catdaddylo

Here is the situation. I noticed a very slight dashboard rattle that is intermitant depending on the smoothness of the road from day one when I first drove off the lot. I brought it to the attention to the service mgr and he told me to wait for my free 5,000 mile oil change and he would arrange to let me have a loaner car because sometimes it may take several days to find and correct the problem. I now have 3000 miles on my RX. He said they would have to remove the dash to correct the problem. OK that is the back ground. When I have passengers in the RX I ask them if they can hear the rattle. The consensous is that yes they can hear it but they really have to listen for it and it does not seem to be annoying at all. If I did not even mention the rattle they would not hear at all because it is so slight. When the radio is on or CD player, or the AC fan is running at least a couple of bars you cannot hear it no matter what the road condition is. You can't hear it at highway speeds. My wife and everybody that I ask them to listen thinks I would be crazy to have the dealer rip out the dash because they could do more harm than good and maybe create some rattles that are not there at this time. I hate to be **** as I can live with it but am a little disapointed that as deaf as I am I can hear the suttle viberation of something that is a little loose in the vent area. Would you have dealer fix this problem that does not seem to be a problem to any passenger that had ridden in my RX ? What are the chances of making this mole hill turn into a mountain by ripping out the dash ? I will let the consensous here be the final word.

gbusy1906

It may be coming from the pass side dash. When you hear the sound, put your hand on the dash. If it stops, open your glove box and drive with it open. 3rd, remove all articles from the glove box. Trouble shoot it yourself b/f allowing the freaks at the dealer to create other problems for you.

rcf8000

I think you'll find that the dealers are quite familiar with the dash rattle problems in the RX. My RX350 had several dash rattles and squeeks, and my dealer took out the dash and installed insulation, and everything has been fine since.

ecount00

agree with rcf, but doesnt hurt to ask the dealer how many rattles repairs they've done in the last 6 months or so. if you have a choice of dealers, probably some are much better and more experienced at this than others. maybe you should have somebody else drive the car and you ride in the passenger seat to see if their (or your) answer about how noticeable it is changes due to position. maybe a passenger doesnt hear what the driver hears. don't know. all things equal, if everybody else has said it's not obvious and you can't hear unless you are listening for it, i'd let it go and enjoy the car. if you find you can't do that, then get it fixed and hope they don't add any more squeeks by pulling the dash.

salimshah

My personal preference would be to ignore it ... BUT ... if you are hearing it and it is annoying then get it fixed.

Salim

The G Man

If you dont hear it, the problem is not there, its as simple as that

catdaddylo

I have 3200 miles on my RX and the free oil change is for the 5000 mile mark. I guess I am going to have them fix the rattle when I take it in for the oil change. It has been 4 months since I bought my RX. Anybody ever take their RX in a little early for the first oil change ?

The G Man

I always change my oil the 1st time at 3000 miles, its a good practice.

catdaddylo

This poll closes in another week. Although I only have 3500 miles on my RX350, I will have had it 6 months in mid August. So far 8 people have voted to have the rattle fixed and 1 has voted to forget it. Looks like I will have them address the issue in a couple of weeks. I will keep yall informed on the out come.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

Dash rattles seem to be a problem on many Lexus models.
No rattle problems on my RX and GS...yet.
My service advisor told me I'll have dash rattle problems on the GS this winter.He said the GS has the same dash rattles since the new generation '06s came out.Somehow Lexus never has taken care of the rattle issue..
Cold weather brings rattles.
Just great...at least they have a fix.
It's a shame to see how Toyota quality has been falling,even in the Lexus line.
Answer to your question.
I really don't know how cold it gets in Ark.If it does get cold wait,you'll have more rattles.If not,bring it in.

catdaddylo

I bought the RX in mid Feb and it was not cold but cool. Right now Arkansas is like a bake oven. Heat index over 100 with no relief in sight. Winters are mild here but there are several days of weather in the low teens. Like I said the rattle is not real bad but the fact is my 2005 ES330 does not have any rattles and my RX had one when I was driving it off the lot. Looking back I should have driven it before I signed any papers as my dealer got my RX from the Tulsa,OK dealer. The RX I test drove before I made the deal had no rattles. Seems like I am the one that hears it as my passengers don't seem to hear it unless I point it out to them. Just a little rattling buzz sound coming from the center of the dash where the vents and radio/CD player is located. Over 40 mph and the normal road noise makes it very hard to hear.

Got a rattle in the back......but thats my golf clubs clanging together

AM1

iTrader: (6)

get it fixed. if youre paying this much for a car it shouldnt have problems no matter how small. my dash never rattled, but had a lot of other issues.

Who_Me

Not many of us drive around in total silence. We turn up the radio/CD/iPod, so we don't have to listen to our significant other If you can only hear the rattle with all accessories turned off, I wouldn't bother. However, once you referred to it as a rattle and another time as a buzz. A buzz would concern me but a rattle as insignificant as you describe wouldn't bother me. I have never owned a car that didn't have at least some little rattle.

I know in Arkansas, you guys haul your coon hounds everywhere...check to make sure his rabies tag isn't the source. Just kidding!

catdaddylo

I do haul my Lab (duck dog) around but it's not her collar

catdaddylo

I am going to set up an appointment next week for the oil change but something strange has happened to my dash rattle. The temp here in Arkansas has gotten up into the 100's degree mark and my RX is a yard dog so it gets hot. Anyway, long story short, in the afternoons when the temp is in the 3 digits mark, the rattle is gone. In the cool of the morning you can hear it when you drive over rough pavement. I figure it has to be something metal that when it gets hot it expands thus pressing against something tighter than when it is cool leaving just a little space to rattle against. It is a metal against metal viberating sound that is faint but you can hear it in the morning but not in the afternoon. Any ideas ?