MD350

Because of the the 4 feet of snow we received earlier this month in the DC area, dealers are now hungry to make deals by next weekend to hit their Feb numbers. So, yesterday, I actually did look at the only UL ES350 they had in stock. I also drove the new 2010 Acura MDX. Right now, I'd be happy with anything that will get me closer to $25K in trade for my ES. There is no VIN differentiation between the PP and UL, so everywhere I go they quote me on PP auction numbers...CRAZY

LexBob2

Good luck with your search. It sounds like a good time to buy and maybe not so good for selling. Maybe the two will even things out a bit.

Before we bought our '10, I looked at the new LaCrosse, Audi Q5 and infiniti G37x. Not much in the way of discounts on the Buick and Audi, but Infiniti was eager.

jjdees

Toyota execs will not accept any correspondence from the public. I wrote to Yoshimi Inaba, head of Toyota North America and never received a response. Today, I wrote to Jim Lentz, President of Toyota Motor sales and to make sure I had the right address, I called their headquarters in New York. The person answering their phones is instructed to give no information out other than the customer no service number. She couldnt even tell me if I wrote to their address, would the letter reach Lentz? Unbelievable. These guys hide from the public. I could write to any CEO and get a response but not Toyota. I guess the only way to get their attention is to go public which is what I plan to do.

pestleman0

Absolutely! Good for you. The president of my company is accessible and we operate over 6000 stores. Nail them to the wall. We need people like you.

garsarno

Suggest you send via Fed Ex overnight. Enclose the letter / envelope into the Fed Ex envelope and send it. Those usually make it to their secretary's desk and it also shows you are very serious. I did this to US Airways years ago to complain about my missing luggage and received correspondence / additional flight credit voucher from the CEO. Fed Ex envelopes get a higher priority than US stamped envelope.

jjdees

I did Fed-Ex to the pres. The only acknowledgement I received was another call from Customer No Service. They said again that there is nothing abnormal about my engine noise and nothing will be done. My next move is to appeal to the independent national arbritration board that Lexus offers. I don't expect anything new from them. Afterwards, I do plan to go publc. The engine sound is getting worse. It now has 37K on it and God knows what the future holds for it. It sounds like a diesel and is downright embarassing. This is the first car in my life that I'm sorry I bought.

mailrajr

Hi.. I am in the same boat as you . The car was absolutely dead silent when I first bought it.. it was so smooth and silent that their ES ad( about the sensors) literally made sense to me.. they reflashed the ECM( trans..whatever it is called) at 20k and since then I have heard all diff kind of noises...taken the car to diff dealers many times and everytime I get "operating as expected"... Do let me know how it goes with you and I am sure there are other readers who are in the same situ...we should team up and take this up with Lexus...

jjdees

My latest update. As I've said in earlier posts, Lexus started out saying there was "no noise", that graduated to "no abnormal noise", and then onward to piston slap due to the "advanced engine design". I appealed to the NCDS, (National Center for Dispute Settlement) who agreed to meet with me. A Lexus engineer requested my car be dropped off for his examination prior to the meeting. At the arbitration meeting with the NCDS, he dropped a new bomb claiming that the gas in my tank was less than premium i.e. less than 91 octane. I have never put anything other than premium in the car since it was new and told them so. I offered to supply them with the receipts for the gas for the last year plus showing gas purchases in 5-6 different states which would prove the Lexus claim as completely false. Ther arbitrators said they wouldn't be needed. They later denied my claim. Guess what? NCDS is funded by Toyota. And the engine noise does not go away when warmed up. It's slightly diminished but still there. The trade in on this car will be very difficult. It sounds worn out. Lexus just keeps BSing the owners hoping this will go away. It won't. I will keep you all posted as this story develops. I'm not going to forget about it. Those bast*rds charged $40K for this heap. I would have been better off with a Chevy Geo.

garsarno

Mine did it since day one. I have the work order from 11/2006 with my complaint and the service techs notes that the noise was "direct fuel injection". Too bad our cars don't have direct fuel injection. Now at 44,000 miles, with premium gas used for 99.8% of the time along with Mobil One oil since new, when it's cold out, the noise returns.

pestleman0

Isn't great!

BlackCamSe

Whats up guys. Im an avid poster over at Toyotanation.com. I found this thread by googleing 2gr-fe tapping to see what came up. I just figured id share with you the noises my 2010 Camry with the 2GR makes when cold. I would consider this engine to be one of the later builds being that the vehicle is a 2010. I honestly think its worse then the videos on this thread. This was recorded on my iphone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwFJDlbLSw0

rivenbark

I have a 07 ES350 with 86k same sounds ,I would guess lifters or rocker arms I also have a 97 ES300 264k engine is QUIET. This issue needs to be RECALLED I understand from my brother who is a master mechinic the Lexus that are assembeled in Mexico are the problems and I have one.Has anyone ever had this noise problem fixed? at there expense or extended warranty coverage. I would really like to find out the root cause of this noise as I am sure this is going to lead to short engine life.

LexBob2

All ES350's are assembled in Japan.

NEWRXOWNR

jjdees, any update? I believe I have the same issue with my RX, just curious if you have had any luck.

nyardich

I just traded in my 2007 ES purchased in May 06 for a 2011 ES350.
2007 had noise since new and I tried to get answers for it.
No luck. Lexus kept saying it was normal. Just distracting. I just always let run for a few minutes before driving.
Answer to all this noise issue is there is no absolute answer. My 2007 had 68,000 miles on it when traded up and still had cold start noise. I got about $24,000 in trade for 2011 which is quiet as a church mouse. Noise you hear is not in any way fatal just either live with it or trade it. I love my 2011 which now has 3,000 miles on it...............................................................
Also I own a 2007 RX350 and it has same diesel noise but only has 25,00 miles on it same issue. I have learned to live with it........................