Hey all,

Today I purchased a Lexus certified RX450h and have a couple issues. I’m looking for advice. I noticed a vibration at 70+mph on my way home from the dealer so I looked it over carefully after arriving home. It has repairs on two wheels and broken rocker panels. Frankly, it made me feel sick to my stomach that I trusted a dealer to sell me a clean vehicle and I’m not sure if I have any buyer’s protection. I called the sales associate and he said to call the used car manager on Monday. Seemed to be pawning the problem off To another manager.

Any thoughts on what I should ask for? I feel that this is not really what Lexus has in mind for a certified vehicle. I’m holding off on identifying the dealer in case they are able to turn my frown upside down.

Thanks,
Billy

 

I forgot to add that the body does not have any damage. The undercarriage does not have any scrapes, gouges or dents that I could detect.

It has California plates. The rear does not have a year tab on it, only a month.

 

Might not be as bad as you think. Wheel repair might just be the result of curb rash. The plastic piece can easily be fixed with a new part. Lexus will have to address the vibration under your warranty. If there is no sign of body or undercarriage damage, take it back to the dealer and tell them you want it all fixed. Even try for new wheels. Take a ride with a tech, and demonstrate the vibration.

 

Vibration where exactly? You better pray it’s not the famous droning. Hopefully it’s just from your wheels. Describe the vibration better.

 

Bring it back immediately. Dont pick it up until all repairs are made to your satisfaction. I take it that you paid a good amount of money for this certified used suv. Otherwise they may think that you caused the damage.

 

Drive at freeway speed with only one of the rear windows opened, and all other windows closed. If you have the drone issue and it's really severe, the drone will reverberate through out the cabin and becomes defeafening. For my car, a brand new loaded RX350, I can feel the excessive movement of the exhaust system causing the steering wheel to vibrate even at idle speed. Sorry for the bad experience dude.

 

driving with only one window open always causes loud sound in the cabin, in pretty much any car.

 

Helmholtz Resonance.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a1...ne-car-window/

 

I took it back in today. The used car manager was nice and said he would fix it all. They would not commit to buying new wheels but will have their wheel repair service make it look better. I have a 2018 or 2019 ES350 loaner for now.

The service associate said they would have a hard time finding a place to hit 70-80mph.

Thank you for the advice. I’ll post when I get the RX back.

 

I have never owned a vehicle with low profile tires that didn't have curb rash to some degree at some point. The Plastic trim is easy to fix and doesn't have any significant meaning. Did you do a walk around? My walk around on a brand new car takes me 20 mins...on a used car I would never accept it until I did a thorough walk around and that would also be a very extended test drive including the highway. That all should've been identified prior to taking possession of the car - I'm sure Lexus will make it right.

As for "droning"...IMO it's an annoying trait of the RX but really not a big deal unless you choose to dwell on it and take it personally that Lexus made an imperfect vehicle. It's something I note from time-to-time and then immediately forget about because you know...I have a busy life, it has no impact on how the car drives or performs and I have to pick my battles.

 

No I did not do a walk around. I poorly assumed a certified vehicle was “like new”. I normally do this for private party cars.

The vehicle had a very mild shake at higher speeds. I’ll have to read up on droning. To me, droning is more of an acoustic event when I hear the word, not a mechanical imbalance.

I noticed the loaner has nearly the same vibration also. My old GS400 had it too. My friends LS430 had it. All of them were most noticeable at 80mph. Maybe Lexus just has a shake they build into all their vehicles. The 2014 accord we traded in did not have this.

Thanks for the tip, lesson learned.

 

I've found scratches and dings on brand new cars just off the truck that had never even been test driven. You can image any given dealership has several hundred vehicles coming off trucks, being moved around the lot, test driven, etc, etc. **** happens....hence I don't trust anyone. For a used or CPO car no matter how well it was cared for every car accumulates some wear and tear. I would never expect a "perfect" car esthetically even as a CPO. I'd expect a car in very good to excellent condition but the only way to get a "new" car with absolutely no evidence of wear and tear is to buy a new car. You are getting a discount because it is not a new/perfect car.

At 90mph my Rx does not have any shake. I have had this phenomenon a few times on new cars - one needed balancing and one needed the tires replaced - they were "out-of-round" from the factory.

 

May I know if the side mirror shakes when the speed above 70 mph? My new RX350 has this issue. Only at left side mirror.

 

Certified is really a bunch of BS besides the warranty. All a dealer has to do to offer a car as certified is pay Lexus corporate their fee. They claim they inspect them (I'm sure they do to some extent), but for the most part, especially with a 1-2 year old car, I think it's safe to say they change the oil and throw it on the lot. There have been numerous horror stories posted on the forums over the years about Lexus certified cars.

 

I just bought a 2016 CPO RX350. No problems so far

My last Lexus was a 2015 CPO IS250. The first 90 days I owned it was in the shop 60. Towed twice the first 2 weeks I had it. First it was the ECU draining the battery. Then the A/C servos valves kept locking up. They finally had to bring a guy in and tear the dash apart. He changed all the parts in the system to get it to work.

After that I found a piece missing. The plastic underneath the steering wheel. That took time to get in.

I did get to drive some nice loaners. My first LS and some NX models.