When is it 'loud'?

My dad's 2004 RX330 with 110K kilometers on it, sounds quiet in the cabin at idle. When you accelerate you hear it a 'bit more' and when you punch it, then it 'growls', but overall its quiet i find, and i am comparing to a 2001 ES300 that you can't hear whether its running or not!

 

The 330 howl is normal and I like it. Do not know how a 350 howls?

 

Well like is said listening to the engine bay (not driving it) with the hood up. From my experience with other cars.. its a little bit louder than usual. But yes when im inside driving its pretty quiet. RX's are designed to be quiet inside so the driver doesn't hear the outside.

 

My 350 howls like its on a race track when i'm driving it

 

LOL!

I have had an RX350 as a loaner and have not paid attention on the howl.

Wish I can have the 2010 RX350 as a loaner one of these days. Then again they might have improved the cabin insulation. And are using the noise cancelling sound.

 

My 2007 RX350 sounds like a uncivilized dissel engine from day one. The dealership said it was normal. I remeber at the time I asked around this forum and basically people agreed RX was a loud and "unLexus-like" I learned to live with it.

Recently I picked up a GS and boy, I now know what a real Lexus car feel & sound like. All four components of sound: Road noise, engine noise, wind noise and car vibration are way way and I mean way lower on my GS.

As far as quiteness is concerned, we have wasted money on the RX. Fortunately, quiteness is not the only thing we expect from a car.

 

The 3.5L V6 or the old 3.3L V6 engine is a mass produced engine that's used in a huge number of other Toyota/Lexus vehicles so quietness is not the best and cannot be compared to an engine dedicated for only Lexus vehicles. However, Lexus did make some drastic improvements in sound insulation in the current 2010 RX350 that the 3.5L engine noise has quieted down considerably, almost as quiet as a car. We've noticed on our 2008 RX350, the noise level is the "loudest" during cold starts but quiets down quickly after the engine is warmed up but still noisier than say the ES350 based on my experience.

 

Ditto YWW. Once the engine gets warmed in my '07 RX it is quiet as it can be.
The loud ticking disappears. I used my stethoscope on the engine while cold
and the ticking noise I hear seems to be coming from the fuel injectors. My suggestion to Lexus to provide some type of insulation blanket to cover the area went nowhere. Not to my surprise though. A great vehicle with only 18k miles.
After driving a '10 I think I like my '07 better although there are some features in the '10 I really like. However, it is no quieter than my '07 on the road (once my ticking disappears).

 

My 2007 has loud ticking noise when cold too. I took it to my dealer and complained 2 times now. My friend who work in there said the noise coming from the fuel injectors. After warm up a few minutes, it quiet down but not as quiet as my 2003 Camry with 115k miles. We learned to live with it after 1.5 years of ownership.

My 2009 Venza has the same noise but not as bad as the RX.

 

Did anyone ever have any luck quieting this "normal" annoying RX noise?
Any long term fixes for this?


Did the Lexus dealership do anything about it?