Hello,

first time poster here.
hoping this community can help me figure out a recourse.

Initial inquiry with dealer was met with hood latch and bump stop adjustment.
Further attempts to bring this issue up resulted in “no fault found”.
I’m in discussion with Lexus customer engagement team and the selling dealership on a hood flutter problem.
I can see the hood start to vibrate at 50mph and onward, with it being really bad at 80mph.
Dealership went on ride along and saw the problem as described.
Dealership and customer engagement team both have determined this is normal design.

Asking owners here to see if you have noticed this flutter/flapping issue.

 

I experienced this also under the same conditions as you described. My remedy was to adjust the round disks in the engine bay that the hood sits on by twisting them to raise them so they fit snug when closing the hood. Took a couple of times to adjust but no more hood flutter.

 

I had this problem when I picked up my 2026 TX500h FSL and I saw some videos of the newer Lexus vehicles with dual latches under the hood. So on my way home from a trip, I couldn't take driver's side fluttering, so I remembered the video I watched and I pulled over and I opened the hood and made sure I closed the hood with equal pressure over both latches as I closed the hood and 2500 miles later, I don't have that flutter anymore. I hope this helps as an option to your flutter.

 

Yes, I've definitely noticed it at highway speeds, It's one of several things that have disappointed me with the the purchase of this $80k premium vehicle. I don't know how they can not correct so many obvious flaws before taking them to market. The thing that ticks me off the most is the fuel door that doesn't open and has to be pried open with a credit card. The absolutely knew that was a problem the day I purchased my TX and drove it home... but they waited for me to call them about it before they ordered the replacement door and inconvenienced me with driving it back to the dealership and waiting a half of a day for them to fix it. Lexus should be better than this.

 

Hmm. No flutter in the hood of my 2026 TX500h FSP. (3,200 miles). I suspect what other have commented on - that either the hood is not properly latched down on BOTH sides or the hood bump stops are not BOTH adjusted to be tight against the hood when closed, n your TX500h. Generally they are adjusted via a bolt at the base of each stop.

 

Normal design my ***. Pardon me, but that's an utterly ridiculous statement.

 

As mentioned in previous comments......have to make sure hood is adjusted to the right spacing with the two round black adjusting disks on the right and left front sides and that you shut hood firmly, dropping its dead weight......

 

Looking at the current poll results, most do not have a problem, it seems to possibly be an adjustment issue.

 

I think its beyond an adjustment issue. First the discs were adjusted too high which made the hood proud of the adjacent panels - the alignment was NOT Lexus quality. AND, the flutter was actually a bit scary - I thought the hood might fly open. I actually stopped at roadside to double check the hood was latched. First, the solution was to lower the discs. This aligned the hood with the surrounding panels and stopped MOST of the flutter. However, I still have some flutter at highway speeds.

Most of the flutter I still see is closer to the windshield than it is to the grill. When you look at most hoods, they have ridges - usually running front to back - that reinforce the hood. They provide strength and I would suggest, reduce or eliminate flutter and flex. This hood has no ridges, it is a slightly rounded but generally flat hood which is a poor design. Very surprising that Lexus wouldn't have seen this possibility from the beginning.

 

Hmmmm. i would definitely approach Lexus regarding this and ask for a drive-along with a skilled tech to personally demo amd discuss the problem. The hood is aluminum for weight savings and inherently more flexible than steel - but the alloy, domed shape and rigid attachment to the car body can do a lot to control this. That it's not a generic design problem is suggested by the fact that many TX owners, including me, are not affected by flutter at all, which suggests a further adjustment issue - missing damping material or hardware or a hood fabrication issue. Flutter is usually a resonance problem, and can be handled by a combination of adding compliant material mass, like the sound insulation under the hood, stiffening of the hood itself, and more rigid fastening to the underlying structure. In your case, one or more of these items is likely not properly adjusted, built or is missing. At worst, the hood and its mount could be replaced by Lexus. That said - an aluminum or fiberglass hood will almost always move a bit more under dynamic load (wind) than a heavier steel one. Been there done that on several cars with fiberglass/kevlar and steel/aluminum panels.

 

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. The rig will be in the shop next week, so I will bring it up with the dealer and see if we can improve it.

 

I agree. I've owned 5 Lexus vehicles and the TX is more Buick than Lexus.

 

Great comment.

 

It's for old white guys with no imagination?

 

I just needed a big box for my full-time dog crate with the ability to keep my rear seats available. (not the third row)