Issues with 2019 Lexus ES 350 Stock Audio System

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I have just bought ES350 F Sport and driving it for a week in Dubai. I have the same issue. I'm really disappointed with the sound quality.
I have also issue with the seat which is not comfortable when driving more than 20 minutes
I really miss my previous car Kia K900 :tired_face:
 
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I put an inquiry into Lexus corporate again Friday asking for an update on whether a fix was in the works for this issue. Their response simply stated that they had provided me Lexus's position back in February, which was that the car was operating as designed. So it does not look like there is actually any sort of fix in process, at least according to the email I received today.
 
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Well, according to Mr "don" (or similar sounding) at Lexus HQ , they are aware of the situation and are looking into a fix. There was nothing in concrete, but if and when they should come up with a fix, they will inform the dealers. I dont know if this is BS , but it's what I was told.
1-800-255-3987 Lexus HQ
 
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Well, according to Mr "don" (or similar sounding) at Lexus HQ , they are aware of the situation and are looking into a fix. There was nothing in concrete, but if and when they should come up with a fix, they will inform the dealers. I dont know if this is BS , but it's what I was told.
1-800-255-3987 Lexus HQ

Yeah, I wonder if what they will say over the phone is different than what they are willing to put in writing. I asked for a written confirmation of whether they were working on a fix, and they would not say they were. Hopefully they are and just don't want to commit yet, but I am not holding my breath.
 
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I an with every body here, I spent 2900.00 dollars for an 1800 watt sound system. I put in a custom audio system in my other car that has about 1800 watts and let me tell you this MARK LEVINSON system does not even come close to that. I would say that is false advertising, and a lie. This was one of my main interests in this car. I say band together and go class action law suit. That's a awful lot of money for a awful terrible system. BIG LIE LEXUS
 
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I just had a "pre-production" amplifier put in my 2019 ES by the dealership. They are working on a fix. The new amp makes it 100% better--I can now hear some sound from the rear speakers without the fader being set all the way to the back and turning off the front ones. It's not perfect, nor even great, but better. I have provided my feedback to the dealership and I think they are working on a fix. Now, I believe the speakers may also need to be upgraded--they likely weren't designed to have any power delivered to them, and I can tell there's not much depth to the sound--certainly not on par with the sound from the front. No, they will never admit there's a problem, but they are apparently listening to customer feedback/complaints, because they aren't doing this just for me!
 
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@JGawry, I think this are some good news. May be that my future ES comes in May with better sound system. :yum

Which sound system have you, pioneer or Mark Levinson?
 
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@rigarba, I have the stock Pioneer system. From what I understand, they are working on a permanent fix (improvement, since they never admitted anything was wrong with it!) May might be a little early, but good luck.
 
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@rigarba, I have the stock Pioneer system. From what I understand, they are working on a permanent fix (improvement, since they never admitted anything was wrong with it!) May might be a little early, but good luck.


Im very excited about this, hope it is offered to all who have the 2019es and 300h
 
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Pam, I would go on Lexus.com and send them a complaint. My guess is, that's why they reached out to me early-on.

I did this about a month ago, spoke with a case manager who told me they were aware of the situation and were looking into a fix, but nothing in concrete at the time.
 
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I did this about a month ago, spoke with a case manager who told me they were aware of the situation and were looking into a fix, but nothing in concrete at the time.
We have now purchased four Lexus vehicles, all RX and ES models. This 2019 ES350 was our first w/ ML system, and - though the 2019 model drives and looks absolutely wonderful - we are so very disappointed with the sound system and poor quality fade and balance. By design Lexus placed little emphasis (nor speakers) in the back cabin and rear deck. Why they chose to do so makes no sense at all. The front cabin is strong with placement and quality of sound, but surround sound? No! Impossible. I've been to the dealer and now in discussions with corporate Lexus, but I'm not expecting anything wonderful to occur to rectify this situation. And to say we're disappointed in Lexus would be an understatement. The name "Lexus" came to mean quality and comfort to us, but now...well, it's so unfortunate to have to admit we made a mistake in trusting Lexus to delivery 17-speaker 1800 watt PurePlay Surround Sound, and to find a tinny sound akin to lesser quality car manufacturer. Yes, we have met with Lexus technicians, and yes we have done the shifts to all the inputs and system settings as others have mentioned as a 'fix', but they are not a remedy to the poor platform and design. And 17 speakers? That's a stretch as 'speakers in speakers' by design to appear to merit this offering in the product description nor does a claim of 17 speakers really fit consumers' expectations by consumers' definition. Sorry. Borders on consumer fraud, I fear.
 
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Just purchased--Lexus Silver Spring, MD--my first Lexus. I should be happy, right!?! NOT!!! We decided on the 2019 ES 350 with Panoramic Moon Roof, Blind-Spot Monitoring, and a few other options. However, we did not feel the need to purchase the Heads Up display or the Mark-Levinson Audio Package, after all, Lexus is a "Luxury" brand and as such, the stock audio package, we incorrectly presumed, would certainly deliver a sound commensurate with our now retired 2008 Toyota Sienna mini-van, or my stock 2015 Chevy Tahoe...right? Well, actually, NO! The stock audio/sound system in the 2019 Lexus ES350 is the worst audio I ever owned!! One would think that Lexus, being the luxury brand--they love to tell you they're a luxury brand and love to tout their excellent customer service--would, as a bottom line, include a basic sound system that actually sounds good. Such is not the case--listen for yourself.

Admittedly, we did not test the sound system before buying the car. However, we did not perform compression checks on the cylinders either--because when you're purchasing a Lexus, it is thought, that you're purchasing luxury through-and-through, including, yes, the audio system.

Problem: When you use the fader to increase the sound coming from the back--vs the too prominent front--speakers, the quality and volume from the back diminish greatly. And, although the salesman and service manager both agreed with us that the audio system indeed "...sounds like ****!" they did nothing for us except to inform Lexus of our discontent. Indeed the car was only three days old when they picked it up from our house to test for amplifier problems, only to discover that ALL the 2019 Lexus ES350s on their lot "...sound like ****!!"

I told them WE DID NOT want a car with such an inferior sound/audio system. They agreed!!--terrible sound system. They too could not understand why Lexus would put their name on such a sub-standard audio product.

The sales manager, Andreas Tsirikos, laid out our options: $5,000 more for a different, upgraded car, with the Mark-Levinson Audio Package (and Heads Up display and a few cameras) or keep the car with a terrible audio system. Huh? Held hostage, we buckled and laid out another $5,000 lest we be stuck with an inferior audio/sound system the dealer even admits, "...sounds terrible!!"

We feel we were swindled by Lexus and taken advantage of by the dealer. Instead of paying FULL retail on the "upgrade," we should have been given SOME discount on the upgraded vehicle. But NO!!

Instead of $5,000 for a audio system that actually sounds good, perhaps they could have charged us a little less, say $2,000 or so. After all, we did not want the Heads Up display or any of the cameras that come with the "better" (read:standard on ALL other luxury cars) audio system!! We just wanted an average audio/sound system!!

All and all, $52,500 vs the original $47,500. WTW??? Buyer beware!!

If this is how Lexus and Lexus dealers treat their customers my first Lexus will likely be my last Lexus.


I've just purchased the 2019 Ultra Luxury ES 350 for that same reason.....I had read posts about the bad stereo system in the base without the Levinson set up and tried a couple on the lot.......all were the same poor quality - so we bit the bullet and paid the additional funds for an Ultra with the Levinson. So far......this system seems far superior. Interesting, however, even at the very top model for the ES series- we did not receive a trunk mat!
 
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I've just purchased the 2019 Ultra Luxury ES 350 for that same reason.....I had read posts about the bad stereo system in the base without the Levinson set up and tried a couple on the lot.......all were the same poor quality - so we bit the bullet and paid the additional funds for an Ultra with the Levinson. So far......this system seems far superior. Interesting, however, even at the very top model for the ES series- we did not receive a trunk mat!


I'll trade my trunk mat for a better sounding surround sound audio system.
My son stopped by yesterday, he has my old 2014 300h. I asked for the keys so i could just sit in it and listen to the SURROUND sound on the radio. I was in heaven for 10 minutes. Then i had to get out and give him the keys back :-(
Boy do i miss that sound.
 
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I’ve been driving my new 2019 ES 350 for a few weeks, and can’t figure out how to improve the audio, which seems only to come from the front of the cabin, above the dashboard. There doesn’t seem to be any rear speaker. The fader bar in the controls, if moved to the rear, almost completely mutes the audio.

I just turned in a 2016 ES 350 and it definitely had a better balanced audio performance.

Maybe there’s a wire not hooked up? Any other ideas?

Could this just be “the way it is”?
I have the mark lemmonson stereo, But that's all I have someone stole my car and left the stereo
 
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Thats funny but sad at the same rime
Somebody said it right its just embarrassing that my stereo that they tout as "an unparalleled audio experience. In my 50,000 lexus doesn't measure up to the stock one in my buddy's dodge pickup. Just embarrassing and sad.
 
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Just purchased a brand new 2019 ES300H Luxury model 8 days ago. Found it odd that all the sound only comes from front seat shoulder position forward. If you fade all sound to the rear the only sound comes from 2 very tinny low volume speakers. Car dash says it has surround sound and it is the 10 speaker premium system. Only sounds like 3 of the 10 are working and all sound is up front!!!!
Going to call dealer tomorrow to ask what’s up!!!???
Called Lexus customer service 800 number (googled it) and put in a formal
Complaint. Spending $50k and getting the worst sound from any system I have ever owned bothers me greatly.
Ya’all on this forum my suggestion... call the 800 number and voice your concerns. This will benefit everyone.
 
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Just purchased a brand new 2019 ES300H Luxury model 8 days ago. Found it odd that all the sound only comes from front seat shoulder position forward. If you fade all sound to the rear the only sound comes from 2 very tinny low volume speakers. Car dash says it has surround sound and it is the 10 speaker premium system. Only sounds like 3 of the 10 are working and all sound is up front!!!!
Going to call dealer tomorrow to ask what’s up!!!???
Called Lexus customer service 800 number (googled it) and put in a formal
Complaint. Spending $50k and getting the worst sound from any system I have ever owned bothers me greatly.
Ya’all on this forum my suggestion... call the 800 number and voice your concerns. This will benefit everyone.
 
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Update: 5/7/19
Call my dealer today both sales manager and service manager are both very aware of the poor sound quality.
Both are putting pressure on their corporate office to get a resolve on this issue.
May I suggest keep calling the Lexus corporate office 1-800-2553987 and your dealer to get a resolve. If u bought new there are consumer advocates to report issue to also.
This is ( my opinion) false advertising by Lexus.
Keep up the pressure. They are aware
Good luck!!