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Good power, sport drive, gives 40mpg but not so happy

5K views 14 replies 11 participants last post by  Nitin 
#1 ·
Hi all, sorry to say that I dont like as I was anticipated. I brought this car in May 2013 traded with Corolla and now I have driven 10K and having following 4 issues. Any recommendation is welcome:

1) The vehicle runs good but if you water bottle, pen, some coins in the cup holder, it makes rattling noise and makes me crazy as I never had such issues with my corolla, camry, accord or in the mercedes c series
2) The AM radio volume is very low. If tune my radio to satellite or FM and I am comfortable at volume level 15. When I switch to AM I have to increase it to level 30 to get the equivalent of FM volume 15
3) Remote starter is a joke. I got it Lexus made thinking it will be the best, I was wrong. Not only it has very short distance range and does not work consistently and can not depend on it. Living in Chicago area with this remote starter !

I asked my dealer with above issues and they are not good either. Answers to the above questions were (1) All the part are secure. (2) The radio in this CT model is working as expected. (3) The service person did use once and said 'not able recreate the issue', but I showed to sales guy and he agreed and told me that he will follow up with Service Manager. Now Service Manager is saying they will need to wait for Lexus Rep who will come sometime this year !

I am not sure if this Lexus product issue and addition of dealer/service issue.
By the way what is the fourth issue? Its weird, I noticed few times when the car is in my closed garage making some noise as if battery is charging or discharging. This noice goes away once I open the door. I dont have patience to go to dealer and prove the noise !
 
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#2 ·
LOL. Oh man, where do I start.

1. Ya, don't put stuff in the cup holder if you don't want it to rattle.
2. Yep the radio sucks.
3. Have no idea about this since I don't have a remote starter.
4. This is a completely normal noise. At certain intervals the car does some kind of check approx. 5 hours after you park the car. When I first heard this noise I was like "what the hell is that". I did a 60 second search on this forum and came up with the answer. It's also in the manual.
 
#3 ·
Hi leonar40, I re-read my post after venting and realized of my spelling errors :) sorry for that. THANKS for reading and for your response. I have requested to replace remote starter with the dealer, planning to visit personally and talk to the person in-charge. Hope they take care of customer.
 
#4 ·
my car is full of rattles and creaks and i have asked my dealer to listen out for them when i first bought the car from them and they told me they had and didn't hear any-think,so i drove away and i guess you know what i heard next creaks and rattles,now what i do know is that lexus is sh i t e for panel fit and security of fastening and just like toyota their engineering for some parts is appalling overall i am not that impressed with Lexus would i have another one probably not and i only purchased this one end November 2013 and i feel like this already i should of stayed with mercedes they are great cars.

issues i have found are :-

front seat belt lower mounting bolt shoulders way to long made a ptfe spacer this stops the lower seat belt mounting from rattling along the mounting bolt shoulder


under body panels missing one panel nut so made a ptfe nut in the shed, some fixings had worked there way loose,where you have plastic to plastic contact i found this can make a noise so the faces that touch are now covered with some self adhesive felt to stop any noises

under the rear bumper in the corners there are plastic covers if you tapped these again noises are made

mounting screws in the front passenger door needed tightening up this has reduced the creaks significanly

the side panels on the center console again where there is plastic to plastic contact they have been covered with the self adhesive felt

i absolutely cannot stand or bare any rattles or creaks in a car and this is basically everything this car has.
i should of stayed german with mercedes far better than anything the japanese can throw at you
i always thought Lexus meant quality through and through but how wrong i am
 
#6 ·
I guess there is something wrong with your CT. I have mine in 2011 and it is totally quiet. I don't have any issue at all. I do have some rattle noise but when I drive on unfinished road work or rough road. Feeling perfectly on the freeway. Mercedes could be the best in your opinion but I think Japanese quality is reliable and last forever.
 
#7 ·
I've had mine for 3 weeks and the rattles depend where I drive. I test drove it in Silicon Valley and there were no rattles. Then when I got home to the Santa Cruz Mountains rattles are here and there. The passenger seat has a rattle that isn't there with a passenger. My 2004 Honda with 118k miles doesn't rattle at all. The Lexus with 33k does. What I found with the Lexus is that as the interior warms up the rattles diminish. I'm guessing that plastic contracts and expands with the temperature or maybe becomes a little more flexible.
 
#8 ·
I have a bad rattle when it gets below about 40 deg F outside. It comes from the passenger seat, and has something to do with the seat adjustment mechanism. The rattle goes away when someone is sitting in the seat. I'm going to have it fixed when I go to the dealer next time. I had a really bad rattle from the center console when I first bought the car, but they were able to adjust that somehow and it hasn't come back.
 
#9 ·
1. It is a very common complain; lots of people have it and it is very easy to fix. The cup holders is way too big for normal size items. If you put in an extra large soft drink from fast food place, it does not rattle since it is a perfect fit. If you put in a normal water bottle, it is going to rattle like a rattlesnake is in your car. You can cut out a piece of thin styrofoam (from packing material you received or buy them from craft store) and put it at the bottom of the cup holder. It will stop the rattling. Normally if I hear a rattle sound, it is either:
a) Sunroof is not closed properly
b) Some kind of water bottle is in the side of the door (water bottle holder) or center cup holder
c) The electronic device holder is empty (it rattles when there is nothing on it to weight it down)

2. It is common too. When I listen to bluetooth audio, it up to the 50's. When I go back to FM, it the 18's. When I go to AM, it is in the 30's. BTW, in case you are wondering, the max is 60.. and yes I had been there. :p

3. No idea... in Southern CA and I got laughed at enough for just having heated seats. :p

4. Again it is normal. Just search for thread like "strange sound garage" and you should see many posts and some would explain what it is. I don't remember exactly what it was... something about fuel or brake fluid.. or maybe something else. But it is normal.
 
#10 ·
Most of the rattle noise comes from the cup holder from the door or from console. As a work around I have been using paper towel. I place it in the cup holder and then use the space for anything to hold. Most of my rattle is gone.
I live in Chicago area and the remote starter helps but definitely not Lexus made.
 
#14 ·
Just returned from the dealer to get a dash rattle fixed. Agree creaks and rattles major issue. Not easy to replicate as half hour long drive with Lexus rep was difficult to replicate. Most likely because we drove on slow local roads which were in good condition on a warm morning. Rattles depend on temperature, speed and condition of road. Noticed CT update features 'greater rigidity'. I don't think the CT is badly put together but rather rigidity of monocoque an issue, probably in pursuit of weight saving.
Lexus dealer did offer to send a rep to my place and drive on my roads on a day of my choosing to further assess situation. Now that's service!
 
#15 ·
Thanks for the welcome by reading and replying to my post.
A quick update on the in-consistence operation of Lexus made, dealer installed Remote starter. The service advise did confirm the issue, in their words ‘defect of reception’. Surprisingly enough they don’t want to replace/refund the defective part but offered 15% discount if I purchase a new ‘viper’ remote starter. I think you all know what will be my answer to that offer :)
 
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