hollow door noise
 

Anyone else have an issue with the front doors having a hollow noise when they are closed with a bit of force? The dealer says blames the people who tinted the windows (aftermarket), but I'm skeptical...

:eek2::eek2::eek2:

I noticed the same issue when my teenager slammed the door by mistake. I gave him a look saying 'you better never do that again' and he understood. :rolleyes:

I wracking my brain to understand how window tint might be causing this! Does he think the installer took the door panel off to install the tint? I’ve never seen that, and I’ve had a LOT of windows tinted. It sounds to me like they just don’t want to have to deal with it. Try asking them to just adjust the doors, because it seems like it takes too much force. At least they’d have to look at it.

Lexus went to a LOT of effort to make these cars very quiet. I’m sure the doors were a significant part of their focus, and are very solid as a result. They shouldn’t sound hollow!

Yes, the doors of the ES feels hollow. I think this is restricted to the models manufactured in Japan.
If you’ll look closely, you’ll see the outer door panel vibrates when you close the door, due to this there is an hollow sound. This is because the outer sheet metal is not bonded with crash bars inside the door. Instead, there is a piece of foam between the two which allows it to vibrate. And it acts as a giant speaker.
i watched the video of “Savageese” on Youtube, he drives an ES350 most probably built in USA as ES300h are manufactured in Japan. In the video, there is a scene in the beginning where he shuts the door. I couldn’t see any vibration on that door.
I had to paste damping material on the inside of the door, so that it doesn’t make the sound. My another car is an W212 E-class so i know how much the ES lacks in the “thunk” noise which i get from the door of Mercedes.

Definitely not the tint shop, I had a loaner and noticed that sound right off the bat.

I went and talked to the service advisor and they thought I meant a noise coming from somewhere else. So, no it wasn't the tint shop.

The technician told me that it was just how the car is because we went and tested another identical car on the lot. He said I should call and complain to Lexus corporate because there is nothing the dealer can do. Hard to believe that the door on this car sounds so cheap though.

My car's final assembly point was Georgetown, KY, so not just an issue with the cars from Japan. I can definitely see the outer door panel vibrate and I showed this to the dealer, but the guys just shrugged and acted like all cars are like that.

Yup, it's an issue. I brought it up to my dealer at the 5K service - the explanation... "to save weight but strong in the event of an impact". I'm on record as skeptical... I don't even remotely chance a broad-side impact.

At least with lightweight doors, they tend to close on their own. When I test drove the vehicle that's one of the first things I noticed. Unless I fully open the door or hold it in place for a couple of seconds they just want to be closed. :bigok:

Its just the nature of the car, you don't get the real solid expensive feeling doors until you get higher up in the lineup.



Much more expensive car than the ES.

No, it’s not about that. I also do own an humble Hyundai Sonata.
It’s because the outer door skin is not bonded with the inner crash bar. I work on my own cars, to get rid of the rattles or upgrading their audio, whenever I’d opened their door pads, I’ve always seen that outer sheet metal is bonded to crash bar inside to prevent it from vibrating. Apart from this issue, the ES has commendable build quality for door pads, better than the Mercedes.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...d6dfabdc4.jpeg
This is the inside part of the door of the ES. Behind the crash bar, there is just a piece of foam rather than Adhesive.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...402e0793f.jpeg
I had to paste damping material to stop it from vibrating.

I would say thats an actual defect in that particular vehicle then...

Maybe, but I’ve seen three other ES300h at the lot, we only get the hybrid over here imported from Japan. They sounded exactly the same. I’ve learnt to live with it and shut the door with just the right amount of force.

Next visit to your Lexus store stroll out and find an LX570...you know, the $98K model.
Hopefully locked you can just pull the drivers door handle out and let it snap back.
You will hear the hollowest, tinniest possible sound you can imagine.

What’s the point, i could go and do that with an Rolls Royce for all it matters . But I have the ES with me, I’ll be honest with it’s shortcomings and strengths.