lexus gx550 premium driver door rattle/cabin noise

[whyjay93]

purchased 2024 lexus gx550 premium. all black. caviar. black seats. love it. almost no options except heads up display. however, day 3 of driving i noticed a very small metal ticking noise coming from the driver’s side door b pillar area when driving over rough road. i took the car into longo lexus at 700miles. el monte, ca.

they identified the noise during test drive and did the following work: removed seat belt bracket. attempted manipulating spot weld using soft punch. identified noise coming from lower part of p pillar when pulling on sheet metal. identified lack of clearance inside b pillar. sheet metal making contact intermittently causing metallic ticking noise. used pry tool to create clearance. re-installed trim panel. no abnormal sound heard after clearance adjustment.

i was excited to get the car back after a week. however, upon picking up the car, i noticed that as i’m opening the driver door something felt off meaning it didn’t feel as solid as it used to. i tried opening & shutting it several times. no solid thunk during opening and closing. i compared it to the other 3 doors which all felt and sounded solid and sure enough, I felt slightly more rattle compared to the other doors. also during highway driving there was more noise seeping through the cabin. you could hear almost every car passing by to your left.

i emailed/messaged this concern but the sales advisor swore that the technician did not work on the door since they wouldn’t do it unless it’s approved by lexus warranty first and there’s no indication of door work on the description. he advised that i should bring the car in so we can test the door for abnormal noise. however he advised that the new gx have lighter doors and the driver door may not have the same weight or feel as the other doors since each door has different components. there’s no other gx to reference at this time and my concern is whether they’d say issue cannot be duplicated. would they even be able to fix this issue since it was sent back to me in this condition? am i just sensitive and going crazy thinking that i hear more noise coming through the driver’s side? i personally feel that it’s significant since getting a lexus you expect quality and measure of quietness but i don’t know whether lexus service would spend much time with this or deny that this is a valid issue.

has anyone faced any similar issue? any recommendations on how this should be approached with the dealer? i made another appointment as soon as possible but they advised that the next time would be in 2wks. any advice is appreciated.

 

[mm9351]

I would first check that all the driver's door seals are still intact with no obvious discontinuities, e.g. the bulb seal around the door frame, the seal at the rear door where it interfaces the front door, and any other anomalies. Check the passenger door seals as it mirrors the driver's door. Also check if the upper door frame and lower door assembly for any obvious signs of being deformed and the window operation is normal and closes fully.

As a proof test, take a piece of stiff cardboard (or a long tie wrap) and try to wedge it into the door seals when the door is closed. Take note of how far you can go before you feel a resistance. Compare with all other doors. Now you have objective data regarding compression on each of the door seals, instead of relying on subjective data (e.g. 'thunk' sound of the door closing). Demonstrate this data with the Lexus dealer. With the technician working in this area, it's possible some of the seals were disturbed, although it's unlikely the tech knocked the door out of alignment. Although it is possible that the inner 'B' pillar may have seals over access ports which were designed to block road noise, which may now be getting into the passenger compartment. I would challenge the dealer to check that those hidden seals were not disturbed. It's highly likely that the tech did not reassemble the trim on the b pillar properly. Ask to see the work instructions they used to disassemble the pillar. Also, not feeling comfortable with the "repair" Lexus used to use a "pry tool and a spot punch to reform a weld" on a brand new car .... seems a bit unprofessional and extreme. Challenge Lexus and ask if that is an "approved repair procedure" and ask for the tech bulletin.

Finally, I'm sure there are those at Lexus who would suggest that the noise you are hearing may have been there since day 1, or would dismiss this with "door operation as designed." Based on your observations, it's highly likely that the tech messed up on reassembling the trim on the pillar.

Good luck and please post an update on your resolution!