When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
So I don't have the car back quite yet but didn't want to leave you all in suspense. The body shop gave me a call today. One of the forum solutions was CORRECT, it was the "thigh" brace (under the very front of the back seats) that was making the sound (I've attempted to illustrate in the attached image). Absolutely no frame cracks or anything, just a little looseness and rubbing from a bolt-on part. They tightened it up with no need for cutting and welding or whatever at all - phew. The service advisor test drove the car and verified the sound is gone and the cabin is whisper quiet. Location of "thigh" brace believed to be causing periodic "clop" sound
thanks for your thorough response ( and great graphic) and congrats for a fruitful resolution
to this anomaly; it might be interesting to know how it loosened up to begin with...
thanks for your thorough response ( and great graphic) and congrats for a fruitful resolution
to this anomaly; it might be interesting to know how it loosened up to begin with...
I’m no expert but probably just vibrations, heat cycles and twisting forces over time cause structures to settle into one another and occasionally cause a sound. It’s not like it was hanging off or anything, it was probably just rubbing somewhere it shouldn’t.
Well that's fantastic news. Congratulations on the easy repair and more importantly congratulations on your new LC 500. May you have many happy miles with her.
I think you need to take this directly to Lexus. Your options shouldn’t be live with it or let us cut up your car. Like you said, this is one their supposedly finest crafted cars to date. If I was in your shoes I’d have an attorney call Lexus for you.
Before you waste your money on an attorney, take it to a different Lexus dealer for an inspection. If you are still feeling unsure, have a 3rd party expert in vehicle forensics or a trusted body shop or a Lexus Certified Collision Center to look at it. https://www.lexuscollisioncenter.com/
Glad it was a simple fix. I personally owned a GTS Celica that had a bad pinch weld on the floor pan and ticked under high load. It had to be driven hard enough to kick the brake pads back for the noise to occur. Few people would ever notice this, but the way I drive, it annoyed me to no end on my daily commute. I traded the car for a Supra in 1994. A friend owned a Scion tC with a ticking noise from the hatch and we narrowed it down to a pinch weld that failed. So, it does happen, even to Toyota.
I had a simliar ticking problem with my IS F, but like yours, it turned out to be a nut the body shop failed to correctly tighten to spec when they repaired the right front corner. It took a long an arduous process to find this because I had to check torque on every bolt on the front subframe. It was a happy day when silence returned. You must be overjoyed with your solution! I would be.
Let's hope all the disassembly and reassembly looking for the issue doesn't result in other integrity/noise issues down the line. I don't trust most techs to do as good of a job with assembly as the factory. That's why recalls don't sit well with me. Even though they are free, they come with cost of having some grease monkey man-handling my car!
interesting problem. i do get an occasionally rattle (i think it comes from the back window) when driving over washboard roads. Maybe I should take it in to see what they say.
I have a 2018 Structural Blue LC with 6K mile. I took it in about a year ago for the fuel tank recall. I assumed they had to remove the tank to replace the in tank pump.
However, ever since this repair, I've been hearing right side rear end noise especially when in reverse at low speeds. I haven't reported it to dealer yet, but am planning to visit dealer soon. Hopefully its not a damaged frame. Maybe just a loose tie down bolt.
