Is it normal for passenger front side to sag 1.5" when 2006 LS430 engine is shut off?

Got back from 3 wks in south Fla. Battery nearly run down, but managed to start it so went shopping with chief shopper and I sat in car and let it run to charge battery. Noted a qiet noise like a pump running at times. This was yesterday. Today got in and drove out driveway and car front bottomed on the end of the driveway where it joins to street

- had never done that before. Parked it and came back out and couple of friends with me commented it looked low in the front. Drove off and parked it again and when I came out I noted the right front fender was down to the level of the tire and the left side wasn't. So I started it up and drove off to a place I was sure was level, got out and looked at it and it was level with the motor running. But I was suspicious, so I drove to stealership and asked the nice young people there about it. As we talked, the passenger front got lower and lower. At time when the nice young service writter measured it with a tape measure, there was about 1.5" difference in height. The wheel well was closer to the tire on the passenger side, and the top of the tire was nearly at the opening of the fender. The drivers side was higher, at a normal height. Service writter called the shop and the expert in the shop said it is normal for the car to sag when the motor is turned off and the car compensates for the drivers weight by raising the drivers side higher than the passenger. I have not noted this height difference before. Is this actualy true that there is a normal sag to the right of 1.5" when the engine is shut off? What is the "running pump" sound I hear likely to be - I did hear it again today.

Anyone else notice this heigth difference or pumping sound?

Reply to
mcbrue
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How does it feel to have a black cloud follow you around everywhere you go? I've had 17 years of Lexus ownership (mostly LS, latest being hte 600h L), and never had any problems worth talking about. You've owned ONE for less than a year, and have had everything under the sun appear to go wrong. Coincidence? I don't think so...

Reply to
GIga

I have owned Lexi since 1993 - they came out in 1992 as I recall. Or else it was 1992 and they came out in 1991 - whatever. The ES models have been driven by my wife after the first one. There has allways been a problem or two with each one. This LS430 is sure to be considered a great car if you have never driven a true luxury car. Unfortunately, I have driven true Luxury Cars, and even worse, this

2006 LS430 Ultra has had its radar system go out for $7,000 and there is a recurrent problem with the sensors on the bumpers. And the lack of good human engineering in this car is really a monument to poor planning which has been a major disappointment to me. Now the car sags to the right when it is shut off and the dealer says that is normal. It did not do that when I first had it as I recall. I don't remember it doing that before I left it alone in the garage for 3 weeks. So I asked this group about it. You feel obligated to attack me rather than telling me whether or not your ultra models with the variable height air support systems have had problems like this. Thank you kindly for your Lexus like service.
Reply to
mcbrue

Sounds like you have a problem with the variable air suspension system when there is an uneven sag. And dealers like to blow customers off by saying everything is normal. So call Toyota's (Lexus) 1-800 number. A solenoid or valve is probably not working. Is it still covered under warranty? The 2006?

For me the Toyota Lexus is meant to be the American style ride that Detroit couldn't build. I didn't think the level of technology is anything to rave about, and clearly some owners realize that they're not worth the money they handed Toyota.

Reply to
johngdole

Ah, the resident expert chimes in.

I think the reason you don't think the level of technology is anything to rave about may be due to your complete ignorance of the subject. You seem to enjoy flaunting your lack of knowledge here, how about some more wild guesses about suspension systems? It's always been helpful to the group when you make things up and present them as fact.

If you feel the need to come to a Lexus newsgroup and criticize Lexus, you may want to go in a different direction than "clearly some owners realize that they're not worth the money". Owner satisfaction and initial quality surveys put Lexus at or near the top of the list year after year.

But you wouldn't be interested in that - it's common knowledge and readily available to anyone who was actually interested in the truth.

Reply to
DaveW

Hey Dave W! What is your take on the sag in my car? I can tell you don't approve of anyone who says that Lexus is not perfect, but that is not particularly usefull unless you need reinforcement of your decision to buy a Lexus or series of them as some of us have done. The level of human engineering in the Lexus is low - look at a Mercedes for comparison. Of course the Mercedes will break down a lot more often. In the first 25,000 miles that I owned the last MercedesS420, I had to take it to the dealer 3 or 4 times. Hmmm ... this LS430 has now had what I consider to be 3 major faults - $7000 radar unit, air suspension sag which Lexus calls normal, and the random bumper sensor going off which Lexus declines to cover under warranty. Hmmm ... and the car was sold to me as new with 500 miles on it - my bad for buying it like that of course. Hmmmm .... and this "use group" is populated by "folks" who attack anyone who criticizes a Lexus for having major faults ...

Reply to
mcbrue

This johngdole character has repeatedly posted flat-out false statements about various Lexus models as facts. I don't know his motivation for this, but it's not "usefull".

He has also posted here in a Lexus newsgroup that people who buy them are idiots. This is slightly different than saying Lexus isn't perfect, wouldn't you say?

I have no idea what that means - are Lexus using monkeys?

I'd say that it is uncommon to have so many major problems with a Lexus, and somewhat less uncommon with a Mercedes. Certainly, you're not the first person who's been unhappy with their Lexus, but it shouldn't surprise you that other Lexus owners who post here have noticed that every time you show up here, it's with a generally sarcastic rant about what a disappointment your car has been.

I think it's time you trade that lemon in for something that was engineered by humans.

Reply to
DaveW

Dave W, thank you for your help with my sagging LS430. By human engineering I meant engineering taking the human factors into account. The engineering does not do that as well as the german engineering does. For example, consider the windshield - glass too hard so the wipers do not wipe cleanly and skip often; wrong angle so there is lots of glare; a very short band of tint at the top so that too much sun comes in; and next we can go to the windshield wipers if you want. And you really should watch out - calling the Japanese engineers non- humans is really not considered nice anymore.

Reply to
mcbrue

Remarkable.

Reply to
St. John Smythe

Back to your question. No, it's not normal. See if the Toyota 800 number can help you. The dealer's Lexus experience sure isn't working.

Reply to
johngdole

As usual, you guess wrong. As the saying goes, you use statistics like a drunken man uses lampposts - for support rather than illumination.

Do you honestly believe Cadillac sells anywhere near as many cars as Lexus? Not that I think popularity is any measure of quality, but if you're going to make that argument, you look even more foolish than usual.

Lexus sells more cars than Mercedes, and *far* more cars than Cadillac.

And your latest post here is 79% stupider than your previous average.

Reply to
DaveW

Reply to
Giga

Careful Dave -- you're getting involved in a battle of wits between unarmed participants (Mr. Long Dong and the Brew-jerk)! Only bad things can happen here...

Reply to
GIga

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