steerpike

I bought my RX 350 used with 12k miles and was generally pleased, but noticed an odd sound when the temperature inside the car 'stabilized' (that is - once the a/c had done its job of cooling the inside, and the system was in 'maintain the temperature' mode). Every two minutes or so, I'd hear a 'labored' damper motor movement. Given the lovely silence that the RX350 provides (why I bought it!), this was quite distracting.


I took the car to the local dealership without an appointment on a Saturday afternoon (zoo!). The 'greeter' was truly spectacular ... these seem to be the 'entry level' workers. She first showed me how to replace the cabin air filter (which was filthy, a surprise after only 12k miles), and told me I could buy a new one at any local store (cheaper!). She also replaced the battery in my key fob, while I waited. She then brought out a 'service technician' who patiently sat with me for probably 30 minutes. He put the a/c system in 'split' mode, and cycled left and right sides up and down, pinpointing the fact it was the right side that was noisy (left side was inaudible). He knew exactly what was wrong, and told me to schedule a service visit to have it replaced. That's the end of the good news


I brought it in 2 days later for the service. The original tech was not in that day. I waited 3 hours in the waiting area for the work to be done and on 'completion', was told 'working as expected, no repair done'. I was annoyed. I sat with the new technician, demonstrated the problem as the first tech had done, and now the guy acknowledges a problem, but tells me no parts on hand (why didn't they order it Saturday when the first tech confirmed a problem....?; why didn't the new technician get me to demo the problem since he determined there was no problem - I was sitting in the waiting area for 3 hours ...; why didn't the first technician write up the problem in detail so there wouldn't be a question? )


They let me have a free rental for 2 days while the part was ordered and installed, but this seems very disorganized to me. (The rental was an ES350 - desperately uncomfortable to me - seat very low even at highest setting, but it did have an awesome lane-keep feature!).


Anyway - new damper motor now installed and I can't hear a whisper when the damper moves (actually, at idle, if I really listen, and intentionally trigger the movement, I can barely hear it but it's clearly working as designed now).

raylor4

I guess you'll be bringing your Lexus in on Saturdays from now on...
Glad you got your problem fixed. Sorry you had to jump thru hoops.
Ray A.