Hello everyone,

Thanks for reading! I drive a 2026 Lexus TX 350.

In strong windy conditions, I’m getting a weird rattling/flapping noise tied to wind gusts—sounds and feels like something loose slapping rapidly against the body, similar to vertical blinds flapping quickly in the wind. It only happens with stronger gusts while driving, and I’ve checked the exterior (panels, trim, mirrors, etc.)—everything looks solid and secure.

Anyone else with a newer TX noticing this kind of wind-triggered rattle? Common causes like door seals, lower trim, window surrounds, or vibrating panels? Any fixes or dealer experiences?

Appreciate any input before I take it in. Thanks

 

Hey I am glad I am not the only one with this issue! In my 2024 TX, that sound can be reproduced when there are strong winds blowing into the cars trunk. So the wind is blowing with the direction of the car driving (“tailwind”)
I noticed this before on my RX loaner. I believe it’s the flaps that are in the lower back bumpers on the sides. I am not sure much can be done about it outside of taking the bumper off and putting felt on the flappers to help reduce the noise. I believe those flaps are the pressure equalizer flaps between the outside and inside of the car.
You can reproduce that flap noise when you slam the driver rear door shut
if you have any recourse or repair please let us know!

 

That is exactly what I thought!

 

I also have a new 2026 TX 350 with less than 500 miles making the exact wind noise. It only happens on very high cross winds and happens on both sides of the vehicle either on the front door or back of the bottom of front fender. I investigated and noticed on the bottom of the inside door, there is a black plastic panel and I wiggled it it is not very tight to the door. It replicates the same slapping noise as the cross winds. Also when you open the door in between the bottom of door and fender there is another piece of plastic that is inside the bottom of the fender that also is loose. I was able to put a couple of wedges in the bottom door panel and the slapping noise diminished alot .I am confident these are the culprits. I put the car on a lift at a garage and went through every panel underneath the vehicle and all panels were super tight with no play. I just purchased rubber weather stripping and will put on the panels in the doors and the piece in-between the fender and door and let you know if this works. I know if I bring to the dealer they won't find it because the wind has to be blowing side to side to hear it. If anyone else figures it out please let me know. It is driving my wife and I crazy. They just don't make the Lexus vehicles I like they used to. It was all about quality. Oh yeah I forgot to mention also that I hear a lot of wind noise by the sunroof does anybody have that same problem. I've checked everything and no leaks but definitely you could hear the wind noise

 

Wind on the sunroof, do you have crossbars? If so, maybe the wind is hitting it causing the sound.

 

Just got a brand new tx350 and noticed a "slapping" noise with high cross winds. I took my car in for service abd gut a loaner. Same noise only louder. Investigating believe i found the issue although not the solution. In the roof rails the are some " plastic caps " that cover the bolts where i believe cross bars would attach. They sit in there loosely and i highly suspect they're rattling as they get buffeted by the wind. Thoughts?

 

Mines doesn't have the crossbars and I never wanted them.

Maybe trying removing the crossbars when you don't use them and install them when you need them.

 

I don't have then either although I think of i did it would solve the problem. It's the plactic caps that sit loosely in the rails covering the crossbar attachment spots.

 

I am voice texting so excuse the grammar. You are correct Docshots.. the caps on my cross bars do rattle so I took them off and drove the vehicle for a while. I live on the Gulf Coast of Florida and there's a lot of crosswinds and I was able to drive my car with the caps on then I took them off and all the noise went away. It sounded like it was on the bottom of the car originally when I first got it but it was actually on the top of the cross bars. I have driven this now for about 15 miles in the heavy winds yesterday and today and not one rattle in the TX at all. In fact the sunroof wind is actually quieter as well. I was convinced the noise was coming from the bottom of the doors but it was actually the caps. I put a sticky rubber insulator under the cap but it was a little bit too high and it did not want to stay into the slot so what I did was since I will never use the crossbars I put one drop on each side of the cap of super glue and it will hold it in place it's solid as a rock. I was hesitant on doing it but I put a tiny little drop and it holds the cap very well. Don't know if others will use their cross bars but I don't want to put anything on my roof since this is an expensive vehicle. Thanks so much again for pointing this out. To be honest my wife was at the point where she wanted to trade the vehicle in because nobody could find the problem and it sounded terrible like there was something slapping on the car. So so simple of a fix. Hopefully others will see this posting that you put out and will solve their rattle. Again thanks for responding with your solution. You are the best!!!

 

Thanks for letting me know. I taped mine down as a temporary fix to verify and hadn't heard it since but also hadn't had a big crosswind. I did mention it to the lexus service manager to see if they had ran into it and had a solution. He shrugged his shoulders and told me I'd need to mage another service appointment for them to look at it I took that as a no so thanks for the verification!! Hopefully it solves it for a few others as well....

 

Thank you very much to everyone who commented and helped expand on this topic — I truly appreciate it.

After spending some time checking things over on my car, I was able to resolve the rattle, although I can’t say with certainty which fix made the difference.

One thing I noticed right away was when I was drying the car with a leaf blower — every time air passed over the license plate, it would rattle. It turns out the dealer hadn’t tightened it properly. I secured it, which already seemed to help.

At the same time, I also removed the covers from the roof rails and reattached them using felt tape.

Since then, I haven’t heard the noise at all — and we’ve already had some strong wind, so it seems like the issue is resolved.

 

Genius! One of the 4 caps were loose and it was in the area where that sound came from… I used felt tape on the cap’s legs and now it’s very tight!
Driving around so far it seems to have fixed it!
Update: After driving around for an additional 2 total hours in a windy day in the setting to cause the noise, THE ISSUE IS FIXED! Thank you!