chpten8

My car has been repeatedly in the dealership for shifting and suspension noises for the past few months to no avail, new control arms, new air cylinder, lubed sway bar bushings today and it still creaks when rolling in and out of driveways and uneven surfaces to add to that they also replaced the transmission with 2 other transmission and this last time replacing the TCM, today we learned that the motor mounts and diff cushion mounts are no good. The car started in February with harsh shifting car would downshift with a loud and impacted "THUD", although not all the time depending on how she felt I guess. Warranty covered new trans as well as some additional needed maintenance repairs, the car immediately reacted the same nothing changed, drove the car to Canada and had exceptional MPG's (drove from Victoria, BC to Redding, CA on a single tank) when arriving in California I took it in and let the techs take a look at the trans and the warranty adjuster visited and authorized an additional transmission along with a new TCM to be installed, this was of course after doing a compression test that yielded results upwards of 215's on all cylinders also installed new plugs fearing that the knock value had something to do with harsh shifting. So, none the less here we are out of warranty, by 3k miles, still having the same issues and find out that the mounts and bushings may or may not be the solution. Here is the video

roadfrog

Transmission shift "thuds" were noises I experienced with my 7 series BMW, especially when downshifting
from 2-1 when coming to a stop.

I cured the issue by replacing the flex disc (what you called a "diff cushion"). This part is what many would call a modern-day, universal joint. They are made of heavy rubber and can crack and deteriorate over time.......much like the control arm bushings. Many members here don't even know our cars use these over conventional U-joints.

chpten8

So just out of curiosity I called the warranty company and explained the issue to them regarding the motor mounts and differential bushings, and being the it was a standing issue prior to the warranty meeting it's terms they are going to replace them under warranty, took a week but saved me $6k.

Doublebase

Winner winner chicken dinner!

It's our first motor mount failure (at least as far as I know). And my hat goes off to Lexus dealerships all around the world...$6,000 dollars for motor mounts? I mean you guys aren't even trying anymore, why not make it $50,000 grand? Afraid people will realize you can buy aftermarket mounts for $200 bucks? Nah. Well I guess someone has to pay for that dealership's tiled shop floor.

Devh

It's the squeeze. Just enough so you give till it hurts but not more then that otherwises it causes a revolution.
We DIY guys look at the situation and save ourselves $8750. I can buy some cool stuff for that ridiculous savings like throwing a steak dinner for all of my friends, family and neighbors.

chpten8

Oh no I agree, if the warranty company wasn't going to cover it, I definitely would have been pulling the motor and doing the work myself, my warranty is now expired by force of mileage, and before that my advisor said well next time you come in we will see if the transmission is shifting any better, (hand on her shoulder) Honey, there will be no next time, warranty is out, so am I, I have a mechanical background, I will definitely be hitting up Cherry Hill Lexus or Sewell Lexus for parts and work in my own garage fixing it. But hey warranty will cover it by all means continue please! Haha