Before I go to the dealer and make a fool of myself, perhaps somebody in this forum can help. The passenger seat on my '04 that only has 1,300 miles on it appears to have a problem. On the bottom seat cushion where it is stitched to make the 2 large panels, it looks like the front portion of the padding has shifted. At the front of the seam there is a crescent shaped piece where you can feel that there is no padding (feels like foam rubber padding). The drivers side is perfectly straight at the seam and you can feel the padding all along the seam. I looked on Autotrader at the photos, all 20 pages, and saw only a few that appeared to have the same issue. As I said could any of you help me out before I go to the dealer and hear "They All do That"?
Also the Passenger door has a good rattle in it (this is not vs a bad rattle). I searched this site and found the threads on the vibration associated with the radio but this does it even when the radio is off. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank,

Lou K

 

Hi Lou,

Mine doesn't have the seat padding issue but does have a passenger's side rattle. I say it that way because I thought it was the door and had all that work done to no avail. It turns out to be the seat itself. The tipoff for me was that I never heard the rattle when I was carrying a passenger. One day while driving alone I heard it and reached over and firmed pulled the passenger's seat back toward me. The rattle stopped! It comes back periodically but with a few tugs on the seat I can get it to stop. I'll get my SA to look into this the next time I have the car in.

George

 

Carpe>

Where did you grip the seat to firmly pull it toward the driver's side? Did you grip it from the side of the seatbottom cushion or from the seatback or someplace else? That rattle is driving me nuts.

 

It's definitely a seat rattle. Although the passenger door might also have rattle problems when playing music with a lot of bass. I have my right door insulated and now need my dealer to fix the seat. I believe the sound is coming from within the lumbar mechanism. If you press your hand against the lumbar support up/down in/out you and hear almost the exact same rattle sound. Can anyone try this as well?

 

I did something similar to what George did and it cured the problem for me also, at least so far. What I did is put my hand on the left side of the back of the passenger seat, near the top, and sharply go straight forward, kind of a quick pop. Not hard enough to force anything but still pretty hard. I did this a while back and the rattle has not come back. I hope maybe we have stumbled on something here. David

 

Lou K, I had the same problem with rattling and it was the wood trim on the door panel. The creaking would occur with the radio off and expecially on bumpy roads. The dealer fix worked beautifully. To test for the problem have a passenger press on various parts of the door panel while driving to see if the sound disappears temporarily. Alternatively try reaching over and pull firmly on the passenger arm rest while driving. Good luck.

 

I tried what you said to no avail. Then I put my arm behind the seat and gave it a good whack with my fist, the rattle stopped. The ultimate pursuit of perfection?????

I am going to attempt to make it to the dealer today regarding the seat cushion and my "Technical Service Bulletin Repair" I'll keep everyone posted.

 

Guys,
I have a 2004 and the rattle from the front passenger seat started at 600 miles. I brought it to the dealer and they said they could not find any Technical Service Bulletin. There is another thread under SC430 where someone mentioned the same problem and it got fixed by replacing the seat. It is truly annoying. Try this - when you hear the rattle, place your fingers between the seat cushion and the bottom of the backrest. When I do this, it stops. If my dealer cannot fix the problem, I will ask them to replace the seat. I'll keep you posted and will also look for any update.

2004 SC430 Indigo Ink Pearl
HRE843R

 

Just got back from the dealer. I told them of my fix ---to hit it with your fist and the fix to put your hand between the seat back and the cushion--- both of which are silly. They said they have corrected this before. One down. As far as the padding the Service Manager felt that it was bunching up and not separating as I had suspected. He feels it is an easy fix. Only the fix will tell.

When I was there I looked at the new PB edition. The red interior will grow on you--- I think. The carpets should have been black and that would probably subdue it some. By the way the driver's seat also had the "bunched up" padding. The wheels are terrible. They look like the original centers fell off and they replaced them with new ones but did not bother to have them chrome plated---tacky. As for the paint awesome--- just enough metallic to break up the black and will not show every little mark. Black owners don't get angry. I have a black LS that is a pain in a** but beautiful after a good detail by myself. My SC is midnight pine that is equally as dark but with the metallic in the paint it is much more forgiving.

Can't wait to have the fixes done????

 

Lou,
Thx for sharing the information from the dealer. Did they say how they fixed the seat?
Rgrds,
Jesse

 

No they didn't. I was afraid to ask since the fix might be stuff a towel between the cushion and seat back.
This will be my first experience with Lexus service. After years of dealing with Mercedes service you become very "gun shy".

 

Mykotse,

What wheels are those on your car? What size? thanks

 

Hey Lou,

Thread nappers, gotta luv em.

Please keep us update on the rattle fix. I might be heading back to my dealer sooner than I thought.

Thanks,
George

 

The wheels are HRE 843R, polished with clear coat. They are 18X8.5. Stock size is 18X8.0. You can go to www.hrewheels.com and check out all the different types. I like the 8.5 because I can still use the stock tires and it fills up the fender wells nicely.

 

Thanks,

Didn't mean to "Nap the thread" I just saw thw picture of your car and wanted to know what wheels you had. My wife and I have yet to decide on what wheels we want so we were just curious. Thanks again