Issues Already....

Slickk · November 17, 2015

Contrary to my previous post about selling my IS300h F-Sport, the dealer retracted their offer (much to my annoyance) and I've decided to keep the car for the immediate future.

However, I've had the car for a little over 2 weeks and there are 3 issues to deal with.

1 - There appears to be a knocking noise from the front driver side suspension when I turn the wheel on either a flat surface or on a decline. I flagged this up immediately with my dealer but couldn't seek a suitable time to book the car in.

2 - The TPMS has gone beserk. I've adjusted the tire pressures but to no avail.

3 - The vehicle steams up more than a sauna! The ventilation is absolutely dreadful! I don't know if this is due to either a duct/vent being partially/wholly blocked, but this is a huge annoyance on a very expensive car.

Car has duly been booked in next week for an inspection and hopefully, remedial action.

wendle · November 17, 2015

Hi Harry

You could try ( that is if you already haven’t )

Adjusting tyre pressures to the right pressure then pressing

the TPMS re set button.

Steaming up seems to be a problem with most cars, try

leaving the A/C on with the switch in outside air circulating mode.

Slickk · November 17, 2015

Hi Harry

You could try ( that is if you already haven’t )

Adjusting tyre pressures to the right pressure then pressing

the TPMS re set button.

Steaming up seems to be a problem with most cars, try

leaving the A/C on with the switch in outside air circulating mode.

Hi Chris,

I've done what you've mentioned above, but both issues are still there? I'll let Lexus deal with it but it's just an annoyance if anything else. Hope the courtesy car they give me is something decent too!

On another note, my car has the black protection strip on the back bumper - is there anyway this can be removed? It's not ugly with it on, but I would prefer a sleek look without it.

wendle · November 17, 2015

Hi Harry

i haven't go a IS myself so not sure what the black protective strip looks like, you may have to ask the dealer, i would think if its just stuck on it can be removed.

Adammas · November 17, 2015

I do notice the car steams up quite quickly if you turn the air con off, But demists straight away, Maybe a ventilation issue, maybe its a downside to the car being very well sealed and isolated from external noise so not much fresh air gets in unless its using air con.or external air circulation.

Otherwise your other issues dont seem to be the norm and the dealer should sort them.

Slickk · November 17, 2015

I do notice the car steams up quite quickly if you turn the air con off, But demists straight away, Maybe a ventilation issue, maybe its a downside to the car being very well sealed and isolated from external noise so not much fresh air gets in unless its using air con.or external air circulation.

Otherwise your other issues dont seem to be the norm and the dealer should sort them.

Mine seems to steam up irrespective of the weather. It's a mini-headache, especially when it's cold and wet outside and the inside of the car is steamed up considerably. As it goes for the knocking noise, I've taken the car for a quick drive at work, and it's a little screech as opposed to a knock. Either way, I've booked the car in at my local dealer, so hopefully they'll have it resolved in no time. I just find it a little weird that they ramped the car up, serviced it and gave it a thorough inspection prior to delivery and they didn't pick anything up. Which is ironic, as when I took this very car for a test drive, I mentioned it afterwards.

capese21 · November 17, 2015

. The ice cold matrix will attract condensation which can cause misting. I cleared mine by running the heating at full (with he aircon compressor off) for a few minutes. Alternatively just leave the aircon on at all times set to a comfortable temp and then no misting. My previous cars were the same it is not imho a fault.

I had a strange metallic noise from the front N/S wheel. It turned out to be a detached TPMS sensor rattling around inside the tyre.The dealership were very quick to fit a new one under warranty.

Ed

rayaans · November 17, 2015

The black protective strip just comes off with a hard tug and some tar remover. Its held on by 3m double sided tape.

Dont know what the metallic noise could be, got none.

No steaming issues here, it hasnt steamed at all actually. My air con is set to 20.5 degrees on Auto with medium blow.

ColinBarber · November 17, 2015

If you are using auto (without turning off the AC) then it should never steam up. Only if the AC is off will it do so and only then if you have recirculate on, or if it is raining outside.

DanD · November 18, 2015

Agreed. Switch all the settings on AUTO and let the system do what it is supposed to.

michaelH · November 18, 2015

What they said. You will have no problems then, unless something is blocked or broken. I have been told somewhere that one should avoid 'recirculate' in order to minimize the risk of aircon bacteria build up and smells, so that is what I do. Someone will no doubt now tell me that this is an old wives tale and that the risk is imaginary .... or made worse by NOT recirculating.

DanD · November 19, 2015

No it is not. Re-circulation should only be used to avoid bad smells (smoke) or pollution (in a tunnel) from getting into a vehicle, or if you want to quickly cool down or warm up the vehicle. Also, if you have automatic climate control - as all Lexus models have - it is recommended that you leave the settings in AUTO mode.

In fact some models (I know the RX is one of them), will automatically manage the recirculation function, why switching it on / off as appropriate. For instance, it will automatically switch on if you are stuck in traffic behind another vehicle to prevent exhaust fumes from getting into your car. The GS goes one step further by allowing you to control the sensitivity of the automated recirculation function.

Slickk · November 25, 2015

Had the car inspected by Lexus, the noise from the front end was in fact the brake pads - they cleaned the brakes and applied copper grease to all the pads on all corners and now it's not as noisy as before. The TPMS wasn't faulty (oops! Sorry Lexus!!) turns out, there was a HUGE nail in the tyre which has not been rectified. As for the steaming, apparently there isn't anything wrong with the car. It's just 'one of those things' according to the Lexus mechanics - but hey ho! Never mind. There was a nice touch when the mechanic who worked on my car gave me a personal call and told me to contact him directly if I noticed anything else. So kudos for that Lexus. Oh and whilst I'm being thankful - I thoroughly appreciate the wash and vac. (I don't have much time to do this)

As for the courtesy car. It was a IS300h SE-L Nav, and hands down, it was the worse IS300h I have ever driven/seen. It was on a 65 plate and the differences in comparison to mine were mind blowing.

No leather heated & cooled memory seats.

No auto-dimming rear view mirror.

No auto-folding side mirrors.

No electrically adjustable seats.

No soft padding on the side of the centre console (I know this is minor but I'm so accustomed to resting my left knee against it in my car!)

The sound system was abysmal.

Oh and the worst thing? The manager from Lexus was most adamant that I was 'hearing things' and wouldn't accept that there could have been a slight issue with regards to the noise. She really did take an 'arsey' tone with me and i certainly was not impressed.

Tut tut Lexus.

DJP · November 25, 2015

Sometimes having a courtesy car does make you appreciate your own more! As for the steaming up, if you have the aircon on and set to auto with the temp set to what you want there shouldn't be any steaming up.

Martin F · November 25, 2015

Also make sure your windows are clean on the inside.

It's amazing how much 'grime' gets drawn in by the AC and ends up on the windows and this can cause things to steam up quicker.

As per the other posts above i've never had an issue and I just leave the AC on auto all the time and just change the temperature as I wish.

michaelH · November 25, 2015

When Harry said the courtesy Lexus 300h was the worst he had ever seen I assumed that it rattled and creaked, lacked power and had rubbish paintwork. But no, it just didn't have leather seats etc. That isn't a fault, it's just a lower spec. When I bought my 300h it was in luxury trim so I did ( and do) miss the full leather and electric memory sets on my old 250 SE-L, but to be honest the manual seats are still very comfy and supportive once adjusted correctly. It has premium navigation so I have decent audio and a reversing camera. One thing I would really miss given my penchant for late night journeys would be Xenon lights, but all the mark 3 IS models now have these, I think.