Issues with 2019 Lexus ES 350 Stock Audio System

Here is the Speaker Layout for the 2019 ES Pioneer

 

I turned my bass and mids up a little, which gave me a much better sound in my car. if you leave them at default in the middle it sounds really bad

 

Well UE we are in the same boat. Took delivery of a 2019 F Sport. I had my wife with me on the test drive and I certainly did not exercise the sound system. This is the most pitiful sound system that I have listened to in a car for 30 years. In fact I had a 55 Olds Super 88 in high school that I mounted an 8 track under the dash and two six by nines in the rear deck that would blow away the sound system in my new Lexus.

I complained to the dealer. I complained to Lexus Corporate. BEGGED them to take the car back. No problem for a mere $5000 hit. Lexus Corporate told me to take it up with consumers affair board.

Lexus fix this and fix this fast. You Tube videos can be very embarrassing and scare away a lot of potential purchasers!!

 

18 Lexus IS300 here. Same issue with this vehicle - little to no sound from the backend and weak bass. The sound system on my outgoing 12 Civic was better. This is strictly from a balanced sound perspective, I am no qay an audiophile.

Fading helps a bit, and I also suspect with my smaller cabin the issue is not as pronounced as the ES.

Unfortunately a stain on an otherwise good product.

 

Hi RAL - thanks.
I couldn't find any definitive data on the 2017 stock system, but since it's part of the same refresh as the 2018 I'd imagine it's the same. I am curious, were you listening to bass-heavy music? I primarily listen to hip-hop and rock which might be having an impact on my assessment. Secondly, were you using wired, bluetooth connection, or other? Appreciate your input.

 

Is this a Lexus ES related problem only or does it affect other new models like the UX?

Of course "journalists" said nothing in their reviews, so I have to trust only real world users/owners.

 

A Consumer Complaint against Lexus to your State Attorney General may get their attention. Fill out the form in your manual and send it by certified mail to the address provided. My case manager at Lexus and the General Manager at the dealership are doing nothing. They are actually stating that there is no problem with the sound system and the problem is with me. Even though I showed them the many complaints on this website. The service manager at my Lexus dealership said to me today that I am stuck with the system and there is NO fix in the works.

 

Can somebody block @Yakko this is just trolling?

 

Very interesting that US dealers don't bother to do anything. Very different than in Japan. Maybe because dealers in Japan are Lexus owned and not independent.
BTW there is no problem with the sound system in Japan since I cannot find any complaints on forums or articles. Maybe somebody should check China.

 

I communicated extensively with Lexus on this. They asked me to take my car back to the dealer a second time, and the dealer again said “operating as designed.” Lexus has confirmed there is no repair or fix in the works for this issue. Extremely disappointing. Others with the same problem now seem to be popping up on Edmunds, JD Power, etc., but I doubt Lexus will care. This will certainly be our last Lexus.

 

Have you spoken to a lawyer about this issue?

Maybe you could set up a class action with every other scammed owner of this garbage system.

Also write to every single consumer rights protection association and to every single automotive media (magazines, websites, blogs, etc..), let the general public be aware of this issue and not just only Lexus thematic forums and owners clubs. General car enthusiast forums should be informed too if you want to make something happen, hopefully.

Make enough noise and eventually Lexus will do something in order to protect its reputation because in the end that's what every company in the world does: protect their affairs, not the customers.

 

I just traded my NX for a 2019 ES350 FSport with the ML audio on 2/6/19. While it is a MUCH better system than the NX had, its still not as great as I was hoping it would be. The fade to rear doesn't work all that well. I usually keep any car audio system faded more to rear, its just always sounded better to me. I mostly use Spotify with my phone, I adjusted the equalizer there and on the car's system and it helped. All in all I'm super happy with the car, the only thing is the ML isn't as impressive as I was hoping to be.

 

The Mark Levinson system is overkill with low quality Spotify compressed mp3 music streamed over bluetooth (this also has an impact over the sound quality vs streaming the same audio track through an USB source).

Try playing an old fashioned CD and hear the night/day difference it makes, also you can try for an even more impressive result using FLAC and OGG files.

Like this one: http://www.lindberg.no/hires/test/2L-087_stereo-DXD_06.flac

Here you can find many samples: http://www.2l.no/hires/

Download them and put the files on an USB pen, then plug it in your car and stream from that source.

Also don't use two equalizers at the same time, turn off the one in Spotify and only use the one in your car.

 

I also have asked the dealership about this, and was told that "Lexus is aware there are complaints." "However, there is nothing in the works to change anything." So, rather than live with this substandard system until it's time to trade, I was wondering if anyone has tried an after market solution? My guess is that simply replacing the speakers isn't going to do it, that is likely the power going to the rear speakers.

I once had a Datsun B210 that had a better sounding system....

 

The concept that we need to be considering aftermarket systems, just to have even functional sound, on a $50k car is absurd. It is so bad I actually looked at portable bluetooth speakers to keep in the car. My guess is they will continue to ignore it and, at best, silently fix it for the upcoming model year. I don't think Lexus cares one bit about those of us who have already purchased the vehicle.

 

Yes, sad, but looks like there are no other options at this point. I had thought I would take the car home for a day before buying it, but while talking within the salesman on the test drive and enjoying the smoothness of the car, I didn't think of making sure the sound system matched the price level of the car. I didn't think I needed more time with the car... What a lesson I learned! I tried the Bluetooth solution, doesn't quite do it....