usulbaggin

Hi folks,

Just bought a CPO 2015 GX over the weekend, about 20K miles. Overall love the car, will have to get used to its heft and body-on-frame design . Do have couple things that have caught my eye though. Was wondering what the collective wisdom of the community is since the car will shortly go in for next service:

1. Car might or might not be drifting a bit to the right. Not sure just yet. If it is, it is very minor. Would the tire rotation/alignment at the 20K service fix this?
2. Had to make a real hard stop since a rabbit ran across the street this morning. Car stopped fine (actually, I was impressed how quick it stopped) but I could hear a metal on metal grinding noise when the pedal was all the way down. Seemed to be coming from the brakes but could be something else like the driveshaft which was fairly abruptly brought to a "grinding" halt. Drove about some more to test. Once in a while, under real hard stops, I can reproduce the problem. Is this something I should worry about? Or is this to be considered normal?

Thanks and look forward to being part of this community.

dadc4s

I can’t speak to #1 but what you are describing in #2 s sounds like the ABS (anti-lock brakes) functioning normally. Did you feel some pulsations/grinding under your foot while it was on the pedal? If it is the ABS, it is normal and this is what is sounds and feels like. Some have made the mistake of taking their foot off the brake when they hear and feel this, which is NOT what you should do to. Just keep the foot down and the ABS system will stop the car in the shortest possible time.

usulbaggin

While not completely certain, I do believe I did feel the pulsations/vibrations you mention. There are no vibrations/pulsing in steering wheel or anything at highway speeds or slowing down from those speeds. So I doubt it is much to do with the brake pads/rotors being warped or worn. In any case, won't the dealer fix any such issues before certifying it?

I am inclined to agree with your diagnosis but will ask the dealer to just check when the car goes in for service.

TXS3

that is odd, I just pick up my 16 with 10 miles on it, it seems to "pulled to the right also", despite being brand new

usulbaggin

Hmmm.....both of us are in TX. Wonder what that means.....

What tires do people recommend to replace the OEM Michelins? The OEMs are down to 4/32" at less than 20K miles. I would like to stick to Michelins, in spite of poor performance by the OEMs. Reputable Discount tire shop ok or should I take it to dealer?

dadc4s

If your rotors were warped, or your pads badly worn, you would have vibration and noise with less than full or severe braking. ABS should not cause any vibration in the steering wheel. The fact that you only have this issue with severe or panic breaking is typical of ABS activation.

TXS3

Neighbor

S2k4

No pulling here. Going on three weeks old and over 3,000 miles so far. OEM Michelins are great.

GoHuskers

This is a VERY common problem with the new GX460 (pulls to right and rear right is lower than left) even though dealer and lexus said "it's normal and we'll do alignment to temporary fix it".

I have same problems and did alignment twice and it still pulls to the right (unless the road is glass smooth and NO winds).

sfuad

2015 with 36k plus miles. Drives straight, no pulling. OEM Michelins have still decent tread on them. I would say between 5-6 mm.