2002 Lexus ES300: fire, smoke or burning smell

5 of the 153 complaints about the 2002 Lexus ES300 describe fire, smoke or burning smell.

owner complaints: 5
of this car's complaints: 3%
typical mileage: 130,000
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 14 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Fire, smoke or burning smell by model year

2003
3
2002
5
2000
1
1998
1
1997
2
1996
1
1995
2
1993
5
1992
1

What owners say

Filed Jun 29, 2016 · Fuel system · 236,400 miles · CA · fire

While driving on a freeway the car made a sudden & brief shutter immediately followed by loss of response by the accelerator pedal. I immediately began to move off the freeway knowing that something was wrong with my car. Upon getting o the off ramp I saw flames coming from around the front left tire. I put the car into park, turned the engine off and exited the vehicle. Within a very few minutes the car was completely engulfed in flames. Passers by who stopped to assist me indicated that they saw flames underneath the car as I was pulling off the freeway. There was no indication of fire (either flames, smoke or gauge indications) for me s the driver until I had exited to the off ramp. The car has been deemed a total loss with cause listed as " undetermined" by the insurance co.

Filed Jan 25, 2016 · Engine · 130,000 miles · CA · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 lexus es300. While driving 30 MPH, there were flames and a black substance coming from the engine compartment of the vehicle. The fire department was able to extinguish the fire. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries sustained. The vehicle was towed to an auto body repair center, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 130,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Filed Jan 17, 2015 · Engine · 180,000 miles · MD · fire

On 1/8/15 at approx. 9:30 am, I was driving to work south on hwy 95 near exit 67 . Suddenly, other drivers were frantically waving at me to pull over onto the shoulder of the highway. What they saw ( and which I couldn't), was that there were flames under my car. I pulled over and got out of the car. Within seconds ( not even a full minute), the entire car was engulfed in flames and soon became a complete and total charred mess. Fortunately, I was not physically hurt and a maryland state trooper came onto the scene 2-5 minutes after I got out of the car. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.

Filed Jul 14, 2009 · Fuel system · 44,000 miles · FL · fire

On june 15, 2009 we were driving home and my husband felt the car almost stalled. Then we smelled gasoline and saw smoke coming from the bottom right under the engine. We exited the car and it was already on fire. The car burst into flames and was completely destroyed. It was a 2002 lexus 300es with only 44,000 miles. Toyota has been extremely rude to us and took almost a month to inspect the car. They say they cannot determine the cause of the fire. How can a car start on fire while you are driving it over straight roads.? We never had an accident or any other problem. I read of a couple of other lexuses that caught fire. Something should be done to make toyota fully examine this problem.

Filed Jun 16, 2009 · Engine · 44,000 miles · FL · fire

Tl*the contact owns a 2002 lexus es300. While driving 25 MPH, the vehicle hesitated and the contact smelled fuel. He pulled the vehicle over and noticed smoked under the hood. In a matter of seconds, flames appeared. The vehicle was destroyed. The palm beach county police department filed report number 09-092367 and fire report number 09-50737. There were no injuries. The manufacturer will be notified. The current and failure mileages were 44,000.