Potential Manufacturing Defect

[dblacha]

John, the IS300h is great car. We must to force Lexus to fix it. Apart this defect, I'm totally happy with my choice. Specially on highways, then it shows how powerful it is! Speed around 140km/h is in its nature :-). Great handling and the response.

You right, it will be better if ours services will alert Lexus first. I'll call to my service tomorrow and I'll give you an info.

[gtb5]

Mostly I notice the hum noise on highway speeds but not so much the vibrations.

[dannemare]

I left a Saab 9-3 TiD 150hp automatic for this car. The Saab was a real beauty to drive - in my opinion it beat the IS300h on anything related to performance and drive train. Just wish I could have my Saab back!

Oh no, don't say that. I am (was) aiming for an IS 300h myself but this transmission/drivetrain issue has really put me off. :( I'm starting to think I need to get the 450h (GS) instead which, to the best of my knowledge, doesn't suffer from this, right...?

It also means going from a fully-equipped IS to a minimally-equipped GS, but I suppose I can live with that if I must (on the plus-side, the 450h is quite powerful which I love - I soooo wish 450h was available for the IS also).

[dblacha]

Hi guys!

As I promised, I talked to my Lexus Service today. I have a clear answer: it's sent to upper level.

They wanted my VIN number, because I didn't show it when I was showing our problem.

They said: We know the problem, if the central will check it, it will be the service action.

Let's keep in touch!

Dominik.

[is200 Newbie]

Dominik

It may be related or not, something for you to consider... - I changed the exhaust on my IS250 and I have this noise - more of a hum and a light vibration but its starting to quieten down now.

A stainless system has been fitted on mine and I am pretty sure the resonator, first box back from the back boxes on the exhaust is where the noise and vibration is coming from. As I said its quietening down now so am leaving it for a few months more to see if it does disappear.

I can make it disappear by switching from drive to manual and it seems to appear when accelerating in each gear but when coasting its gone and when back in drive it will go until accelerating again. Seems to be more noticeable in the low rev range.

[Platypus]

I contacted Lexus Europe 2 weeks ago through their website and the following day got a call from a nice lady at Toyota UK who seemed to show true concern for the problem. However, when she heard I was not in the UK she told me she couldn't help me but would refer it back to Lexus Europe. To date no reply.

In the meantime the problem seems to be getting worse and I'm really fed up. I've sent them another mail and would like to encourage everyone with the same problem to do likewise on www.lexus.eu at 'Contact us'. Here's what I wrote until I hit the word limit:

Transmission defect on IS300h model.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Two weeks ago I wrote to you about the transmission defect of my Lexus IS300h. I have not received a reply (my request was handed over to Toyota UK who told me that they could not help because I am not in the UK).

I also informed you (Lexus) that I was not the only customer suffering from this defect, and that there are several more customers worldwide with the problem. My dealer had escalated the problem but to date has not received a reply (to my knowledge).

The problem (resonance at 1300rpm) appears between 80 - 100km/h, is highly irritating and could be damaging in the long run - I notice the problem getting worse.

I now have a luxury car which I paid more than 50,000 Euro for, and which I cannot drive at normal speed without an irritating vibration.

I await your prompt reply and with a concrete proposal as to how Lexus will solve this issue for me any all other drivers experiencing the same problem.

John Pollard

[Platypus]

Update. I finally got a reply from Lexus Europe....

[mille]

Getting a new car, or they said This Model Does That? :eerrrmm:

[dblacha]

Update. I finally got a reply from Lexus Europe....

That's great John. And what did they say?

[TED]

Update. I finally got a reply from Lexus Europe....

That's good news John, as dblacha asked, could you tell us more about the answer you got.

[Platypus]

Well guys... Bad news to me but I'll let you judge for yourselves. Here's what Mr. Olivier Allart, Customer Relations Manager of Lexus Europe (olivier.allart@toyota.be) has to say:

We refer to your contacts with us regarding your brand new Lexus IS300h.

We’ve taken full note of your observations concerning the transmission of your car.

Further to your request, we’ve been in contact with your dealer and our technical department, that confirms having been informed about the phenomenon you’ve described.

As previously mentioned, this little vibration can’t be considered as abnormal.

Anyway, your case has been reported to Lexus Europe and Toyota Motor Corporation for information.

Should we receive any technical feedback from their side, would we directly inform our dealer network.

In the waiting time, we remain at your disposal for any further information.

So guys, it basically a little vibration and it's perfectly normal to expect this in a luxury car from Lexus for which you've probably forked up a quite a few years' worth of savings. Mind you, if it is normal then why are we the only ones with it - are the rest of the members deaf or what?

I replied to Mr Allart telling him that, in my 35 years of driving experience, I do not consider it normal, and invited him to come for a ride in the car to see for himself. Mr. Allart still hasn't taken me up on the offer but I can understand he's a very busy man, so I guess I'll record it for him and post it on YouTube so he can see it from the comfort of his office - along with everybody else.

[ColinBarber]

as well as posting on YouTube I would also advise you let people know on Facebook and Twitter too. It will then be in Lexus' interest to resolve this for you.

[Silver Arrow]

+ for YOUTUBE

[UpSideDown]

So, where is the youtube video?

[Jeroen1000]

So any more news on this? I've not yet bought the IS but now it seems I have to check this first as I have not noticed this on any of the two test drives I have made. The amount it costs is big money for me and this feels like a potential deal breaker.

[Platypus]

Well, Jeroen, Lexus has been very, very quiet. I have tried to record the phenomenen on my GoPro but it doesn't pick it up as it's probably out of the frequency range, or because it a resonance; I'll try something else in the next week or later, but it is definitely there. I don't know if any of the other members with the issue tried to contact Lexus Europe directly, but if they didn't it probably won't get much attention. I'll give Lexus another month before bothering them again.

Very few other owners seem to have the problem, so the chance is small that you will end up with it, so don't let it hold your decision back. If you like to drive a quiet, refined car (well, quiet when you're not doing 90kph as in my case), it's definitely the one for you. If you want something that will outperform a BMW320 or Audi A4 then forget it. Fuel efficiency will be 6.5l/100km and it'll be blowing out 150+ g CO2 per km, and never 99 as Lexus misleads us in its ads. If you don't want to be in just another German sport sedan among the thousands on the motorway every morning, go on: buy a Lexus. Or why not a Jaguar?

[Jeroen1000]

Hmm I do like a Jaguars looks, however I do not like a diesel and their petrol engines are not really up to date. Audi is too expensive for what you get but otherwise a close 2nd to Lexus, in my opinion then. But then I'd be stuck with a diesel too, which I really dislike.

Are you per any chance from Belgium? I do believe I read it somewhere in this topic.

I did go for 2 test drives but I can't remember hearing nor feeling this. The only thing I noticed on a smooth road whas a bit of uneasyness. A slight, fast vertical oscillation. Like morse code fast. Pardon the poor explanation:-). This was NOT on asphalt but on a concrete road which often have some kind of structure in them which makes them less smooth than an asphalt road but otherwise free of potholes. I hadn't the time to test this on an asphalt road so I can't say anything conclusive. Also, on the Dutch Lexus forum there is someone who claims the issue got fixed on his car by putting on other tires.

Anyway, I have got a voice recorder device that goes down to 40 hz. There are true audio recorders that go even lower but what I have may just work.

[Platypus]

Yes, Jeroen, I am in Belgium. I'd be thrilled if you could help recording the sound. It's quite definitely an issue with the CVT at 1300rpm as I have it with summer and winter tyres and it's definitely more noticeable on asphalt because of the smooth surface. In any case I'd be happy to have a second opinion because Lexus Brussels seem to consider me as some kind of jerk for complaining about it - perhaps it really is in my mind!

[Jeroen1000]

I'll have you know I'm also very sensitive about these things. It seems like Belgian spirit you can only complain unless it is something big.

Can't make any promises but it does pick up whispering from across a room. Perhaps you should PM me your approximate location. I do not live too far from Brussels at all.

[ToreOe]

Hi all,

I've had my IS300h Luxury for 2 months/3000km now. The car had the vibrations described in this thread from day 1, although veery little from the start. It has gotten gradually worse, and last Friday I went to my dealer about the issue.

The mechanic that checked the car was able to reproduce the vibrations, and told me he it was a known issue on the GS. The problem there was the bushings holding the rear differential. Lexus had produced a new variant of these bushings, that removed the vibrations.

Now, since the GS450h and the IS300h uses the same rear diff and the same bushings to hold it, he was going to replace the bushings on my car with the upgraded ones for the GS.

The car will be going in Thursday - it is a two day job. I'm crossing my fingers!

Tore

Sandnes, Norway

[Blom1974]

Hi all,

I've had my IS300h Luxury for 2 months/3000km now. The car had the vibrations described in this thread from day 1, although veery little from the start. It has gotten gradually worse, and last Friday I went to my dealer about the issue.

The mechanic that checked the car was able to reproduce the vibrations, and told me he it was a known issue on the GS. The problem there was the bushings holding the rear differential. Lexus had produced a new variant of these bushings, that removed the vibrations.

Now, since the GS450h and the IS300h uses the same rear diff and the same bushings to hold it, he was going to replace the bushings on my car with the upgraded ones for the GS.

The car will be going in Thursday - it is a two day job. I'm crossing my fingers!

Tore

Sandnes, Norway

Please keep us posted..

[Platypus]

Hi all,

I've had my IS300h Luxury for 2 months/3000km now. The car had the vibrations described in this thread from day 1, although veery little from the start. It has gotten gradually worse, and last Friday I went to my dealer about the issue.

The mechanic that checked the car was able to reproduce the vibrations, and told me he it was a known issue on the GS. The problem there was the bushings holding the rear differential. Lexus had produced a new variant of these bushings, that removed the vibrations.

Now, since the GS450h and the IS300h uses the same rear diff and the same bushings to hold it, he was going to replace the bushings on my car with the upgraded ones for the GS.

The car will be going in Thursday - it is a two day job. I'm crossing my fingers!

Tore

Sandnes, Norway

Hi Tore,

Thanks, that sounds like music to my tired ears! My 30,000km service is coming up and if that's the solution I can get my dealer to do the upgrade at the same time. Please let us know how it goes.

John

[ToreOe]

Well, got the car back from the dealer today. The mechanic called me and told me he was sorry, but changing the differential bushings made no change to the vibrations at all.

Driving the car back home, I must say the mechanic was wrong. There is definitely something different. The vibration is not as loud, but over a wider speed range (audible from at least 60km/h), and over a wider RPM range (1200-1700). I am unsure if it is an improvement or not...

They had found that one of their demo cars - an F-Sport - had the same vibrations, and would do further tests and repairs on that one. Promised to get back to me next week.

I had a GS 300h as a loaner these two days, and I would definitely say I could feel the same vibrations in that car too, but they did not "resonate" like in the IS. Thus they were barely notable.

To add to the disappointment, they had managed to get a dent in the driver's door of my car. Very visible on a black car. Now the car needs to go back in to repair and repaint the door too...

Will keep you informed on any further development.

-Tore

[Jeroen1000]

Thank you for the update Tore. To my ears, the vibration seemed to originate from the engine bay but such a thing is notoriously hard to pinpoint.

I'm not sure they can eliminate it without doing something about the RPM's.

Sorry about the dent but do update this thread when you get news!

[Platypus]

Well, got the car back from the dealer today. The mechanic called me and told me he was sorry, but changing the differential bushings made no change to the vibrations at all.

Driving the car back home, I must say the mechanic was wrong. There is definitely something different. The vibration is not as loud, but over a wider speed range (audible from at least 60km/h), and over a wider RPM range (1200-1700). I am unsure if it is an improvement or not...

They had found that one of their demo cars - an F-Sport - had the same vibrations, and would do further tests and repairs on that one. Promised to get back to me next week.

I had a GS 300h as a loaner these two days, and I would definitely say I could feel the same vibrations in that car too, but they did not "resonate" like in the IS. Thus they were barely notable.

To add to the disappointment, they had managed to get a dent in the driver's door of my car. Very visible on a black car. Now the car needs to go back in to repair and repaint the door too...

Will keep you informed on any further development.

-Tore

Sorry to hear that Tore. And especially sorry about the dent in the door. Hope they give you a decent loaner while it's in, and not their F-Sport!

It's encouraging to hear that your dealer is interested in getting to the root of the problem, something that is clearly lacking with my dealer in Brussels. So please keep us updated.

I would be inclined to think that the problem may be the ECU - if they could tweak that to keep the CVT in a lower "gear" (or whatever it's supposed to be in a CVT) until it's past about 1350rpm. But that's just the impression I get from my car.

Good luck and thanks for the feedback - it's good to know somebody in Lexus gives a damn, and it's probably your mechanic that will get to the root of it!