'm not sure if they have stepped up their game again, but they need to look a few years back and see how much better the quality was. My 2002 GS430 is still solid, my 2002 ES300 doesn't have a rattle and even my moms 1992 SC400 it still solid as can be. The car is 100% reliable, but all these other little annoyances are tempting me to switch brands.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

No secret that older Lexus/Toyota products had better quality.

Wunko

Yeah, some of the little annoyances of my 2011 IS that I brought to the attention of my dealership were considered "normal". I guess this is the standard they set for the IS. From what I've seen and heard, I think the older Lexus vehicles were built better.

jmsharp02

iTrader: (2)

This is getting me nervous, I just broke 100k in my IS 250...of course I bought it at 90k so hopefully most of these lower standard's are things that are already prevalent in my car and I'll just continue to think it's absolutely perfect because I'm ignorant of anything else.

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

My 2007 IS350 with 65k miles just got back from the dealership for the 5th time to fix the infamous dash rattle. I bought it back in January and the dash rattled like crazy on the test drive, so I had them sign a form that they'd fix the rattle if I bought the car. Took them 5 tries, but it looks like the rattle's finally gone.

I completely hear you. I love my car in every respect save for the materials/build quality of trim pieces, etc. Generally the only area I've found the IS to be deficient is in the quality of the body/trim pieces and not anything powertrain/crucial component related. I think Lexus build a very reliable car, but then they cut corners on finishing it off (like with a dash held in place by clips).

I've owned 2 1990 LS400s and a 1997 LS400 (and my father has had a 1999 LS400 and a 2005 LS430, and my grandfather has a 2007 LS460). Not a single one of these cars had a rattle anywhere. My 1990 LS400s had close to 200k miles on them and were 20 years old and still never squeaked or rattled.

I hope to have my car for years to come. When I do finally need a new car, I'll be taking a much closer look at the build/design/material quality of Lexus than I did when buying this one. Particularly if I'm looking at an IS, as it seems the IS has more issues than the GS/LS - I'm assuming this is a result of cost-cutting to keep the price down to keep the IS as an entry-level car for Lexus.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

Calvin,the current generation GS has bad dash rattles year after year.I had an '08.
Don't know if the newer GS have that problem.

embolism

I drive an 07 IS350 too and now that the weather is getting cooler again, my dash is rattling. It was fine during the summer but after a season of silence that just makes the rattle that much more noticable now. Sometimes I feel like shooting some expanding foam up in the vents and hoping for the best. It's been brought in twice already and the center console has been taken apart and stick on foam applied everywhere but it hasn't helped. I'm sure it's got to do with contraction of insulation due to the cold but where exactly, I couldn't tell you.

Calvin, do you know what they did the last time that solved the issue for you?

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

The dealer actually told me this when I brought mine in, apparently the GS and IS designs of those years were the same basic dash clip style. I think overall however, the GS has a better material/build quality and lower rattle/squeak prevalence, dash excepted.

brociouz

iTrader: (65)

What brand would you switch to OP?

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

You say it's been in twice already. To a dealership? Under warranty or out of pocket? How long ago?

I don't know exactly what they did this time. I brought it in back in January and they did the TSIB fix (essentially insulating every open space with foam strips) but that didn't do anything the first 2-3 times it went in. Finally on the 4th time it seemed to be 75% fixed, with just minor rattling, but at that point the weather was getting warmer. Didn't rattle a lot over summer and then in the last month or two it's started rattling like crazy, since it's gotten colder. The dealership warranties their work for 12 months, so I brought it back in, took a test drive and pointed out that the rattle was still there (and at this point it was extremely bad), and they took care of it.

So the reason I asked those first questions is because if you had the work done in the last year, whether under warranty or out of pocket, at a dealer, they should take care of it since most dealers warranty their work for 12 months.

As far as what they did differently this time, I'm not entirely sure - to be honest, I didn't ask a lot of questions because I wanted to start driving it immediately because I expected it not to be fixed and to have to bring it right back. The tech only told me that the insulation/foam had come loose in places and they reset it. But when I push on the dash it flexes a lot less, so I think they loaded up some more foam in the center, where it was rattling the most. I do not believe they did any non-TSIB approved measures.

There are multiple ways of fixing this problem 100% guaranteed but a dealership won't do them because they're not TSIB-approved. If a dealership is going to fix a problem, particularly under warranty and particularly one that has a TSIB for it, they're only going to fix it according to the TSIB. This problem CAN be fixed by the TSIB method, but it takes a lot of foam and probably a few tries to get it right.

If you want to fix this problem yourself out of warranty, there are multiple threads on CL for doing it, but they all share one thing in common: they stop the dash from flexing. Either by drilling in a taut strip of metal, putting in a rubber tube between the windshield and dash, or adding a giant hunk of foam to the center of the dash and pushing it down into place so there's pressure, the one steadfast way to eliminate the rattle is to keep the dash from flexing.

kinglexus99

Def no secret older Lexus' were built better (I think we can say this about almost all cars). My '03 GS430 was rock solid. When I bought my IS it did not rattle at all...now it rattles all the time but I think its due to the crappy roads we have around where I live. I'm not going to bother with trying to fix them because in my opinion tearing the dash apart to fix a rattle here and there only perpetuates the cycle.

embolism

It's probably been less than a year and it was under warranty but I'm over 80K km now so the warranty is over. Does that matter if they never fixed it properly the first and second time?

The tech that worked on my car looked to be about 20, maybe if I get him again I could just get his contact number and visit him outside shop hours to get the non-tsib fix.

Then again, I would be willing to throw some money at this if they would just fix it! Shouldn't be more than an hour's work non?

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

The only thing that (should) matter is that you last had the work performed within the past year. My dealer, and every dealer I've ever worked with, warranties their work for 12 months. I would call them, get a service manager, and first ask how long their warranty their work for. If he says 12 months, say you had the dash rattle worked on in the last 12 months and it wasn't fixed. Shouldn't be a problem then to bring it back in and get it fixed for good.

If they don't warranty their work for that long, then I'd explain you had your dash worked on multiple times under warranty and they never fixed it properly, and you want to bring it back in to get it fixed. They shouldn't make a big deal of it and should take care of it for you.

Either way, just remember to be polite and helpful throughout. Complimenting their service helps too.

And no, it's quite a bit more than an hour's work, especially for someone who's never removed the dash before. The fix costs $1000+ out of warranty because it requires several hours of labor.

RAMAIR

I took my car in for the wicked dash rattle...... there is a TSB for this, if you are still under warranty it should be covered either way.

They had it for one full day and said they used a felt tape.... I have not heard a noise since.... they did a really good job....

starknight

iTrader: (21)

is dash rattle the normal thing to every ISX50? I have 2007 IS250 and now is 55K miles, never experienced of the rattle