My wife was driving the car to pick-up our granddaughter from school on 10-22-2018. She made a full stop at the corner and took her foot off the brake and started to make a right turn. When she started to press on the gas pedal lightly, the engine revved up to full throttle and the car accelerated and lunged uncontrollably forward. Her steering wheel was locked. Because of this acceleration, she hit the car in front with great force and severely damaging our front end and the car bumper in front of her. She was getting get in line to wait for the school children to let out. Had her the car accelerated out of control when children were crossing the street, it would have been a great catastrophe and dead children. Something must be done to alert the public. Another sudden acceleration occurred when I was driving the car about 2 years ago. But the dealer said they couldn't find anything wrong. Our car has a little over 60,000. Each time I take my car to the dealer for an oil change, they removed the floor mat. They say the floor mat can get in the way of the accelerator pedal. I don't think so, but we keep the floor mat in the trunk. I have reported this issue to a lexus headquarter in texas, (800) 255-3987. The representative said a case manager will be contacting me. I'm not sure what they will do. Something must be done to prevent running over people. There will be deaths if nothing is done!
Lexus ES330 sudden acceleration problems
49 of the 380 owner complaints about the Lexus ES330 describe sudden unintended acceleration, most of them for the 2004 model year.
- owner complaints
- 49
- worst model year
- 2004
- typical repair cost reported
- $7,500
- typical mileage
- 24,500
By model year
Often reported together
Hesitation 4Stalling 3No deployment 3Jerking 2Steering lock-up 1Knocking 1Engine failure 1Adaptive cruise 1
What owners say
The car was reversed and driven forward, suddenly accelerated forward. Applying brakes were not helping as acceleration still continued. There is no floor mat on the driver seat side to blame it on for gas pedal getting stuck to the mat.. The gas and brake pedals were adjusted to the highest level from the floor. Happened a week ago and happened again on 17/02/2018. First time the vehicle was on four lane city street. Second time on two lane city street. It can happen any time any where. I asked the dealer. No recall yet I see lot of people having this problem on this site. Https://www.vehiclehistory.com/lexus/es-330/2006
I was riding the brake into a parking space and was almost finished parking (my foot was still on the brake) when the car suddenly accelerated and traveled through a short wooded area then over a 12 foot drop to a road with traffic below. The front of the car crashed into a stone wall, crashed back into the stone wall that the car flew over, and came to a stop in the middle of a busy road approximately 100 feet from where it flew over the drop. Airbag deployed, seatbelt was on. I was taken to the er via ambulance with a broken nose, concussion, bruising... And have ongoing soreness, stiffness, dizziness...
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 lexus es330. The contact stated that while pulling into a parking space, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The contact mentioned the vehicle traveled over the side walk and was able to avoid a crash. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic. The technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 122,000 and the current mileage was 124,528.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 lexus es300. The contact stated that while reversing into a garage, the vehicle suddenly accelerated and crashed through the rear of the garage. The contact sustained injuries to the back. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was towed by the contact's insurance agency, who deemed the vehicle as destroyed. The manufacturer was notified and ruled that the contact had erroneously engaged the accelerator as opposed to the brake pedal, causing the acceleration failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 12,000.
2004 lexus es330. Consumer states unintended acceleration *tgw the consumer stated the vehicle suddenly accelerated across the street and plunged in his neighbor's brick fence completely damaging the car, which was eventually declared totaled. The consumer stated the police report indicated, the floor mat may have caused the sudden acceleration. The vehicle was inspected, but a cause could not be determined, even though it was noted, the floor mats were not secured and the hooks were missing. The consumer stated when he purchased the vehicle, there were no hooks. The consumer stated he never received a recall notice and the floor mat issue was never discussed on the numerous occasions, he went to the dealer for other services. *jb updated 11/05/12
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 lexus es330. The contact stated that the vehicle suddenly accelerated without warning while the vehicle was in park gear and the brake pedal was engaged. The dealer nor manufacturer were notified. The failure was not diagnosed and the vehicle was not repaired. The current and failure mileage was 83,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 lexus es330. The contact was attempting to park when the vehicle suddenly accelerated and crashed into a building. The air bags did not deploy and the contact sustained whiplash. The vehicle was towed to a local body shop which was provided by the insurance company where the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer sent an engineer to examine the vehicle yet the engineer was unable to diagnose a failure. The contact believed the vehicle was unsafe to drive and feared that the failure would recur without warning. The failure mileage was 60,366.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 lexus es330. The contact was reversing5 MPH when the vehicle suddenly accelerated without warning crashing into a steel pole and damaging the entire rear end of the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnosis and repairs. The vehicle was inspected and the contact was advised that she would be notified at a later date of the results of the investigation. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 105,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 lexus es330. While driving approximately 5 MPH, the contact took her foot off the accelerator pedal and the vehicle suddenly surged forward crashing into a curb. A police report was filed. There were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where an investigator sent from the manufacturer stated that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. The vehicle had not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were approximately 33,000. Updated 01/14/11 *bf the consumer stated his/her foot was still on the brake, when the vehicle suddenly accelerated. Updated 04/19/11
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Lexus ES330 sudden acceleration
Which Lexus ES330 years have sudden unintended acceleration problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2004 (20 complaints), 2005 (20 complaints) and 2006 (9 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix sudden unintended acceleration on the Lexus ES330?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $7,500 (median of 5 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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