I bought a 2022 ES300h UL a year ago. To date, the rear subwoofer went out, the rear power sunshade snapped and one side will not go up and numerous rattles have developed. The subwoofer was replace under warranty, the sunshade will be fixed under warranty and I'm learning to live with the rattles. I traded in a 2012 Camry EXL hybrid for the Lexus. Nothing on the Camry ever had to be repaired and the only time I drove it to the dealer in 10 years was for routine maintenance. After dropping $55k on a car that's needed repairs twice, doesn't ride all that well, and has way too many rattles, I'm starting to get a bad case of buyer's remorse. Is my experience the new normal for newer Lexus vehicles or is my situation an anomaly? TIA for any thoughts.

 

Man these things are hit or miss. This week marks 1 year and 24000 km on my 22, no rattles, nothing broke, 100% flawless, one oil change and that’s it. I’ve even had every door panel and half the dash pulled apart multiple times (to add aftermarket ambient lighting).

I had an 18 LS500 with a number of small issues including the massaging seat failed twice in 2 years.

 

Almost 1 year with my 300h and my sun visors needed replacing due to rattle. There's a few squeaks around the cabin; dash area by instrument cluster, a bit of a rattle drivers side near the roof handle, and that's about it. For the most part they go away if I press an area but it's never been a big enough issue to bring it to the dealership, except for the sun visors.

The road quality in the Bay Area of CA certainly doesn't help either.

 

On our 5th and 6th Lexus. 2002, 2013, 2015, 2017 2017 and 2023. Estimate about 500,000 miles driven on them. Not one rattle not one back in for anything other than maintenance. My experience I don't think is an anomlay. J D Power has ranked Lexus #1 in dependability 22 out of the last 27 years including their 2023 rankings.

 

My 2019 ES 4.5 years old, over 60K on the clock and basically no issues other than a jerky trans

 

Just passed two years owning the 2021 350 ES I bought new in February, 2021. It's been LITERALLY trouble free and complaint free. Nothing short of complete perfection.
By comparison, I can recall "the old days," when I would take delivery of a big, gorgeous deluxe Oldsmobile luxury sedan or a brand new Cadillac. A month later, I was routinely back at the dealership service department with my extensive "laundry list" of defects and malfunctions. It would take months of multiple visits and difficult discussions before things were (hopefully) repaired and resolved, followed by occasional return visits dealing with new or returning glitches throughout the following two or three years of ownership. They were truly beautiful, sumptuous cars but the high quality level of my Lexus is so much preferred and all the more appreciated.

 

You are describing my Tesla ownership. Lovely to look at (fast in a straight line) but geez the never ending list of things that broke just wore me down and I got rid of both of them. Such poor quality for the price.

 

I can speak to the rattles, as I have (had) several. It's unfortunate and annoying but all of them are relatively easily remedied. Mine were the center armrest, glove box door, leather panel between the bull horns and sunroof. The first three were taken care of by applying some gaffer tape and/or foam-backed tape between the plastic bits that were the source of the noise. The sunroof rattle is still ongoing but I've seen some posts & videos that claim the rubber weather seal can be to blame. And it happens infrequently enough that it's not a big priority right now.

Sorry you're dealing with this, but out of who knows how many ES's on the road, it seems just a small handful have these minor niggles.

 

Ah yes the arm rest squeaking too. I need to look into applying some gaffer tape on these areas. Better look around for tear downs...

 

@dezymond I recommend skipping the gaffer tape for the armrest and going straight to foam. The gaffer tape kinda-sorta worked for a while but it didn't last. 3/8" x 3/16" foam tape was a proper fix, much more cushion.

 

Agree it's hit or miss. Both my 2021 ES300hs (both) (two) had distinct rattles, misaligned panels, bubbling clear coat, crooked dash, crooked doors, etc. See my post history. I was the first coast to coast to tear down two separate ESes and write tutorials/DIYs how to fix the rattles etc. Other than that it was a pleasant car.

My 2023 Tesla Model Y? The most fabulous perfect interior perfect bodied perfect driving car i've ever owned. Perfect interior alignment. No crooked dash, no crooked seats, no leaning seats, no creaking sun visor, b pillar, knee pads, no sagging seat bottoms etc.

85mph down the highway -- glass. Y=No rattles or creaks. No rattle fix DIYs necessary. Likely due to Model 3 and Y for 2022-2023 the issues are mostly ironed out and they're mass-produced and all of Tesla's engineering dollars (vs the low volume X and S) go to those models. Those owners all the time complain how the 3 and Y get more attention. Famous topic on the forums.

Model Y =$60k-70k+ is the best selling car in California for 2022. crazy.

Perhaps the Japan ES is indeed better but I don't know never experienced one.

 

My '22 is at 16 months, 7,000 miles. Exactly two imperfections: a memory driver's seat that didn't remember (reset in one dealer service), and an elusive part-time rattle from the bottom front of the driver's seat that only occurs at certain moderate outside temperatures.

I've noticed in Consumer Reports' statistics that since Toyota/Lexus changed over to the new platform on multiple models in 2018-19, a lot of models that used to be in the topmost of the five reliability levels ("much better than average") have now slipped a bit statistically. The previous chassis for cars like the Camry and Corolla was basically in use for 25 years; that's a lot of time to perfect everything for a company that compulsively works to do so.

I have no quarrel with this changeover. It was long overdue functionally in areas like body rigidity, crash safety and weight savings (which translates directly to both fuel economy and performance), and Toyota had to keep pace with competitors like VW whose adoption of common platforms across multiple models gave them more flexibility in production. Unfortunately, modern cars are more complex. With carmakers under pressure to meet many competing demands at once (for instance, making a quieter car without using as much heavy soundproofing), I think there are more potential points of failure than before.

I'm sorry you were one of the unlucky owners to get bitten by that. The fact that it doesn't happen to most ES owners doesn't make your unhappiness any less real or justified. You might be happier with another car, or even another example of this one, and that's perfectly understandable.

 

CT, your report that one vehicle from some other carmaker is defect-free in Year One is utterly irrelevant to OP's situation. It is also a claim that's been reported more than enough times on this board that any regular reader already knows it better than they need to.

As for the small portion of your post that is relevant to this board, I regret that you were willing to take delivery on two new cars despite numerous visible fit and finish defects like "misaligned panels, bubbling clear coat, crooked dash, (and) crooked doors." Other buyers can learn from the buyer's remorse you inflicted on yourself due to your self-admitted failure to do the routine due diligence of a pre-purchase inspection. However, the nature of OP's problems is not caused by the same kind of negligence you committed, so that part of your post isn't particularly relevant either.

 

I have had my ES 300Hybrid for about 3 years and 90,000km (56K miles) . first 6 months the rear seat had squeaks and the paint had blemishes. Other than that no issues.

The car rides sooooooo smooth and quiet and is excellent on gas. Because it is sooooo smooth I am getting bored and want to switch it to an SUV that rides worse and uses more gas...... I know, no logic here...

 

These issues sound pretty minor. Be glad you didn't purchase a Hyundai and then find out you have to park your car outside of the garage.