antigeek

After 1286 miles and a little over a month of joyous ownership, I have a couple of little things that irk me. Not enough to reduce the love for this car, but I thought I'd share them for some feedback.

1. The passenger door doesn't unlock when you pull the handle (the driver's side does). I can understand not having the doors unlock when you put the car in Park, but why I need a "child safety" feature in this car I can't understand.

2. The seat belts are a bit tough to reach. OK, but if you release the belt, the buckle can hit the wood trim on the door. I've tried to be careful, but I'm sure that it'll probably ding or chip the lacquer over time. One option is to use the strap on the seat (if you're short enough).

3. I've found a chip on the edge of the driver's door (read: my fault). I've seen this one a used SC430 that I checked out before mine came in, so it seems that it's easy to do. Do I put a plastic protective strip along the edge of the doors? Besides being potentially ugly, it may not even fit with the tight lines that Lexus cars have.

4. The low fuel light goes on around 16.5 gallons down, and the trip computer's indicator comes on around 17. Does the SC430 have an 18- or 20-gallon tank? I'm sure that highway cruising range at 20MPG would give me about 350 miles before screaming for gas, but I used to get that in my SC400 WITHOUT the fuel light coming on.

5. The doors rattle when I'm exercising the stereo system, even at "medium" volume (just right for rollin' down the road). I'm not exactly listening to Vivaldi, either. I think it's the wood panels, but I'm not sure -- they're not loose. And it only happens at the lower frequencies, of course. If it keeps up, I hope that the dealership will help me with it. Anyone else heard this in their car?

Much thanks to others' posts regarding other ergonomic issues, specifically:
- holding down the RDS button to turn off RDS, which allows the antenna to go down when the CD player is on
- moving the rear seat buckles under the straps

Thanks to everyone for their input. You all make this a great forum to be a part of. Happy New Year. FINALLY, the year matches our model year!

--
AntiGeek
Midnight Pine/Saddle SC430 (manuf. October 2001)

beels

1) Check out the CBEST options with the dealer. You can have both doors unlock when put in Park, or have the pass. door unlock open when the handle is pulled AFTER the drivers door has been opened.

4) The manual says 19.8 gal.

5) I've noticed this too. Narrowed it down to the driver's side wood. When I apply light finger pressure to the rear edge of the wood, the noise stops. I'll take it up w/ dealer eventually.

LexusSC430

The vibrations from the stereo are just the bass traveling throughout the car. Im not sure there is much they can do applying dynomat or another injection type foam would help aid this, but Its not a big deal. Bass travels through just about anything.

As for the gaslight just because it comes on doesnt mean you need gas right away.

The seatbelt I do find annoying, my only quirk of this car. Trying to reach behind me and then turning the belt so it comes out is annoying, and using the seat clips, you might as well need a wench to pull it. My solution has been to delicately take the belt off that way it is easier to grab and pull through.

BlackLXSC

I am close to a thousand miles on my Black/Black. I seem to experiencing the same type of nuisance problems on the SC.

To answer your concerns specific to chips, look up the following web sites for paint protection kits:

www.xpel.com
www.stongard.com

Both offer front paint and headlight protection kits. StonGard also offers door edge protection and door handle cup covers as well. If you find the right Xpel installer, they may also be able to get the door edge protectors. I am still trying to figure out which kit to install on my car. I am leaning towards the StonGard install at this time.

Door Rattles:
I listen to music with a heavy emphasis on bass, and as a result both doors rattled quite a bit from medium to high volume levels. I took it back to the dealer around 500 miles, and after their first attempt, they fixed the passenger door, with some remaining minor rattles on the driver door. I am hoping to have that addressed at the 1k checkup. They did a pretty good job insulating the passenger door wood panels, and I am hoping they can accomplish the same on the driver side.

HTH.

ORIOLE

5. The doors rattle when I'm exercising the stereo system, even at "medium" volume (just right for rollin' down the road). I'm not exactly listening to Vivaldi, either. I think it's the wood panels, but I'm not sure -- they're not loose. And it only happens at the lower frequencies, of course. If it keeps up, I hope that the dealership will help me with it. Anyone else heard this in their car?

I noticed the door rattle as well. I even get it on AM stations without music. I talked to the dealer and was told that they have a bulliten on it. Something to do with strapping or the tying down of the inside of the door. I actually have my car in for service to get that fixed as I type. I'll let you know how it comes out.


Oriole

RodF

I added a separate Xtant 202 amp just for the sub (there's a space for it right next to the stock amp) and put a JL Audio speaker in for the sub. In addition, I had a level control control installed just for the sub amp. I always keep it near the top and I get a LOT of low bass. What rattles first in my car at higher bass levels appears to be the driver's seat. That's my signal to pull down the sub. I doubt if the seat rattle is something that can be tweaked but if someone has accomplished that I'm all ears.

LexusSC430

Guys just got to the store and get some dynomat or othe rinjection sound deadener. Even so much as insulting the area around the sub will help stop vibrations throughout the car. putting a 6"x6" sheet of it in a general area helps a lot. There is also the injection stuff. If you dont mind spending a bit of money, the stuff gets really expensive.

Here an example....in "non-luxury" cars the insulation for road noise in the door is a piece of plastic, like saran wrap. In luxury cars its a foam like substance. Makes no sense to me, but thats the way it is. just buy some of the stuff, its avaiable at and car stereo place.

fletch

I've had a significant problem with door rattle due to stereo bass. It was apparent when I drove the car off the lot. After four failed attempts by the dealer to fix it, they finally ordered new door panels, at a cost (to the dealer) of $4000. It's worse now. Even moderate bass played at low volumes rattles the door, as does AM talk and certain road surfaces at highway speeds. It's the only complaint I have about this incredible machine -- but it's extremely irritating and detracts from my enjoyment of the car. I'll take it back again when I have the time. It will be my sixth service visit for this problem!

If anyone has successfully corrected a serious rattle like this, or has any ideas, I'd be grateful.

LexusSC430

Read my previous post.....

antigeek

ORIOLE -- any updates?
Did the dealer fix the problem?

An update: a new irk, and a nice little feature.

The irk: when it's 50 degrees in my garage, after about 15 seconds of starting up the monster, the idle goes up to around 1-1.2kRPM. Maybe it's a tune-up issue, but it bugs me. Any similar experiences?

Nice feature: only a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that there is a convenient handle on the inside of the trunk lid! Not that I'm short, but it has helped me reduce the finger prints on the back of the trunk. Just pull down 'til you can get your hand over the back, and use a long-sleeved elbow!

LexusSC430

[QUOTE]Originally posted by antigeek


The irk: when it's 50 degrees in my garage, after about 15 seconds of starting up the monster, the idle goes up to around 1-1.2kRPM. Maybe it's a tune-up issue, but it bugs me. Any similar experiences?



Mine does the same thing....only its a few seconds after startup, sounds like its about to stall then shoots up....not to worry I think

ORIOLE

I did take the car in for the door rattle, a roof rattle behind the passenger seat and to have the rear suspension upgrade. After 3 weeks in the shop (long story) I report the following:

The cars rides smoother with the new bushings installed in the rear. My car was the first one that they have done here in Honolulu (that's what they told me) so I did not press them to hurry the job.

The right side roof rattle is still there although it is intermittent. I was told they could not duplicate it, but every time I get in the car it is loud and clear. I will have to follow up.

The driver side door noise is gone so far. They said they could not find a problem after they took it apart. I was told that they ordered me a new speaker as the probable cause. I doubt it though. It may have been accidentally fixed when they were inside. I am crossing my fingers that is the case.

LexusFamily

Hi,

I too have had the infamous door rattle problem. It is definitely the wood trim vibrating from the BASS frequencies. By pressing the wood trim, I was able to supress the vibration during CD portions that always caused the problem. I pointed this out the my Elite Dealer and they fixed it pretty much in 1.5 hours during my 1K mi check-up. They removed the wood panel/door panel and added more felt-like pads/insulators at contact spots where they guessed there was a problem.

Have a CD track selection that caused the problem and pointing out that pressing against the wood trim greatly helped them in tracking down the problem.

The problem is now 70-80% gone. However, the wood trim trim still vibrates on the heavier bass audio selections. Nevertheless, much better than before. A little disappointing, but the Mark Levinson Bass (and entire spectrum in general) reproduction is simply amazing.

Now, I have a rattle I think coming from the roof behind the driver's seat. Anyone know more about this?

Thanks...

antigeek

I don't THINK I've heard the rear roof rattling -- yet.
But I do have this advice about the roof itself.

My roof "thumps" into place when it comes down.
I found that I can turn it into a graceful "slide" (sorry, no appropriate onomatopoeia (I won the 2nd grade spelling bee)) by LIGHTLY pushing up with my hand under the roof as it comes down.

Oh, one more IRK that I think I have a solution for.
With the top down, those things you toss in the back can have a tendency to fly around, especially paper. The simple solution is a bag (a classy leather one, preferably). In my case, I have papers and other things I acquire on my journeys that I'd like to keep more organized, so I got a zip-up binder -- one without 3 rings in it (as some have). Problem solved -- and no cops to pull me over for littering (not that it's happened -- YET).

LexusSC430

LOL.......Im getting tired of saying this, but the rattling can be easily fixed by using dynomat. Its available at any stereo shop. It doesnt need to be placed in the wood, but rather in the door...its stops the vibrations before it gets to the wood or wherever. A good shop will sound proof the entire car to the point of where a bomb could go off outside the car and you wouldnt know it. They use this stuff on competition cars with 20 12" bass-kicking speakers and its very effective. It can get very expensive though, there are different levls and its ually adhesive (with a hair dryer) but the do have injection type.

Think about it guys if mark levinson is doing a house system do you not think he uses similar stuff to soundproof the house???

As for replacing the doors and etc, IMHO I WOULD not want a dealer replaced door or panel. I would leave the factory parts as much as possible, unless there is a serious defect.