Okay, very strange but sequence of issues on my 2005 are EXACTLY as they were on my 2002! So far, the engine motor mounts, transmission mounts and now ML speakers (in that EXACT order) have needed replacement all with very low miles. Is this due to coincidence or known problems of the SC...or another factor...THE GARAGE QUEEN FACTOR?

Driving Ebony the other day in BEAUTIFUL late August low 90's weather (after 100+ for nearly a month in Texas this was COOL) I heard the all too familiar popping sound of my PS front ML speaker. Luckily I have a CPO car but I'm kind of frustrated that the same exact issues I had on my 2002 with 25k miles on it I'm having on my 2005 with 35k miles on it. Strange, huh?

So, this issue begs the question about Garage Queens: Do you all think that by NOT driving these cars (we know about rubber/gaskets/belts/batteries and fluids) OTHER issues are more likely to occur such as ML speakers? Do you all think the speaker cones dry out and separate from the magnet or something? Very strange. Transmission/motor mounts? Perhaps because they "sit" so long when they are pushed as the car is finally driven/torqued that they start to fail? I believe they have rubber grommets on them as well so perhaps they dry out and crack/fail too?

I have put about 800 miles on my car since I got it last October. I drive it at least 3-4 times per week short distances and a couple of times a month a little longer. Climate controlled garage...originally a San Diego car since new. Same exact issues as my 2002 had in the same order as well!!!

I think the ML speaker issue is just a factory defect and it happens to ALL SC's whether its driven daily or not. They're just crappy quality and can't handle the power from the factory amps.

As for the Engine and Tranny mounts, how do you know they're bad? I can see where they could potentially go bad from just sitting around but its really only been about a year you've had it and I dont think sitting around for a year would lead to the same problem.

The reason I bought the very expensive warranty is I knew I would need motor mounts (not yet though). All early SC suffer from weak mounts. If you drive top down you should blow your ML about every three years. Perhaps Texas roads are tougher than Florida. I know when living in DC almost every day I hit a pothole that I was sure broke something. In Florida, almost never. Tranny mounts are more unusual. Do you take her on dirt roads? You may just be paying the price for living in one of the greatest states in the union. I think I am pretty close in temp and color to you, and my car is never covered. So far none of the rubber has any visible damage.

When I bought my '02 in '09, I purchased the dealers extended warranty because I figured the motor mounts would need replacing having read this forum. I dropped it off at the dealers to check the mounts at 93k miles and any other rubber suspension parts for deterioration. I couldn't believe they found nothing needed replacing. I would be at a loss to explain why a climate controlled garage queen would wear out sooner than a daily drive. ML speakers are a different story. Had to replace both front base speakers in the first 3 months I had the car.

When I had my front ML door speakers repaired, the guy told me that it's simply time that causes speakers to go bad. He told me that even if I left some brand new ML speakers in a box in a closet and didn't use them for 10 years, they would still weaken with time. I was surprised by this, but I assume he knew what he was talking about since that's his business (The Speaker Doctor). I always assumed the extreme heat in Texas probably added to the short speaker life and refoaming issue, but this guy stressed that it was mainly just a time and aging problem that affects every speaker.

I'm always in a quandary about how to listen to music in my car. I've always listened to my music at a high volume in the car, but with our system, that's just not possible. If you turn it up too loudly, not only does it not sound good, you run the risk of busting the 6x9's. But if you don't turn it up, it's not a satisfying listening experience. So what to do?

With my 6 year warranty, I'm tempted to just say what the heck and turn up the music. If I blow 10 speakers, Lexus will have to replace them and it will be their fault for using faulty equipment. But at the same time, we live our lives taking care of the things we have. You don't want to intentionally cause a problem. Sooo....usually, I wind up turning the music down. My need to take care of the things I have wins out over my need for loud music, and I'm rarely happy with the music in my car.

It all boils down to.....Lexus really screwed up when they put the poor ML system in a $70k car. How Lexus got by all the years touting the "quality" of the ML system is beyond me. I had a better sounding system in an old Mazda 626 in 1982.

The fact that Lexus knew of the sound system problems and intentionally CHOSE NOT to correct them for 9 years is a bad mark on their claim to ultimate quality.

It's just a shame that if you want to have a good stereo system, a company like Chrysler beats the heck out of Lexus and it's not even close. Lexus should be ashamed. Let's face it....a $70k car should have the best sound system known to man...but it's absolutely horrible. It's really the only thing I don't like about the car.

To be honest with you, I drive my 2005 every day and have not had the problems you have stated except maybe the ML speaker. I have yet to replace it, but I can live with it for now since it's not that bad. As for the engine mounts and transmission mounts, I have not had to replace those. I have mine garage kept but I drive it every single day. My SC has 48K miles on it. I am also the kind of car owner, like yourself, who likes to keep his car well-maintained. The problems you listed do not exist on my vehicle as far as I know. I live in similar weather as you as well, assuming that Texas has similar heat and weather patterns as Florida. Hope all turns out well.

I have a 04 Solara with 20k so you know how much it gets drivin, not much, I have never had any problems with any of the rubber, or speakers, its sits in a garage. I did replace my tires but not from wear, but because of possible deteriation of the rubber. I have 31k on my 05 sc and never a problem with any rubber on it either or the speakers as so many on here complain about. It may have something to do with the climate I live in being very humide where yours is very hot and dry and I am continually treating the door rubber etc with 303, pretty hard to do the motor mounts thought lol!! I know having been a hot rodder most of my life that old cars that sit for yrs in gargages or outside more often than not have to have all the rubber on them replaced but the motor mounts never that I know of. I wouldnt think a 5 or 6 yr old car would have problems with motor mounts, I have never heard of this kind of problem til I read your post.

Thanks gang for all the insight...maybe I'm searching for an answer that can't be found. I am more than curious as to how BOTH my cars who were BOTH very low mileage cars and BOTH meticulously maintained/garaged/pampered, etc. could have the engine motor mounts and tranny mounts go out as well as speakers in the same sequence.

No dirt roads, but I do go over two sets of RR tracks each day to and from my daily drive to the gym or starbucks. I always slow down and honestly this has been one of the reasons why I haven't lowered Ebony or my previous 02 SC with larger wheels.

My 03 FX35 Infiniti had to have motor mounts replaced as well, but I was told it was an Infiniti TSB.

I am a fairly spirited driver who drives the cars (my infinitis too) I own in manual mode a lot for a more sporty feeling. I always drive in sport mode and don't race or push the car to the redline each time, but I do drive more aggressively than granny who owned it before me. I suppose driver habits could cause this too, or RR tracks or just coincidence. Who knows!??!

Oh, someone asks how you know your engine/tranny motor mounts are going out. On my first SC, when parked and in drive I noticed a shimmy/shake a little with the a/c on or off. I knew it was not right so I brought it in. They said transmission mounts were out so they replaced. I got it back and it still did it, this time I played with it in drive or park and it did it no matter what-so then they replaced the engine motor mounts. I supposed they did it in opposite order of diagnosis based on owners description of problem as well as perhaps the way the advisor wrote up the ticket? On this car I noticed it right away when I bought the car and brought it in, explained that it shook in both park/drive and with or without a/c on and they replaced BOTH engine/tranny mounts. I would suggest ANYONE who has these symptoms to get them replaced under warranty. The service bill for the mounts (can't remember which one) was over a thousand, so this could be an expensive one $$$$.

I will be taking Ebony in shortly for the ML speaker and I have some roof rattles/flexing that bother me I will take in for also. Sewell has been excellent to me with all my vehicles and I hope they will continue to be with my CPO. IS250 Loaner HERE I COME!!!

The ML systems in general are garbage and PALE in comparison to the Nakamichi systems used by Lexus in the '90s, and even the Audiomax and Dynaudio systems in much cheaper Volvos.

The problem is that Harmon International gives the lowest bid out to all of the major manufacturers, and as you notice just about every major manufacturer now uses: JBL, Harmon Kardon, Infinity, and Mark Levinson audio systems. These are ALL Harmon brands and with few exceptions (the Logic7 Systems are OK) they all sound like you're listening through a sock. I remember how excited I was several years ago when I bought my first 2002 LS430 to get to be a part of the Mark Lev system Lexus had been touting so much back then. When I finally heard it I was very disappointed. I assure you Home Audio Mark Levinson is an entirely different animal, and NOT owned by Harmon.

Its too bad that Nakamichi ran into such financial trouble at the end of the '90s or I believe Lexus MAY... MAY have continued to use them.

Maybe it's more common than you think and people just can't tell the difference because the change is so gradual or they get the car that way and think, that's just the way it is and accept it. Since most people have never had their mounts change and just sell their car because it's getting 'old and rough' they don't know the before and after to diagnose it. Also it could be a calculated risk the dealers take. They buy a beautiful car, that someone doesn't want to pay to repair and sells it to someone else who is going to accept those flaws for a discount of $30,000 off original price. They they then tack on the warranty and try to convince you that nothing is wrong. Just a thought.

Would the dealer get paid by someone else if they found work to do or does it come from the pool of money they have from selling the warranty. If it comes from the later it doesn't surprise me that they found nothing wrong. I wonder what would happen if you brought it in to someone else and tell them, it runs rough and I want to pay to get it fixed.

In this instance, the money from the warranty comes from someone else not associated with Lexus. I paid for one hour labor for the inspection. I practically gave the dealer a license to steal with them not knowing it would be a warranty claim until they finished their inspection. Had they found anything wrong, the next call would had been to the warranty company for an authorization number. I'm assuming their inspection was good and proves to me the reliability of these unique cars.

I agree that Harman automobile audio systems are disappointing; however, from the ML high performance AV website it appears that the ownership is Harman International.

http://www.marklevinson.com/hpav/

What is clearly NOT the same for each operating unit of the company is the philosophy of building down to a price.

Definitely agree with this. I had a '92 SC 400 and that system put the ML system to shame. The Nakamichi system wasn't as good as the Bose system in my old Acura Legend LS, but it was still a decent system that was semi-satisfying at louder levels.

The Bose system in my old Legend is still probably my favorite system that I've ever heard in a car. It filled the cabin with full sound with no distortion at any level. But I had a Boston Acoustics upgraded sound system a few years ago in a Chrysler that was a close second. The subwoofer in that Chrysler was unbelievable, but I paid more to get that sound coming out of the factory. If given the chance, I would ALWAYS upgrade my sound system because it's so important to me, and I know many feel the same way. Unfortunately, Lexus didn't give us a choice with the poor ML system.

We've got two interesting topics going on here...

I had the Nakamichi in both my 95 SC300 and my 96 SC400 and couldn't agree more that Nakamichi was far superior to ML. Between the two cars, I had only one issue: The 95 cd changer crapped out on me...$800 to replace. Just out of warranty!!

Motor Mounts-I would be curious for you all to run my "shake test" on your cars. Fire them up, let them get warm and sit there at a light or stop sign with the a/c on and off, turn off the stereo and look at the passengers seat and see if there is any shimmy or shake. Try different combos in park versus drive as well. Feel the steering wheel and shifter and see if you feel anything. If you do, I'm curious to find out if your dealer would replace mounts as well? Maybe Sewell likes replacing mounts out of goodwill to customers and perhaps it's a great bill to get paid on with corporate? Either way, I'm happy to have them replaced under warranty, but would be horrified if it wasn't covered and the shake/shimmy was really bad. See if you all have the same shake and check it out for yourselves. I'm curious to see.

I'll be damned! Good catch!