Do LS400s and LS430s have any rattles/squeeks?
04-30-04, 10:31 AM
#16
The LS 430 I drove yesterday 2002 had more crackling, poping sounds than I ever heard in my GS 300. The ES 300 also sound like a bowl of rice crispies. Noises or should I say interior noises are characteristics of Lexus. True wind noise is not existent but that is it. People try to say the car is so quite and that is why you hear noises, bs, I hear noises with the radio on. Lexus engineers do not understand what thermal expansion is maybe they should ask GM. The service department at my Lexus dealer told me that is their #1 complaint across all there model lines.
04-30-04, 01:45 PM
#17
Lexus Champion
Thread Starter
Hmmm... I guess at the same time you have to look at its competitors though. In one car you have tiny clicking and popping noises when the temperature changes quickly. In most of the other cars out there, they turn into rattle traps between 30,000 and 100,000 miles with so many rattles you can't even tell where they are coming from because there are so many all at the same time.
Most Honda/Acura products I've come across have some serious issues with rattling after they get older (like around 4-5 years old)... especially coming from the dash, rear deck, headliner, and doors. Their latest series of Accord/TL seems to be much better, not only in design and assembly of the interior, but also because the chassis is stiffer than even the BMW M3.
BMW seems to have plenty of issues with rattles even right out of the box. And don't even think about talking of Audi... their interiors feel GREAT when they're new, but I have never in my life come across another car manufacturer that could build any better perceived quality into a vehicle without putting any durable true quality behind it. Their interiors turn into the worst of the worst rattle-traps after just a few short years of use. Of course I've never been inside of anything but an A4, an S4, and an A6. Their A8 or other models may be an exception, but I doubt it.
I wish Toyota/Lexus would start working on stiffer stock chassis designs: like start using more unitized unibody structures, and start using hydroformed steel in their body on frame trucks and SUVs. I realize to some this causes a perceived stiffer ride, but realistically it's just a more controlled ride because when you hit a bump, the chassis doesn't absorb part of the shock, it just lets the suspension do the job it was intended to do.
And GM may understand and accomodate thermal expansion better, but man the rest of their interior design is the pits. I don't think I've ever ridden in a GM vehicle past a couple of years old that wasn't a rattle trap. Some are worse than others, such as f-bodies (Camaros and Firebirds).. those cars sound and feel like a bucket of loose bolts any time you hit a bump or anything. And you close the doors and it sounds like you just broke something inside.
Most Honda/Acura products I've come across have some serious issues with rattling after they get older (like around 4-5 years old)... especially coming from the dash, rear deck, headliner, and doors. Their latest series of Accord/TL seems to be much better, not only in design and assembly of the interior, but also because the chassis is stiffer than even the BMW M3.
BMW seems to have plenty of issues with rattles even right out of the box. And don't even think about talking of Audi... their interiors feel GREAT when they're new, but I have never in my life come across another car manufacturer that could build any better perceived quality into a vehicle without putting any durable true quality behind it. Their interiors turn into the worst of the worst rattle-traps after just a few short years of use. Of course I've never been inside of anything but an A4, an S4, and an A6. Their A8 or other models may be an exception, but I doubt it.
I wish Toyota/Lexus would start working on stiffer stock chassis designs: like start using more unitized unibody structures, and start using hydroformed steel in their body on frame trucks and SUVs. I realize to some this causes a perceived stiffer ride, but realistically it's just a more controlled ride because when you hit a bump, the chassis doesn't absorb part of the shock, it just lets the suspension do the job it was intended to do.
And GM may understand and accomodate thermal expansion better, but man the rest of their interior design is the pits. I don't think I've ever ridden in a GM vehicle past a couple of years old that wasn't a rattle trap. Some are worse than others, such as f-bodies (Camaros and Firebirds).. those cars sound and feel like a bucket of loose bolts any time you hit a bump or anything. And you close the doors and it sounds like you just broke something inside.
Last edited by Threxx; 04-30-04 at 01:47 PM.
05-03-04, 08:59 AM
#18
Instructor
My 98 LS400 with 90000 miles has zero rattles or squeaks. However, my girl friend's 2002 LS430 makes alot more cracking and poping noise. Her car also has on-going problems with the sun roof and the power folding rear mirrors. I might be wrong, but I get an impression that Lexus is not as well built as they used to be. I hope I am wrong..
Last edited by BrickHead; 05-03-04 at 09:00 AM.
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