749009

My folks are driving a 2003 Lexus ES300 with about 65,000 miles on it.
It has what I believe is called the "ultra premium" package with the Mark Levinson sound, power rear sunblind and 4 position adjustable shock damping on the interior console.

They are getting a rattling, clunking noise from the right front corner of the car ONLY when driving over bigger bumps or breaks in the pavement.
When the car was up in Canada this summer I had it in at my local Lexus dealer and they came back with:

We can hear the noise when driving over bigger pavement breaks, but, we cannot reproduce the noise when it's sitting up on the hoist. So, we will simply start replacing suspension parts in the right front corner until we eventually come across the correct part that is making the noise. All good parts that we replaced for no reason will not be refunded and this repair could cost you anything from $150 to $6000 as the car's mileage is over the factory warranty. How lucky do you feel?

Needless to say, I didn't let them touch the car. I did replace a right front sway bar link at another shop because it wasn't expensive and I thought it was one thing I needed to eliminate as a possible cause of the noise. Unfortunately, it made no difference to the noise. The front struts appear to be working completely normally and the adjustable shock damping is definitely working properly so I don't think the problem is the right front strut (which is quite expensive to replace). The car drives completely normally other than the noise.
I'm guessing it is some part that has either loosened up and needs to be retightened or perhaps a weld on a part attached to the strut that may have broken?

In any event, my folks live in the NW corner of Phoenix (Sun City West). Just wondering if anyone here can suggest a good, non-dealership, Lexus mechanic that would be willing to properly investigate and repair the offending part as opposed to replacing the entire front end.


Thanks for your help....

lexusk8

Your wish is granted, moving this thread to the Southwest regional forum.

749009

I'm not normally on these forums so wasn't even aware of the regional forums.

Thanks for your help.

749009

ok,
how about Toyo West?

Anybody have anything good or bad to say about them?

cliffud

iTrader: (3)

never heard anything about toyo west and i live here in phoenix.

since everything is stock on the car, I would suggest they take it to a shop on Bell road and 30th street. It's a bit far from Sun City but it's where I go (it's near my house) and they are really honest people. For example, I took my car in to have the brake pads replaced, they stopped me from even pulling into their garage and inspected the calipers with a flashlight and told me I still had life on my pads and not to worry. I go to them for almost everything I need for my car except for oil changes.

EDIT:

I forgot to mention the shop name:

Northeast Automotive
Phone: 602-788-7070

749009

Thanks for that Cliffud. I'll give them a call and see what they have to say with an over the phone description of the problem.

I tried the Phoenix CraigsList on the internet and got 2 other referrals:

Toyo Motors on East Bell Road. Neil is the owner and says he uses suspension "ears" sensors to pick up noises like this and says often he can tweak noisy suspension parts with rubber shims to help if it's not broken or worn suspension parts causing the noise.

And Charlie at Sun City Auto (which is very close for my folks in Sun City West) is a former noise & vibration Lexus tech who is familiar with a TSB on this problem with ES 300's which involves installing felt spacers on the 3 bolts that apparently attach the struts to the body.

cliffud

iTrader: (3)

Ha! I was going to mention the three bolts that attach the strut but wasn't sure. I remember reading other threads about GS's having issues with a slight knocking sound when going over bumps and that's what was the issue with theirs - after they tightened the bolts up- the suspension was fine.