I bought a new 2005 SC430 on June 30, 2005 in the US. As I drove it off the lot, I heard rattling from the interior left rear strut of the roof (with the aluminum top up) behind my left ear.
The car is now back at the dealer for the 5th time in less than two weeks, and it is becoming obvious that, for whatever reason, the dealer's service department does not have sufficient knowledge of the roof and its bracing to isolate and eliminate a very specific and very annoying noise. At one point, a well-meaning service tech inserted a piece of tape with velcro in one of the left roof struts, which did absolutely nothing to quiet the problem.
Has anyone else with an SC430 experienced similar problems? I love the car, and when the top is down there is nothing like it, but it's been only two weeks and I already find myself dreading putting the top back up, because the rattle in the roof strut is driving me nuts. A slightly bumpy road won't cause the noise, but any uneven surface that causes even the most minimal chassis flex will cause the roof to chatter every time.
I'd appreciate any information on experience of others with a similar problem. I've contacted Lexus directly, and their reaction can best be summarized as a big yawn.
I'd like to have them check and adjust the torque and fit of all the contact points in the relatively simple strut system of the aluminum roof, but again, there's no one at this dealer that seems to have the knowledge of the roof of this model to be able to do that. Everyone is very polite, but they're clueless on how to fix the problem, and I can tell they'd really prefer it if I'd just go away.
Thanks in advance.
