Rattling front passenger seat

[IS300Hdriver]

Got the car booked in to have a passenger seat rattle investigated, the dealership have said if it's not a warranty item (which it should be as I've got the Lexus approved warranty) I'll be charged a £168 investigation fee!

Would be great to have your thoughts to perhaps avoid having to take the IS in altogether, the issue as follows:

- Tinny, small, vibrating "spring like" metallic rattle coming from the base of the front passenger seat on the left side where the manual adjustment handles are, or the underneath along the guide rail for the seat

- Sometimes solved temporarily by adjusting the seat in several directions but always returns after a few days, vibrating rattle consistent with road surface.

My only idea so far is some kind of spring is loose in the adjustment handle housing somewhere, despite the two side handles for recline and height operating normally?

Otherwise maybe something to do with the underneath forward/backward adjustment of the seat but that seems pretty clunky in mechanical composition and wouldn't result in the sort of tinny vibrating rattle that's driving me nuts.

Perhaps someone else has had a similar issue or can at least point me in another direction. I've ruled out keys and loose change etc, and 99% certain it's coming from the left side of the passenger seat.

[rayaans]

3 hours ago, IS300Hdriver said:

Got the car booked in to have a passenger seat rattle investigated, the dealership have said if it's not a warranty item (which it should be as I've got the Lexus approved warranty) I'll be charged a £168 investigation fee!

Would be great to have your thoughts to perhaps avoid having to take the IS in altogether, the issue as follows:

- Tinny, small, vibrating "spring like" metallic rattle coming from the base of the front passenger seat on the left side where the manual adjustment handles are, or the underneath along the guide rail for the seat

- Sometimes solved temporarily by adjusting the seat in several directions but always returns after a few days, vibrating rattle consistent with road surface.

My only idea so far is some kind of spring is loose in the adjustment handle housing somewhere, despite the two side handles for recline and height operating normally?

Otherwise maybe something to do with the underneath forward/backward adjustment of the seat but that seems pretty clunky in mechanical composition and wouldn't result in the sort of tinny vibrating rattle that's driving me nuts.

Perhaps someone else has had a similar issue or can at least point me in another direction. I've ruled out keys and loose change etc, and 99% certain it's coming from the left side of the passenger seat.

Take it in but say you aren't paying anything until they confirm its a warranty problem.

[NemesisUK]

But wouldn't they have incurred costs (labour time) simply by investigating the cause to determine if it's covered under warranty? 

[dutchie01]

Try another dealer.

168 Pounds fixed for a rattle that could potentially be found within 10 minutes?? 

[rayaans]

5 hours ago, NemesisUK said:

But wouldn't they have incurred costs (labour time) simply by investigating the cause to determine if it's covered under warranty? 

Not £168 worth! 

[Rabbers]

It could be that some solid object not large enough to impede the seat's movement has become lodged inside one of the guide-rails, so

that with a bit of luck  a probe with a stiff wire or thin stick might give a result.   This happened to me in my IS300h with a token coin for

use with supermarket trolleys.  Although I saw it fall inside the front end of the inner guide-rail I failed to remove it immediately, and by the

time I got home with the intention of hooking it out with some kind of tool it had moved to an inaccessible central position directly under

the seat.  I subsequently blamed it for an intermittent soft rattling sound that came from there, fortunately infrequently and usually only

with significant changes in temperature.   I never gave up trying to locate it when cleaning the car but was always unsuccessful.  The car

was under warranty almost throughout my entire ownership of it, and I don't doubt that my dealer would have gone as far as removing

the seat to find the rattle if asked.  However, I also doubt if the job would have remained free-of-charge upon discovery of a token with

a local supermarket logo on it.

[NemesisUK]

9 hours ago, rayaans said:

Not £168 worth! 

Oh agreed but all dealerships have a charging structure and will quote it when a customer enquires about a job. Whether the final bill reflects that ......

[dutchie01]

Any trustworthy reliable independent garage in a nearby village? You could ask them to have a look? 

[rayaans]

4 hours ago, NemesisUK said:

Oh agreed but all dealerships have a charging structure and will quote it when a customer enquires about a job. Whether the final bill reflects that ......

Yep but I always tell them to stuff it and it seems to work most of the time. 

They always tend to say "we will check as a goodwill gesture" or something along the lines of that

[IS300Hdriver]

I think you might be on to something Rabbers, moved the seat all the way forward and sprayed tons of GT85 along the guide rails and all other metal components, initially heard a crunching type noise when moving the seat back and forwards which has now gone, and no rattle. 

If it comes back then I'll take it in, but very tempted to cancel the booking as they probably would try charging the fee for "wasting" their time.

[Rabbers]

1 hour ago, IS300Hdriver said:

I think you might be on to something Rabbers ..... 

Glad to have helped.  Fingers crossed and hope it won't come back.

[200h]

i think rattles,creaks and squeaks are covered for the first 2 years under warranty and thats it,

due to lexus selling cars on their reputation of maing a good quality car it should be covered in my opinion

for a reasonable length of time.

[200h]

talking of creaks i found my centre console started to creak, i remove all the controls and panels only to find

lexus chester must of had a bag of screws left over after they replaced my ventillation unit last year

as half of the screws where missing and they weren't bothered about it either, very dissapointed with them,

the only answer i received from them was i cant really say anything to the guy that repaired my car as it was

late last year when the job was done.

[IS300Hdriver]

One thing I've learned over the years is that when it comes to trim rattles, you're far better off figuring it out for yourself. As my issue was seat related this LED me down the route of a warranty issue, but v good point about the 2 year limit on rattles. Fingers crossed the lubricant has sorted whatever it was.

Unfortunately I've not been overly impressed by some of the plastic trim pieces, the centre console in particular, does creek a fair bit sometimes, particularly with changes in temperature. The mouse itself is also very creaky much of the time when selecting things on screen. I took the console apart and put felt insulation tape all over the place which in fact made it worse so removed it all again. 

The relatively stiff suspension on the Luxury and the 17" rims don't help things, glad I didn't go for the F Sport despite its good looks.

Think my next will have to be an SUV with soft suspension and fat tyres to soak up the bumps and hopefully minimise the rattles and creaks, although I've heard the NX is pretty harsh too?

[200h]

i have used the felt tape but fortunately i have had a good outcome with it,

i have to agree with you Andy you are better off sorting rattles yourself

the dealer will just tell you its sorted only for you to go down the road and

still have the same noises.

[dutchie01]

I find it disappointing that the IS range is not 100% rattle free. Lexus used to be the relentless pursuit of perfection and the undisputed champion in Noise, Vibration Harshness as enormous amounts were spent to create an environment that was truly unique in the automotive world. Not sure about the current GS range but maybe my 2011 IS250 was the last one of that era. That car felt like it was built from one piece, rocksolid with doors closing like a bankvault. I drove it for 4 years and no rattles or any noise, just nothing. It felt special. The IS300H F-sport i now have is a great car in its own right, i like it. However the build quality is not on thesame level and yes, there can be the occasional noise from different types of plastic in the cabin. There seems to be more Toyota in this one than Lexus...  

[IS300Hdriver]

I suppose much of it is weight saving and crash safety, but yes it's dissapointing to have cheap thin plastics in a premium car. Had a Jeep Cherokee for 2 weeks on holiday in U.S. recently and that really was solid for an American vehicle if a little cheap looking inside, not a squeak, and the road surfaces are truly awful over there.

But, it is a SUV with big tyres and soft suspension. However I would say the interior coped very well with extremes in heat without making the myriad of cracking and popping noises the IS does when the A/C cools the interior down.

[Rabbers]

When I bought my RC300h I was concerned, wrongly as it turns out, that its longer doors and frameless windows would make it more prone

to vibrations, rattles and squeaks than the MY2013 IS300h I previously had, which, as confirmed by Bernard, was in its turn more prone to 

them than the solidly built IS250 (of which I had MYs 2008 and 2010).   This is not to say that the first-generation IS300h was badly screwed

together or over-plasticky in character.  It did, however, sometimes feel somewhat fragile on uneven surfaces, particularly cobblestones.  In

fact, every Lexus I have owned (as far back as two IS200s) has had to face a 700m stretch of cobblestones almost twice daily, and, depending

on my speed, all have at times felt as though they were being shaken apart.   Certainly, if vibrations are the main factor in the development of

eventual full-blown rattles, I would identify this stretch of road as the birthplace of the surprisingly few of the latter that I have needed to take

to Lexus for sorting out, most of them having disappeared with time or, with luck, after a strategic thump with a fist.  After 13000km/9 months

I have experienced only a few minor vibrations and no rattles at all in the RC, making it, touch wood, as well-constructed a Lexus as I have

ever owned.  I suppose this to be attributable to a combination of factors including the rigid 2-door structure, the stiffer chassis and shorter

wheelbase, and the truly excellent suspensions.  And although the 10-speaker Pioneer audio may not perform as well as the ML, it does offer

the advantage, in terms of the cabin build, of having a smaller number of speakers and vibration-prone grilles, added to which the central

console, armrest and storage-compartment seem thicker-walled and more solid.

 

Incidentally, I recently had occasion to ride (as a passenger) in the new Alfa Giulia (the 2-litre Veloce version) and was amazed by the

improvements, both visual and tactile, in the quality of the interior and exterior  build and materials in respect of recent generations of this

particular marque.  In fact, I would describe the improvements as spectacular.  A quick analysis would appear to indicate that Alfa is looking,

reasonably enough, to recover its related additional production costs through slightly higher pricing whereas, according to some posts in

the LOC, including Andy's and Bernard's above, Lexus is falling prey to bean-counting instincts and may be compromising its historical

reputation for quality.   Not, I am happy to say, that I am seeing evidence of this in the RC.

 

[NemesisUK]

I concur, after nearly 5k miles in my RC over some truly appalling roads, no rattles, buzzes or squeaks.. I do have to make sure the glove box and centre armrest cubby are carefully packed otherwise keys or even papers (yes papers!) can cause aural irritations 

[rayaans]

On 5/29/2017 at 8:33 AM, IS300Hdriver said:

One thing I've learned over the years is that when it comes to trim rattles, you're far better off figuring it out for yourself. As my issue was seat related this led me down the route of a warranty issue, but v good point about the 2 year limit on rattles. Fingers crossed the lubricant has sorted whatever it was.

Unfortunately I've not been overly impressed by some of the plastic trim pieces, the centre console in particular, does creek a fair bit sometimes, particularly with changes in temperature. The mouse itself is also very creaky much of the time when selecting things on screen. I took the console apart and put felt insulation tape all over the place which in fact made it worse so removed it all again. 

The relatively stiff suspension on the Luxury and the 17" rims don't help things, glad I didn't go for the F Sport despite its good looks.

Think my next will have to be an SUV with soft suspension and fat tyres to soak up the bumps and hopefully minimise the rattles and creaks, although I've heard the NX is pretty harsh too?

Have to say my wife's IS300h F-Sport is DEAD silent at 3 years/14k miles- no rattles or creaks anywhere and its a Lexus Chester car.

Not the same for my RX though - its turned 5 years old with 46k miles and Im hearing new rattles starting to appear. Only had 1 rattle a few weeks ago but its now got about 3. 

[Tel]

I cannot tolerate rattles &,as Andy states, if you can sort it ,that is perfect.

I served my apprenticeship on my 5 Minis in the 70's.

H/w my Lexus experience based on 2x IS 200 80000 mile cars that were perfect.

My 2003 IS 200 Nav Sport was replaced after the all air ducts were greased & the A-Posts were re-welded by Lexus GB.

The replacement IS 300 Sunroof jammed open, the rails were realigned,which resulted in a High Speed "Bopping Noise".GB replaced the sunroof.

In 2005, my 19 inch wheeled 250 SEL suffered the dreaded creaking Dash that Inchcape Lexus resolved by my suggestion to jam -down the dash with very high density foam rather than fitting new larger dash pegs that meant the complete removal of the dash that was SO risky.

In 2012, my otherwise perfect ISF, had a light rattle from the lower dash area that only occurred in Lincoln every time I went to the East Coast & on a section of road near my Brother in Law's Villa in France. Really niggled me, so I toured my local area to find a rippled road surface that would repeat it & same near Lexus Derby who knew of my concern. Eventually repeated 500 yards from my home with my tyres set for high-speed, as in France.

Derby sent their Master Technician to my home & 2 hrs later the problem was resolved. Footwell fusebox internals .

In 2017, my lover's new Yaris has parking sensors Dealer fitted. On Day one there was a rattle from the lower dash area that was evident on my 500 Test Section.

Looked on-line @ the Sensor Instalation & on Day 2 asked the Dealer to fit the sensors correctly. Resolved.

Tel

[Rabbers]

18 hours ago, NemesisUK said:

... I do have to make sure the glove box and centre armrest cubby are carefully packed otherwise....

You are perfectly right to be concerned about the acoustic consequences of putting certain things in the cubby.  I have found it useful to

line the bottom with thin mesh-pattern non-slip matting of the type that was once mainly used to prevent rugs from sliding from under you

on polished floors.  This material would, I believe, keep even a bagful loose ball-bearings under control, though I would probably not

guarantee it for a set of castanets or finger-cymbals.

[NicoL4321]

I am a little late to the party. I own a 2014 Lexus IS250 AWD, recently I have noticed the same rattling sound coming from the passenger seat. I did a little digging and found it was the guide rail making that noise as Rabbers mentioned (see attached video). I am going to try put some WD-40 to see if it solves the problem. It does seem like a temperature related issue as it started to occur this winter when it got very cold.

[agent_dess]

Only issue I've had is with centre console armrest making a clunky sound every time I rest my arm and lift, I fixed with 2 tiny strips of 3M dual lock tape I had left over as they are quite thick... No more clunking sound.... That said I had my 2007 IS250 for 9 years and that was rock solid and in my view better build quality than the current mk3 😀

[Usmanbashir]

Hi  @IS300Hdriver did you ever manage to resolve this issue. I am experiencing a similar issue a subtle rattle noise from front passenger seat area or door card only heard around 70mph on the motorway