bigmemory

Hi Folks, I just bought a 2006 IS-250 AWD. The car runs great except the Electric Power Steering, which has the following problems:

1. A slight "notchiness" at highway speeds that you can barely feel through the steering wheel. It turns fine, but if you try real hard you can feel a little extra resistance in one or two areas.

2. Noise when turning the steering wheel at slower speeds and at full stop. It sounds like the noise a bowling ball makes going down a smooth gutter, but far quieter.

I had Lexus look at it, and they basically said the PS unit needs to be replaced, and the PS unit has never been recalled. They mentioned a "Power Steering linkage" recall that had been done with this very car, but it wasn't the power steering unit itself.

There is one forum poster in the UK who mentioned they had a full PS unit recall, but that was not in the US.

Anyways, any comments or ideas would be appreciated!
Thanks in advance! - John