10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
4 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
6,228 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2018 Lexus RX 350 brakes problems

brakes problem

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2018 Lexus RX 350 Owner Comments

problem #8

Oct 012024

RX 350

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

1. At [XXX] on [XXX], I was pulling into my gym's parking lot, when I stepped on the break to park my car, instead of stopping, the car accelerates rapidly and crashed through the other side of the sidewalk where there were light pole and cement walls, throwing me forward and backward with seat belt on, I was in total shock! 2. My insurance sent a field inspector to the body shop 2X in hope to repair my car but ended up declaring it a Total Loss. 3. Lexus said they would send a field tech to get the EDR (Event Data Recorder) data from my 2018 Lexus RX350 within 30 days, but the results won't be available for 30-45 days after that. Lexus's slow response to this accident concerns and disappoints me b/c it was a serious crash that Lexus should treat it seriously and promptly. 4. The disbelief of a 'young' car with only 12297 miles could have issues like this puzzled me and drove me to do a lot of online research, then I came across this site [XXX] which contains an article titled '10 Common Problems of A Lexus RX350'. Problem #5 described exactly what had happened to me: 'ONE RECURRING PROBLEM THIS CAR HAS IS THAT THE SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONS SEVERELY. THIS TYPICALLY HAPPENES WHEN THE DRIVER IS TRYING TO PARK THE VEHICLE. REPORTS PAINT THE SAME PICTURES REPEATEDLY: THE DRIVER IS PULLING INTO A PARKING LOT, THEY PUSH THE BREAK PEDAL, AND INSTEAD OF STOPPING, THE CAR ACELERATES RAPIDLY, WHICH RESULTS IN A CRASH." Based on this article, it seems that Lexus should have issued a recall, but no! 5. The strange thing was that NO airbags were exploded/activated, yet the vehicle was damaged to beyond repair, it makes me wonder if there was an issue with the airbags too. If this incident had occurred at an intersection, I dare not imagine the outcome...I could have been killed or critically injured along with other innocent people on the road. I am very traumatized by the whole experience and sadly, the feeling seems to have gotten worse as time goes. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

problem #7

Oct 072024

RX 350

  • miles
I am writing to raise a serious concern regarding a issue with my 2018 Lexus RX450hL involving the brake actuator. Since purchasing the vehicle at 63,000 miles, I have noticed hissing, clicking, and squeaking noises when applying the brakes. As the mileage increased to 83,000, these noises have worsened, becoming unbearable. In addition, I am experiencing a shaky driver-side mirror and a rusting hood latch, both of which present safety concerns. For a vehicle under 5 years old, I believe these problems do not reflect the quality I expected, particularly given the premium price I paid. According to Lexus' Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) #L-SB-0032-23 Rev, issued in October 2023, which addresses squawk or knock noises from the engine compartment when the brake pedal is pressed or released, affecting models like the RX450hL. My vehicle exhibits symptoms similar to those described in the TSB. The vehicle was regularly maintained by the previous owner at Lexus of Thousand Oaks and Woodland Hills. Despite this, the major part like brake actuator has failed prematurely. Given Lexus' reputation as a luxury brand, it is unacceptable that such a critical component would fail before the vehicle is 5 years old or has reached 100,000 miles. The combination of the brake actuator defect, the shaky mirror, and the rusting hood latch is disappointing, especially for a vehicle of this caliber. When I initially contacted Lexus Customer Service, I was also dealing with rusting parts and a failing brake booster. Lexus of Cerritos provided a repair estimate of around $5,000 for brake actuator. I was advised to reach out to Lexus Customer Service after my request for a good faith repair was denied due to the inability to obtain the complete maintenance history. However, I have since confirmed with the previous owner and Lexus that the vehicle was regularly serviced. I am also aware that Lexus has issued brake actuator-related recalls for several models.

- Fountain Valley, CA, USA

problem #6

May 112021

RX 350

  • miles
The car makes a "Brake Squawk" noise when the brake pedal is applied. The noise sometimes is unbearable. Dealer replaced the brake actuator. The noise came back after a few months.

- Framingham, MA, USA

problem #5

Dec 012022

RX 350 6-cyl

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Lexus 2018 Rx450hl is known to have issue with brake actuator. A faulty brake actuator causes the car to fail sudden stop. It-??s definitely a safety issue. Lexus have technical service information bulletin(tsib) for this issue since 2019. They never contact the owner to replace the faulty part. So if the car is under warranty they will fix the problem with no cost. But if the warranty pass the threshold, they are charging the costumer 3.5k to replace it. It-??s an absolute horrible business practices. This part is a manufactured defect and it-??s a safety issue.

- Elk Grove, CA, USA

problem #4

May 312022

RX 350

  • miles
Car displaying parking brake malfunction and and cruise control malfunction intermittent when using the parking break, seem that TSB (T-SB-0168-19) was open for Camay from 2018 to 2020 exhibiting the same issue but not for this car. This a safety concern since parking brake becomes disable, this issue resets after restarting the car again.

- Davie, FL, USA

problem #3

Sep 132020

RX 350

  • 20,000 miles
While traveling North on interstate 95 in the middle lane at approximately 60mph after switching into left lane saw brake lights ahead and stepped on brake pedal. Heard slight pop sound, brake pedal went immediately to the floor. Car did not stop or slow down. Swerved to left to avoid directly hitting car in front of me but hit jersey wall and the car. My car kept going another couple hundred yards before it finally stopped. Car was totaled.without functioning brakes adaptive cruise control or forward collision braking were useless.

- Reston, VA, USA

problem #2

Apr 152020

RX 350 6-cyl

  • 9,825 miles
On April 15 2020, was entering a parking space in front of a sprouts supermarket at 12500 westheimer rd., houston, Texas 77077. The Lexus RX350 (2018) failed to stop and crashed into a large building support column which did serious damage to the Lexus and to the column. This is an expensive car and came equipped with the emergency crash system. This feature did not work to stop the car from hitting the building. In the past it has stopped the car but only most often it does not work...no one was injured nor were any people on the parking area affected.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #1

Jun 232019

RX 350

  • 20,000 miles
I got into accident and no airbag deployed even at high impact and othe othe vehicle flipped over.

- Hellertown, PA, USA

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