Celibon

I'm seeing more people posting problems about their ES350. We all know that it's the nature of this kind of forums to draw posts of problems and make them seem more wide spread than they really are. At the same time, however, to those people who genuinely have a problem, it's 100% defective for them and it kills their enjoyment of a new shiny car.

I would like to see a poll of how many people actually have one or more problems with their car. This is not to make them feel even worse or anything, because if the percentage is unfortunately high, it might help push Lexus to do something.

Preferrably only people who have owned/driven the car for over a month or 2k miles vote. And please make sure you understand and are sure you're having a particular problem. You can find them by going through the threads on this forum or by doing a search.

The vote is available for multiple choice. If you have 2 or more problems please check all that apply.

ES350Bob

Good idea for a poll, but next time could you add suspension/shock, e.g. wipers rock car back and forth/rougher road experience problems to your poll? As so far several of us have this issue.

Ingram4868

I only have to deal with one of these issues (VR) but if I had to deal with more than two I believe I would be very upset. This is our first Lexus product. The major selling point for us trying the Lexus brand was a reputation for a quality product and a quiet/smooth ride. If those items are not there and are not maintained then bye bye to this ES.

wanderer99

Pollmaster Celibon - good work. For your next poll, how about this for a future multiple choice:

- Did you expect that your ES350 would be a problem free vehicle when you purchased it? (YES\NO)
- Has your ES350 lived up to your expecations of being problem free to date? (YES\NO)

This would give us a fast track to working out expectation and satisfaction levels here on the new ES.

<VENOM>

Cold engine start noise, that's on lots of cars if not every car every made, some are louder then others but no engine is whisper quiet on cold start up, the exhaust note plays a lot in sound on start up and the ES350 does not have a performance tuned exhaust, it refined for silences

Celibon

There's a thread on this forum about excessive cold engine noise. According to people who have this problem, it sounds like diesel engine and is a clattering noise that continues until you've driven the car for over 5~7 miles. Some members here also claim that it happens everytime they start the car, not just when cold starting for the first time in a day.

My car does not have this noise so I don't have first hand experience, but those who have it do think it's excessively loud.

Celibon

For easy reference I found a few threads about the engine noise:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...t=engine+noise

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...t=engine+noise

<VENOM>

My ES350 is loud on cold start up, sitting overnight in the garage, maybe a some slight valve tapping but it goes away within 30 seconds to a minute, thought about how it might be in the colder winter months but nothing like a disel

ES350Bob

Edge,
All engines are noisier on cold start than otherwise but this noise is exactly like diesel engine clatter and it lasts far longer than 30 seconds or a minute or I wouldn't even mention it.
A motorsports shop owner came by to listen to my car and he said it sounds like a rod about to go through the engine block yet it gets quieter at hot and errant rods typically don't quiet down like that. Though more and more lately it is present at times when engine is hot since he came by.
He said under no circumstances should I ever have been told it is normal and that would include not even normal as just cold engine issue.
He also witnessed the transmission/RPM spike from gear 2 to 3 and said he feels it is both a transmission problem and a software problem in his opinion, it also spiked at 3 to 4 while he was in the car.
Either or both, it is not normal for a car to do it.

PatB

Just voted on the transmission flare issue that has been fixed as of 8/30/06. BTW, my vehicle has a vin# that suppose to have the climate control voice recognition problem, but I haven't experienced any problems with that.

nstan20

I will be taking my ES350 in for the 5,000 mile service next week. The car was purchased at the beginning of June and I have been concerned about the engine noise I have been experiencing. Many of the posts I read indicate that this chattering noise goes away after the car has been driven a few miles. Mine doesn’t. This chattering/taping noise can be heard anytime you come to a stop. With the radio and air conditioning off, the noise is very noticeable. The noise is best heard when you are sitting in the driver’s seat with the driver’s door opened or closed. I do not hear the noise when I open the hood and listen for it under the hood.

Along with the above concern, I will be asking them to look a second time at the wind noise I am experiencing on the driver’s side. The last time they said they compared it to an in stock vehicle and “found that the characteristics on both units are the same indicating that all operations are as designed at this time.” Prior to this car I had five other ES vehicles over a ten year period. This is first one that requires me to have the radio on get away from the wind noise.

And no, voice recognition is not working for climate control commands.

ES350Bob

Nstan,
My engine noise is easy to hear when from cold to hot and you needed hawk hearing to segregate it from the rest of the engine sound once the car was hot. More lately though it has been easier to hear when hot.
Did your's start out more obvious when cold or cool engine and then get even more noticeable over time as mine did at higher engine temp?

nstan20

ES350Bob,

I really don't notice the noise when I first start out. After driving a few miles, the noise becomes increasingly noticeable. At times it gives a sound like you would hear when the air conditioner compressor is operating. I turn the air conditioner off, but the noise continues.

ES350Bob

Nstan

When my engine reaches hot, it is very noisy and I have also shut off Ac to see if it is the compressor and it is not, I notice this in park, at stop lights and stop signs and also notice a vibration in the steering column, arm rests and floorboards of the car when it reaches what I call it's noisiest at hot temp. when it has been driven for a while, also present when knocking/tapping noise is present.

At the moment I have a loaner I just picked up tonight with 1200 more miles on it than my car which has 768 miles on it and it's engine is also noisy though vibration is not near mine.
It's pickup is far better than mine.
It's shifting is smoother than mine.
It seems to have the wind noise issue like mine though I haven't gotten the loaner over about 45mph but you can just start to hear wind just like mine at that speed.
I haven't cold started it yet but will in am to see if it knocks and taps like a deisel but I seriously doubt it will, time will tell though.

tstead

I am experiencing a weird banging noise from my transmission when I start the engine cold. I start the car first thing in the morning, put the car in reverse, back to park, and then back to reverse. When it goes into reverse the second time there is a loud bang. I took the car in for the dealer to look at it. My loaner ES350 did the exact same thing the next morning when I left for work. The dealer said I was the first to complain about it and they were able to replicate the bang on all of their loaner ES350's so it this seems to be a generic problem.

Unfortunately, they told me that Lexus did not have any information on the cause and that they could do nothing for me unless something actually broke. They said until they get many people complaining of it, Lexus would probably not issue a bulletin on the issue.

Needless to say, I am a bit perturbed because I know that the bang is doing nothing for long-term transmission reliability.

Tim