anniversar

At my 30,000 mile service about 6 weeks ago I reported to the service manager that the suspension seemed noisy at low speed over undulating side roads. They could not duplicate the noise. Now with the cold weather, the noise has increased considerably to the extent that my wife who claims never to hear any of the noises I obsess about, asked me what is that knocking noise

I have made an appointment at my dealership first thing on Monday and they are going to ride with me and if necessary use the "chassis ears".

From everything I have read it has to be control arm bushings or the air suspension. I think the fact it has worsened considerably now the temperature has dropped eliminates the brake pad rattle possibility.

lex460l

im pretty sure we have the same noise, have been to the dealer 3 times and they cannot figure it out, i hate any noise on a car that isnt supposed to be there and i think because our cars are so quiet it makes it even worse, i think i hear it more with the windows open, if you get anywhere with this pls keep me informed

joeyb

I'm going thursday for a similar noise. It sounds like something clunking around in the glove box (doesn't match the discription of the crontrol arm issue). Passenger side only.

anniversar

Visited the dealership this morning and a tech rode with me around the parking lot. That was sufficient to demonstrate the noise. They then looked at on a lift and concluded it was the air struts. I am waiting now for them to order parts and then schedule me in for an appointment.

Surprised that this occurred at 30,000 miles

FyaIS350

sounds like the air spring rattle TSIB....pretty common...glad they figured it out! good luck

lex460l

i wish the dealers in nyc would find it, the master tech also concluded that i needed new struts for the rear for a different noise and the warranty dept wouldnt cover it because it wasnt bad enough

lex460l

hey is there a link or something i can use to find that so i can show them?

thegov3

Same rattle I had. I had all four air struts replaced before the car had 50K on the odometer. The rattle noise is worse when it is cold outside (below freezing) and especially when starting out in the AM. The noise gets worse as the strut goes bad. More frequent and then louder. Then a thumping noise comes next. Search the site. There are countless posts describing this issue and how to get the dealer to replace them.

joeyb

They couldn't replicate the problem. I'll drive the car with them on my next visit.

CJITTY

Standard dealer talking points. .sigh

anniversar

The new struts came in today and so have arranged with the dealer to fit these on Monday. They are estimating 6 hours. i guess I need to check the car is level after the repair.

anniversar

Just collected the car from the dealership. Rattle has been cured as expected with the replacement of the front struts. The ride seems better also with less float which was very noticeable in comfort mode with the defective struts.

The OEM warranty expires mid January but I purchased a Lexus platinum extended warranty a couple of weeks ago.

thegov3

Smart. Very Smart.

redlight30

I had the same issue and they took care of the struts as well but alas the sound had recently come back. I have to get the 60k service soon and will have them check it again. If there is an issue again I have the extended warranty but as they were already done don't they have to cover those without me having to use my ext. warranty?

anniversar

Took the car on an extended drive today and incredibly there is still some rattling noise from the front end despite the struts having been replaced. However, it is 80% better and you have to be listening for it to notice. As mentioned before, the ride feels better and different as before I think the struts were not providing sufficient damping as the front end would bob up and down on undulating roads. Now it feels much tighter and well damped.

So the question is what is still causing the residual noise. From all the posts I have read it seems as if it might be control arms. I would have hoped however, the dealer would have spotted this during the original diagnosis of the problem.