I hope everyone can see the movie.

Just purchased a new ES350 base model with 18 in wheels and noticed that when I open the driver's side door (in video), I hear a creak but not the sound that needs lubrication, more like a metal moving sound. I tried this on the other 3 doors and sure enough, the same sound.

The passenger side is especially interesting. When I open the door, you can see the metal move behind the bolt.

Is this an issue I need to take to the dealership? I mean for a 47K car, I did expect a softer close, even the driver door kinda rattles when closing. I've seen maybe one or two posts similar to mine but they havent reported all 4 doors to be like this.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

 

Take it back to the dealership the day before yesterday and complain.
Did you miss that during inspection?

 

Mine sounds similar. I noticed that most of them have the same knocking noise.
Ask the dealer, maybe they will replace that part.

 

Completely missed it, it was delivered to my house Friday evening and was already dark, noticed it on Sunday but their service dept is closed.

 

Stop the movie at the 1-second time mark. See how the thickness of the metal widens, narrows, and then widens again. That is one of several detents that hold the door in several partial open and a wide open position. If you disassemble the door, you'll find that bar meets up with a mechanism that works with those detents to hold the door in that position. I don't know the exact mechanism Lexus uses in their door, but some older cars used small rollers mounted on a lever mechanism with a spring tensioner that applied enough additional force to keep the roller in the detent unless some additional door opening/closing force was applied to overcome the force holding the roller in the detention.

The thunking sounds you hear in the movie are the sound of the holding mechanism entering and leaving the detent as the door is opened and closed.

If you want to see an illustration of what that assembly looks like in the Lexus ES door, lexusguide.net Lexus ES (XZ10) Service Manual's Front Door - Disassembly procedure 40 (scroll down toward the bottom of the webpage) has an illustration of what Lexus terms the "front door check assembly" for the front doors.

 

So you never test drove it!

All my 2021 ES doors do not do that they are quiet when opened to the lock detent position.

Maybe they changed the detent design after 2021?

 

Yes, they changed the part after 2022.

 

When the thickness of the metal widens and narrows while opening the door, will that not cause wear on that area very fast? I am going to take it to the dealer tomorrow morning for them to look at. I mean for a 47K car, I would expect a door to close somewhat smoothly, the bottom panel on the outside also visibly rattles when closing. I hope this is not the standard 2025 quality

 

That sheet metal flexing upon closing is old news bears since 2019 on the car's debut. It's just a very large door skin with little support behind it. 47k sounds like a lot sorta but it's not what you think it is. 47k is the new 32k when it comes to cars and that's being a bit generous. Things are just more expensive today.

 

You’re right on the price thing. It’s not just an ES thing, either, as the skin on many cars has gotten thinner than what many of are used to or think it should be. That’s largely due to both the constant drive to reduce weight and the use of more advanced higher strength steel. Plus, the door skin is not what protects you in a crash, it’s the internal structure and design which absorbs and distributes crash impacts.

 

you can still tune a door to not excessively wobble as you close it tho. it's just toyota being cheap. there's two primary blank areas on the skin where all they needed to do was install a damper like most cars have. they just have one tiny one behind the speaker on the lower. in fact just checked out 6ES, and back then, toyota installed two per door. small but they have one on the upper part too. 7es only has one small one on the lower. $

if you look at some german cars, there's very large coverage 70% plus. not one little tiny square.

 

Are you referring to sound/vibration dampening material, like Dynamat?

Ive considered adding some to ours, maybe a spring or summer project. You dont really need full coverage, but 50% should do. I added some to my RAM 1500 driver door and it made a noticeable difference in noise levels and "quality" felt when the door closes.

 

^ I did this with the Amazon brand. It's a fun little project that does give a pretty satisfying solid thunk when you close the door but a veryyyyy satisfying thud when you tap on it. I half assed the work and covered about 90% of what I could reach so that's about 85% of the entire door.

 

Do you have a link of which one you used from amazon?

 

I used Killmat. It is good but I think there are better products.