The contact owns a 2007 Lexus ES350. The contact was driving approximately 10 mph and the brake pedal was abnormally depressed into the floorboard when engaged and without response. The contact was able to stop the vehicle after several attempts. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the front and rear brakes were replaced. The failure continued after the repair so the vehicle was taken to a different independent mechanic for inspection where they stated that the master cylinder could possibly need replacing. The manufacturer was not made aware of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 41,985.

- Hesperia , CA, USA

This is about the rear brake pads of Lexus E350 and the ethics of Lexus dealer. I took my 2007 ES350 to Lexus dealer for a recall job. When I picked up the car the dealer gave me an inspection sheet which showed that the front disc pads are 8mm thick (reasonable for a 30,000 miles car) while the rear pads had worn down to 1mm ( dangerously thin). I asked the dealer whether the replacement is covered by warranty. They said emphatically 'no' and offered deceiving (extremely unethical) explanations as to why this happened. Subsequently I discovered that Lexus has informed its dealers, through a technical bulletin, that premature failure of rear brake pads have occurred in E350 and these pads should be replaced under warranty when customer requests. The specific complains are (1) most cars' front pads wear much faster than rear ones, as a result drivers tend to inspect the front pads more frequently than the rear ones. This can lead to a potentially dangerous situation like what I ran into. Lexus should issue a nationwide recall to fix the problems. (2) Lexus should police its dealer. Require them to provide customers with correct, accurate information and, most importantly, to honor legitimate warranty requests.

- Columbia, MD, USA

Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) re: Lexus ES350, 2007; 16,800 miles; VIN: [xxx] on February 2nd, 2010, I was driving above referenced car, with only about 16,800 miles driven on it, barely at 20 mph on a side street and our Lexus accelerated on its own, brakes failed and the car skidded and hit the pavement of a sidewalk. I took the car to the Lexus of rockville (301 762 9009) and they said although most repairs are covered under the warranty, a few are not. They initially quoted me my share of the cost to about $250 with which I agreed. Subsequently they called me and told me that my bill will be about $2300 in addition to the costs covered by the warranty. Please verify that these costs are legitimate and please re-determine why will they not release my car for a second opinion? being in doubt, I asked for the car back for taking it to another dealer, but they will not give back to me my own car (they said due to safety reasons) and coerced me into paying a bill of $2199.36 (invoice #882736), which contained almost $1800 in labor cost and the balance in parts. Please look into this incidence and the attached invoice very thoroughly. It was a manufacturing defect that the car accelerated on its own, brakes failed and the car skidded and hit the pavement. It was none of my fault and the car is still under 7 year warranty. Lexus should fully and completely reimburse me for repairs and injuries (to my right wrist). As a civic and humanitarian duty, I also urge you to please consider a recall, so that others will not be injured more seriously.

- North Potomac, MD, USA

Situation is that always step on the brake hard to make quick stop if needed. Sometimes felt car wouldn't stop. So I hit the brake way in advance. Complained it to dealer, but they said there is no problem with the brake.

- Fort Lee, NJ, USA

On 07/2009 we took our 2007 Lexus ES350 in for service with 20K miles. It was being taken in for a brake problem, faulty visor and vehicle tilted/leaning. I was advised that the brakes had 1mm left (near brake failure). A Lexus tech replaced the brakes, visor and confirmed that the vehicle was tilted/leaning. Since then the vehicle returned several times for service including but not limited to the following: Brakes and tilt/leaning. The brakes were replaced again and another tech confirmed that the vehicle was tilted/leaning with visual and physical inspection. The tech measured from the wheel well to the ground. The dealer replaced the front suspension but the results were the same. The vehicle is still tilted/leaning and now Lexus is refusing to fix it and stated, they have done all they can do to fix it. After I complaint that the vehicle is unsafe a Corp field tech was sent to inspect the vehicle. The field tech also confirmed that the vehicle was tilted/leaning and stated that they don't currently have a remedy for this problem. The vehicle currently has 25K miles. Due to the statement above it leads me to believe the this is a manufacture defect.

- Whittier, CA, USA

While attempting to enter freeway, after passing through tollbooth, vehicle locked at 40 mph, unable to accelerate or brake.

- Palatine, IL, USA

I was getting on hwy 101 ramp on a Saturday morning around 10:45 am where traffic was moderate, suddenly felt the car began accelerating by itself so I eased up on the accelerator. Car continued to accelerate uncontrollably on its own. I then stepped hard on the brake but the car didn't slow down. Saw the cruise control light was on by itself, turned it off but the car was still accelerating. Meanwhile, the vehicle accelerated to 105 mph.miraculously managed to move over to the shoulder without hitting any cars but the vehicle was still moving at 100+ mph. Finally my husband had to force the gear box to park and I applied the emergency parking brake before the vehicle finally started to slow down and eventually stopped near exit #389. It was a 3.5 miles journey at over 100 mph with many close calls of serious accidents.vehicle was towed to Lexus dealership. Dealer later informed us that the sudden acceleration was caused by the all weather floor mat and their explanation on why the brake did not work was when the gas throttle was open, the horsepower of the car was so great that the brake wasn't able to stop it. We were not convinced and demand to have Lexus corporation send a master technician or have an independent and qualified technician for a full and complete diagnosis. Request was refused by the dealership service department manager. Based on their computer diagnosis, there was no error code came up and therefore we have to trust them that the program has been resolved by the replacement of the floor mat our research found this problem has happened in a lot of different models of vehicles of Toyota and Lexus. Suspicion is that there is some other bigger safety issues behind and Toyota is using the floor mat issue as an excuse to cover up more serious safety problem.

- Los Altos, CA, USA