Has anyone experienced the following noises in the 2017 RX?

Perforated front seat ventilation fan - very noisy on mid or high speed cooling. I had both a 2013 and a 2015 RX and never heard the seat fan before. Here in Florida, the seat fan is a necessary accessory and I think Lexus may have screwed up on the design of the 2017 fan or ducting. It shouldn't be so noisy. Sounds like a wind storm inside the cabin. I hope Lexus can find a fix for this annoying noise.

Also, I noticed an unusual "whirring sound" with the windows open when I put the car into or take it out of Park. It lasts for only a second or two. I suspect the noise is caused by the new "automatic parking brake" mechanism being set or released. Has anyone else noticed this? In any event, it's not the kind of noise I expect the otherwise quiet Lexus to make.

Feature and technology wise, this car is an enormous and impressive improvement over my 2015 model. It would be a shame for these silly noises to mar the otherwise quiet cabin and driving experience.

 

For the seat ventilation noise, Lexus increased the effectiveness of the ventilation (for MY2016+) with stronger fans since that seemed to be a common complaint. So putting up with a little extra noise is worth it to me.

For the whirring sound after putting it in park or taking it out of park, that is the sound of the electronic parking brake. Quite s common sound for any car equipped with it.

 

The first week with my RX I was petrified that something was wrong when I first heard the seats, but then after sitting in the back row and observation it was obvious that it was just the fans. Although a bit noisey, I really appreciate how well Lexus engineers made the cooled/heated seats work. I did not know that the whrring sound was the electronic brake, thanks for sharing the knowledge!

 

Lexus used to only put the single fan in the seat bottom but people complained they could not feel it so they added a fan to the seat back, right behind and just below the head. On high it can make some noise . . . if it is too loud, just turn it down a notch and it is much better.

I turned off the auto brake so no noise there. I do get some of the regenerative noise on my 450h when braking but that does not bother me.

 

Did anyone else notice that when Fresh Air blower is on high / medium high there is an annoying squeal from the ventilator fan ?

 

Thanks for that tip about the seat back fan. It's obvious that's where the noticeable fan noise is coming from once you know about it. I agree it can be eliminated at the low setting, but at the higher speeds, when you're not expecting it, it is annoying. Another solution might be to unplug the connector for the seat back fan. I also confirmed the noise associated with going into or out of Park is the auto-brake. Knowing it's not something wrong with the car, I can live with it.

 

Moderator deleted my previous reply.
Well, I am so glad he did. I was an a#$hole.
Do not drink and type.

 

The beauty of the internet. You can't convey sarcasm or a "joking" tone. Another beauty, you can delete a comment quickly

 

WHen it gets super hot again and you go into your car with the cool AC blasting your back side, you will be happy you had the feature! In the meantime make sure to keep it on a lower setting!