I just purchased my a 2013 ES 350 (off the show room floor). The front passenger seat/backrest & headrest vibrates while I'm driving and rattles like mad when the car hits a bump. The front seat just started making noises when I hit a bump.

I took it in and was told that all seats have some vibrations. I drove my 2001 Volvo S60 for 12 years the seats were still solid.

What are your thoughts?

 

I have 1000 miles on my ES350 so far and the seats and headrests seem very solid (one is all the way down and the other all the way up). In fact, I have no rattles of squeeks or anything inside of the car. If there is a pronounced rattle and vibration, I would definitely bring it back and be more insistent about coming to a resolution. I couldn't imagine why a seat would be vibrating.

 

We have 8k on our 300h with no such issues. Some on here have noted rattles around the passenger seat which turned out to be the seat belt buckle hitting the pillar.

 

If I'm driving with no one sitting in the front passenger seat, the passenger seat back does "jitter" around just a bit when riding on a bumpy road, but there isn't a squeak, rattle, or any other sound that comes from it. In fact, had I not read this thread and glanced to take a look at the seat back while I was driving on a bumpy surface, I would not have known that it was doing this. As pointed out by wasjr above, my guess would be that any sound you might be hearing is likely coming from the position of the seat belt buckle and that it will disappear if you reposition the seat belt and buckle so that it cannot be it contact with the pillar.

 

I repositioned both the seat and seatbelt buckle several times. I even gripped the seatbelt while driving to make sure the noise wasn’t from the seatbelt. I will take the car back in next week. Hopefully there is a simple solution. I love everything about the car except the rattling, noisy passenger seat/backrest/headrest.

 

I can think of at least one more spot that is worth checking. If you look at the rails on which the seats are mounted, you will see that, at the front and the back of each of those rails, there is a plastic cap that covers the end of the rail. Those caps snap into place, and, if one of the rear caps is not secure or if one of the ears that secures them is broken off, it can cause a chattering that can seem like it is coming from the back of the seat.

On the 2006 ES that I previously owned, I had a chatter that seemed like it was coming from the passenger seat back and/or headrest. Figuring out where it was actually coming from was driving me crazy. I eventually discovered that it was coming from one of those rail end caps that was loose. This may not be the source of what you are hearing, but it is one more place that you can easily check.

 

As you suggested, I checked the rear rail end cap and guess what? It is either loose or broken. Thanks so much

 

When I had the similar issue with that 2006 ES, one of the ears on one of those end caps was broken off, and, with it broken off, that end cap was not held securely in place, and it was the source of the chatter. If yours is broken, until you can get a new one, you can just leave the broken end cap off, and, at least, the chattering should be gone. When I needed to replace the end cap on the 2006 ES, the dealership just arranged to ship the part to me (at no cost), and I then just snapped the new one in place with a minimum of inconvenience to me. I hope that takes care of the problem with your ES.