Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6) on february 23, 2010 at about 3 pm I was parking my 2007 lexus es350 in a parking space at starbucks at belgrade shopping center. When I reached the curb with my foot on the brakes I started to put the car in park and suddenly the car just took off up over the curb. I kept pressing harder and harder on the brakes with my right foot and applied the parking brake with my left foot. The car traveled up over the curb and into the grassy - wooded area beyond the parking lot. The car finally stopped. Lexus was notified and towed the vehicle to lexus of richmond, va where the recall repairs were made. We have been afraid to drive the vehicle for fear of injury or death due to a future unexpected sudden acceleration happening again. This is the statement of [xxx] who was driving the vehicle when this event occurred.
2007 Lexus ES350 acceleration complaints
Page 3 of 5: complaints 41 to 70 of 127, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 lexus es 350. The contact stated while stopped at a stop light her foot came off the brake pedal and the vehicle accelerated and crashed into another vehicle. The vehicle received damage to the front end. No one was injured during the crash and a police report was not filed. The contact called the manufacturer and the manufacturer stated the crash was due to driver error. The contact stated the vehicle has lunged forward more than once while driving. The failure mileage was 29,750.
I had stopped for gas midpoint in a 10 hour drive. After completing my stop, I accessed interstate 40 e from the entrance ramp at which point there was a sudden independent increase surge in speed by the car and not me. I would liken it to the surge one experiences when the car is on auto control and it is adjusting to go up a steep incline. I remember feeling like the car was possessed-it had a mind of it's own. I did have the clear all weather mats in my car, which was purchased through lexus. Since I was on the interstate and there wasn't a lot of traffic I didn't feel panicky. I tried tapping on the brake a couple of times and this didn't slow me down. I remember looking at my console trying to see what gear I was in which was indeed drive and then attempting to look at the accelerator. Because I'm short, and my seat is pretty far forward in order for my feet to reach the accelerator I didn't have a clear view of it. As quickly as it started it stopped without any help from me. I pulled over to take a look at the floor mat to see if it had slid and it had not. The all weather mat has been removed and lexus has shortened the accelerator pedal as well as installed the new override software on my car. I have not had any further incidents of unexplainable acceleration since that one incident.
I drive a lexus 350 2007 that was just put through the recall repair last week. It still accelerates without me pushing the pedal. Just suddenly revs up. It's not the pedal like toyota says. The pedal does not move.
While attempting to enter freeway, after passing through tollbooth, vehicle locked at 40 MPH, unable to accelerate or brake.
We bought our lexus 350 on sep 29, 2006 within 3-5 months we had issues in acceleration pedal. We took to the workshop and stated our complaint on increase is speed the 1st 10 min of driving. The replaced the transmission. But sometimes we still have that issue. But when we take to the dealer they say they couldn't reproduce that. We are now worries about the sticky gas pedal issue. Once we even hit a cyclist is the turn when I couldn't control the speed on the turn. We tried to reduce our speed, but it was kind of accelerated to 40, where as it should be in 25. The incident happened in school zone.
We bought our lexus 350 on sep 29, 2006 within 3-5 months we had issues in acceleration pedal. We took to the workshop and stated our complaint on increase is speed the 1st 10 min of driving. The replaced the transmission. But sometimes we still have that issue. But when we take to the dealer they say they couldn't reproduce that. We are now worries about the sticky gas pedal issue. Once we even hit a cyclist is the turn when I couldn't control the speed on the turn. We tried to reduce our speed, but it was kind of accelerated to 40, where as it should be in 25. The incident happened in school zone.
Tl*the contact owns a 2007 lexus es350. The contact was driving 25 MPH when she engaged the brake pedal, the vehicle surged and crashed into the back of a vehicle. The air bags caused mild injuries to the driver when they deployed. The police was called and a report was taken. The contacts insurance company paid for the vehicle to be repaired. The vehicle was repaired and it is in the contacts possession but she doesn't feel safe driving it. The contact did receive a recall notice in october concerning the floor mats. The contact informed the dealer that she did not have any floor mats in her vehicle and he stated that her vehicle was not on the recall list. The failure mileage was 33,000. The current mileage was 33,010. Updated 3/30/2010 updated 05/04/10. *lj updated 09/07/10*jb updated 10/08/10
Tl*the contact owns a 2007 lexus es350. The contact stated that he was upset because he never received a letter about the recall. The contact received a recall notice two years ago and the repair was made; however, he was never notified what component they repaired. They only advised him to bring the vehicle into the dealer. The contact did not have any prior problems with his vehicle and was notified on yesterday to bring his vehicle into an authorized dealer again to be repaired. The contact asked again what needed to be fixed and the dealer replied that his vehicle was a part of the recall. After multiple questions, the dealer then said he was going to fix the accelerator. The contact feels that was very unprofessional and scheduled an appointment. He feels that he should have received something from the manufacturer in writing. The contact did not have an incident so there were no failures. The failure and current mileages were 15,794.
While sitting at a red light with my foot on the brake, the engine speed increased from idle without touching the accelerator pedal. I slammed my foot down on the accelerator a few times thinking it was lodged. It depressed and returned to position without sticking. After approx. Five or more seconds the engine speed returned to idle on its own. I shut off the vehicle and restarted it. The problem hasn't occurred since - knock on wood. The speed increase was not minor as one would expect from the air conditioning turning on - the engine speed was several thousand RPM's but did not red-line.
I bought a 2007 lexus e350 last october. It was purchased from lujack lexus in davenport as a certified vehicle warrantied to 100,000 miles. The car had only 35000 miles on it at time of purchase. Some time in november, my husband and I were sitting at a red light. We were the first car at the light and when it changed to green we took off at a normal speed. However, my car decided it wanted to go faster then the speed limit. I pumped the accelerator to get it to slow down and that worked the first time. I just brushed that off as a fluke not knowing toyota vehicles were having this problem. The second time it happened, was during the first week of january when my granddaughter was off school. I was going approx 10 MPH down an alley where I park my car at work. The alley was icy. I was braking to turn a corner to park my car and the car just took off on me. I had my foot on the brake but the tires were going 80 MPH and I was heading for a brick wall. My daughter thought quick enough to throw my car in neutral and I pushed the off button on my car. My car raced down the alley for about 100 yds before I was able to stop it. I called the lexus dealer and they said to take my floor mats out. I said I did not have them in because I received the recall. Besides I didn't even have my foot on the accelerator when this occurred. They said they would call me back. They called within an hour (on a friday) and asked me to bring it in first thing monday. They tried to tell me it was the accelerator getting stuck on the mats. I said it was a computer problem not a mechanical. They said it couldn't be but that they could put a computer chip in that would shut the gas off enough if it started to accelerate like that again. I insisted that they do something or I wanted my money back on the car. He tried to talk me out of it but I told him well when I end up dead on the road from this issue, is that when you are going to take care of this problem? It seems to be fixed now.
While backing my 2007 lexus es 350 up my driveway, the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated and crashed into the corner of my garage. Although driving carefully and slowly, the vehicle jolted back as if the fuel injection system had kicked in. No one was injured, and I did not file an insurance claim for resulting damage to the car or the garage.
The vehicle was involved in an accident caused by sudden acceleration. The driver was stopped for a red light. When the light turned green, the driver release the brake and then the vehicle accelerated on its own and collided with the vehicle ahead. The accident was reported to the lexus as a product liability case, caused by a sudden or unintended acceleration. The vehicle was inspected at the magnussen lexus dealerships, fremont, california by lexus technicians on january 26, 2010. On february 10, 2010 the lexus claims administrator sent us a letter stating that the vehicle revealed no evidence of any vehicle defects. I reject this assertion by lexus and hereby requesting that the federal safety agency investigate this matter.
Tl*the contact owns a 2007 lexus es350. As the contact was driving 5 MPH into her driveway, the vehicle suddenly accelerated without warning causing the contact to crash into the garage door. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where the contact was informed that there were no problems with the vehicle. There were no prior warnings. The current and failure mileages were 14000. Updated 8/4/10 *cn the consumer no longer owns the vehicle. Updated 08/09/10
I have a 2007 lexus es 350. Last september as I was entering a freeway and speeding up in order to join the cars driving at about 60 MPH, my accelerator stuck when I took my foot off and I continued with the engine revved up as I braked with both feet. I continued to brake with one foot and reach down with my other foot and got it under the accelerator and was able to lift it back up. I did not have the heavy duty carpet that is on recall. The dealer checked it out and said they could find nothing wrong. I have the receipt verifying this. It was a terrifying experience!
Collision accelerator stuck, stepped on and held brakes but car sped up.
I received a less than reassuring assessment today of how my '07 lexus es 350 was fixed at keyes lexus, van nuys, ca, following a recall notice. Although the accelerator pedal had been trimmed, and sound material was removed from the driver-side floor mat area, the principal sudden acceleration problem remained unsolved, according to bill horvath, lexus service rep. Background: while traveling west on the 60 freeway in mid-december my car took off like a bat out of '!@#$% as I neared chino airport, located approximately 50 miles from hemet, where I visit my 95-year old mother each week. The car's cruise control had been activated and in use for about five minutes. My speed was set at 68 MPH when suddenly the car simply took off, ultimately reaching nearly 100 MPH. At the time of acceleration my right foot was no where near the gas pedal or brake. I removed the original lexus car mats long ago. Nevertheless, it proved to be an unbelievable experience and terrifying ride. I shut off the cruise control device, hit the brake as hard as a could, threw the auto-gear shift into neutral and pulled off to the side of the freeway. I wasn't hurt, but terrified by the experience. I will not let my wife or daughter drive this defective car--ever! The lexus technicians were unable to duplicate the cruise-control instant acceleration problem, according to horvath. When I picked up the car I told horvath that I'm accepting it under protest and that the dealer's solution and findings to my very dangerous incident were "inadequate." for the record, this represents a single isolated event. I never had any other issues with this vehicle. However, I now fully understand how easy it might be to get killed in one of these so-called luxury cars. What pisses me off the most is that toyota has know about this serious safety defect for the last nine years.
Tl*the contact owns a 2007 lexus es350. Whenever the contact attempted to slow down or accelerate from after stopping, the vehicle stalled and failed to accelerate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they replaced the park-neutral switch; however, the contact is still experiencing the same failure. The current and failure mileages were 37000.
Reference: my 2007 lexus es 350 on the recall for floor mats and pedal of the accelerator. Incident happened 2/1/10 12 pm est place: ashland, oh 44805 bill harris gm dealership I pulled into the parking lot of the gm dealership and all of a sudden my lexus es350 (2007)accelerated so high that I thought it would go through the plate glass window of the dealership. I stood on the brakes and got the car into neutral. It rocked back and forth after I put it into neutral with people watching this happen. They thought that I was going through the plate glass window into the showroom. The witnesses at bill harris dealership, and other people saw me and the mess I was in with the lexus. The car was towed to germain lexus of easton in columbus, oh by lexus ,per supervisor of service specialists. She told me to rent a vehicle and pay for it myself up to 50.00 per day. It will be 2 weeks until I get my money back for the rental,if I furnished a proof of rental and send it to fax to her attention. I talked with customer service rep in service at the lexus dealership in columbus. She told me to "get in line since there are a lot of people with the same problem with the mats." I did not have the mats in the car. My husband, an automotive engineer, took the mats out of the car when we got the letter from lexus about the mats and the pedal on our lexus in which they would send us another letter when the time came for the fix in april 2010!!!! How could it be the mats or the pedal since there were not any mats in the car. I did not have my foot on the pedal since I was coasting to the parking spot when the engine went "crazy".
2007 lexus es350. Complained twice to dealer about unexpected acceleration. Dealer initially said there was nothing wrong. Second time they indicated it was a computer glitch and "flashed" the system. This has not taken care of the problem. Was told to keep complaining, so that lexus would eventually find a fix. Problem remains....when you approach a red light and begin to stop, then the light changes to green...when you go to accelerate, the transmission "jumps" and accelerates unexpectedly. I haven't had an accident, but am afraid that I'll hit another car. This is not a one time occurrence.
When I let up on the gas and then step on the gas pedal to continue the car lurches. This happens on a random basis and I have reported this to lexus several times since I have owned the car but they tell me if it does not do it while they are test driving there is nothing they can do. They say everything checks out ok and there are no error codes showing on the computer. I have told them it is either the transmission or whatever controls the gas pedal and they don't seem to be concerned. In my opinion there is definitely something wrong somewhere.
My 2007 lexus es350 sometimes accelerates on its own while cruise control is engaged. No significant explanation is available. I am typically driving in cruise. I have not touched anything, tried to accelerate or anything. For lack of a better explanation, it is as if it is possessed, it just happens. This occurs occasionally, a couple of months can go by between instances. In my case it has been about 2 months since the last time it has happened. On the occasions it has happened I allow I do not allow it to go more than 10 MPH above the set speed before I disengage the cruise control. Disengaging the cruise control seems to resolve the problem.
I am pleased to see something is finally being done about the lexus es 350 2007 acceleration problem. I filed a complaint in dec 2006, as I was spared from a fatal crash due to the acceleration problem. The recall that came out the following spring was only for lexus mats and I did not have a lexus mat but had another store bought mat. The 2007 recall program did not properly address the issue. I discussed with this agency and sent letters to toyato in japan and to the lexus headquarters in ca. I kept copies of all correspondence sent in 2006 so they knew about the problem. I even sent copies of complaints posted on this website, as the lexus dealership denied any reportable incidence. I am so disappointed that people died after my attempt to get someone to listen. I am still fearful of our car, but can't sell it for a fair price so we have continued to drive it with much concern for not only our family but others on the road. These cars should have been taken off the road in 2006. I still have nightmares about the car accelerating and probably will for a lifetime. I feel your agency should have been more aggresive in 2006 when this first started. Toyota/lexus has failed those who have died or been injured and any additional potential injuries or losses that may occur before april 2010 when the new software and pedals become available will be their fault as well.
Unintended acceleration on my 2007 es350 lexus. Damage to my entire right side of car, wheels. Happened on 7/09/08, no winter mats in car. It was towed to the dealer, where they kept it for 5 months,& refused to talk to me, because it was a legal matter. They found no problem. Tw*
2007 lexus es350 unintended acceleration. *nj the consumer was backing out of the garage, when the accelerator became stuck. He applied the brakes numerous times, but the vehicle would not stop. Consequently, the consumer hit a bush and a tree. The consumer then put the vehicle in drive and again, it accelerated out of control and went straight into the garage and stopped after it hit a chest. The consumer experienced unwanted acceleration for the second time one november 14, 2009 when the vehicle accelerated out of control and crashed into his house. The vehicle was inspected by the dealer and they stated nothing was wrong. The same day, after the consumer left the dealer, he once again experienced unwanted acceleration causing more damage to the vehicle.
Tl*the contact owns a 2007 lexus es350. While driving 40 MPH she engaged the accelerator pedal and noticed that the pedal was stuck which caused the vehicle to accelerate uncontrollably. The brakes briefly failed to stop the vehicle. The dealer stated that the failure was caused by the floor mats. There were no prior warnings. The current mileage was 28,000 and the failure mileage was 15,000.
June 9, 2009 my 2007 es 350 lexus took off with me reaching a frightening speed of 95 miles an hr when I reached the mat under my right knee and yanked the carpet and at last freed the gas and brake pedal. I know the where both involved as I hit the brakes to no avail as the speed became frightening and keeping it on the road was a miracle. I think it is unacceptable that I did not receive any recall notice for almost 4 most after this incident.
My 2007 lexus es 350 accelerated on its own while driving on an il highway. Earlier that day one or two warning lights appeared and I called the lexus service dept. A few questions were asked by the reception operator and I was told the car was safe to drive. On my return home, the acceleration happened. My brakes did not slow the car down. I put the car in neutral while pressing the brakes and was able to get out of the traffic lane onto the shoulder. The car finally came to a stop and I turned off the engine, called aaa, and was towed to the nearest lexus dealer. At the service dept I was told it was my floor mat and the mat was replaced. This did not seem a likely explanation because the gas pedal had simply locked and accelerated on its own. My brakes were checked and it was determined I needed new rear brakes which was not a surprise since it seemed like I was 'killing' them in my attempt to control and slow down the car. The mats were to have been exchanged earlier when the car was taken in for service appt but somehow that was neglected by a different lexus dealer.
Entered parking lot at foothill center, pulled up to curb, suddenly was catapulted very fast over curb, up small dirt grade, into a perimeter electric fence. The dirt under the car and downed fence kept the car from going into a deep ravine. Hit off button, stepped on brake. Car was pulled back into parking lot.
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 lexus es350. After shifting the vehicle into park, the engine had begun to rev. The vehicle was taken to the dealership for inspection. Since the technician could not duplicate the failure, they could not provide a remedy. The current and failure mileages were 35308. Updated 11/23/09 *bf updated 11/24/09
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