My 2001 LS430UL still does it.

 

Back in 2021, STLLEXUS reported in his Panoramic Sunroof Started Leaking post #37 that the dealer fixed his (as well as someone else's) creaky pano roof by removing some bolts and putting locktite on them.

Since your creaking pano issue has reoccurred, you might want bring up the other dealer's locktite fix as something to try for a more permanent fix (assuming they aren't already doing that when retightening the pano roof hardware).

 

Thats a good thought. I’ll mention it to them.

 

As others have said probably pano roof. it was my first thought. The Car Care Nut has an excellent video on them.

 

Mine has a moon roof and when I leave my drive way on a 40/45 degree angle, I hear creaking from the back as well as my driveway has a curb too.
It is not coming from the moon roof. More like upper rear seats area. It is really annoying. Any idea what that might be?

 

I have the same issue. Taking to the sealer next week.

 

I have the exact same problem with my 2025 ES 350. Did you get it repaired yet, and what did they do to fix it?

 

Did you ever get a resolution to this? Our brand new 2025 is doing it too, waiting to take it to dealer for the s/w recall, then going to have them take a look.

 

As a follow up to my post from April, I did take my ’22 ES350UL to the dealer and they kept it for about it week, dropping the headline and removing, then reinstalling and resealing the entire pano assembly, then retorquing it all to specs. So far it has been silent. That was all done under warranty and I had a loaner for that period.

 

How long/how many miles since the repair was done?

Mine makes the noise, too. Sounds like it's coming from way back behind the rear seats. But based on this thread, I assume it must somehow be the panoramic roof.

WTF Lexus. I heard the new ES will be built in Japan, not Kentucky any more. I wonder if all these quality control issues with various creaks and noises is part of the reason why.

 

I don’t think it’s because of that. Prior ES models that we are built in Japan had many cracking and other interior issues.
I bet you any money that the production process is exactly the same.

 

Definitely could be unrelated. I'm just hypothesizing.

I don't doubt the production process is the same on paper. But the implementation of that process may vary.

 

Since I don’t drive the car that much, probably under 1K. I’ve started cycling the roof about once a week just to keep everything lubed and hopefully smooth running.

Is it a Kentucky problem? Hard to say, but from all I’ve read and seen, the KY built cars really don’t have any big difference in overall quality from Japanese ones. As I recall the Car Care Nut pretty much echoes that, Pano roofs are installed by robot at the factory, so I would expect that quality should be pretty consistent. It’s important to note that pano roofs are problematic across car brands, not just on the ES or just Lexus. There’s a lot of weight and complexity with them, and given their size body flexing can contribute to problems. I’d rather not have one on my next car, just a conventional sunroof, but as with so many things these days. manufactures don’t give us many choices. On the UL it was standard and no delete option available.

Upper trim levels on many cars come with standards that often are not wanted by buyers or in bundles that force you to take things you wouldn’t otherwise order. Another good example is wheel size, where many vehicles, especially SUV’s get bigger wheels as you move up the model lineup, wheels that can contribute to a worse ride and more tire noise.

 

Looked for months for our "just right" UL and found *one* that didn't have a pano roof. I know its an option, but every single one I saw had the pano roof option checked off.

Our 2015 UL has a pano roof (when it was *not* an option, it came with the UL package) and zero creaks/pops/whatever to be found, from day 1 up until now. I did note there are differences between the pano roofs of our '15 and '25 ES. Mostly, the '25 glass stops about 6" from where it would meet the rear windshield, but on our '15 its glass all the way to it. Not sure if that makes any difference in noise-making...it might.

Our '25 makes a popping noise when going over a bump while turning extreme left or right (think entering or exiting a driveway). I *think* its the plastic trim piece that goes from left to right above the seat area, but Im not 100% sure. Going to let the dealer deal with it when I eventually go for the s/w update recall...hopefully they can fix it without messing up our brand new interior.

 

I had crackles and pops out of my rear door panel. The dealer gave it back with no improvement, only added a full rattle at times.

I had a sunroof rattle at times. Dealer gave it back rattling almost constantly.

Different dealers.

I'm very wary of asking a dealer to fix anything.