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Lexus IS 250 sudden acceleration problems

29 of the 719 owner complaints about the Lexus IS 250 describe sudden unintended acceleration, most of them for the 2007 model year.

owner complaints
29
worst model year
2007
typical mileage
18,778
Is there a fix? There is 1 recall for this area of the car. See below

By model year

  • 2015
    1
  • 2014
    3
  • 2012
    3
  • 2011
    2
  • 2010
    2
  • 2009
    3
  • 2008
    2
  • 2007
    8
  • 2006
    5

Often reported together

Stalling 1

What owners say

Filed Aug 8, 2022 · Acceleration, Brakes · 137,000 miles · MD

The contact owns a 2012 Lexus IS250. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the brake inadvertently activated without the brake pedal being depressed. The vehicle also experienced unintended acceleration without the accelerator pedal being depressed. The cause of the failure was not determined. The contact indicated that the failure occurred after the cell phone was hacked and was concern the vehicle security was also compromised and hacked. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The local dealer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 137,000.

Filed Jun 22, 2021 · Acceleration · AL · crash

When parking the car at a shopping mall, the car suddenly accelerated and jumped the curb. It finally stopped when it hit a stopped bus. Two teenage passengers were in the vehicle. The driver does not believe the accelerator was pressed enough to cause the vehicle to accelerate in the manner it did.

Filed Aug 27, 2018 · Brakes, Electrical · 70,000 miles · NJ · crash

Unintended acceleration while inching into parking space at very slow rate of speed. Engine raced unexpectedly and car jumped curb with all 4 tires, across a small median, and down another curb with 3 tires, striking a parked car, which stopped forward motion.

Filed Aug 15, 2017 · 149,963 miles · CA

On july 6th 2017 at about 4:15 pm I was heading to work. After about 500 feet. Before entering a three way intersection, I released the gas pedal to stop accelerating and cruise to prepare to brake in order to make the left turn. But suddenly the gas pedal accelerated by itself and caused my car to keep accelerating straight towards the side walk intersecting with my direction. I turned my wheel left and braked hard even activating the anti braking system. I also had to use the emergency brake to assist in stopping the car. It took about 150 feet after the left turn before I fully stopped. Even after stopping I was was not able to turn off the engine immediately. I kept pressing on the push start button for a few minutes before the engine finally turned off. The incident reminded me about the gas pedal lock up situation years ago with toyota. After calming down from the fear and shaking I tried to turn on the engine to see if it would operate normally. After verifying that everything was back to normally. I cautiously and carefully drove it back to my house. I did not use the car for a week and then had it towed to lexus dealership for inspection. The inspection took one week. They said that they could not find anything wrong with the car. They also test drove the car for less than 10 miles. I was not satisfied with the answer so I contacted lexus headquarters again to request a third party inspection. They refused because the car was not involved in an accident with another car. They also advised me to keep driving the car because they said they put a lot of trust in their auto-mechanics. However after all this I still have a lot of fear to drive the car but I don't have any other choice. Now I only use this car to go to work and have to always be extremely cautious when driving it due to fear of this incident repeating itself.

Filed Aug 16, 2016 · Engine · 4,000 miles · FL

Engine stalls after coming to a full stop and then trying to accelerate. Car will creep out into an intersection, then will suddenly accelerate. This leaves me vulnerable to being hit by on coming traffic. Happens on city streets after coming to a complete stop. Can happen when I am going in a straight line or turning. Happens often, but not always.

Filed Oct 28, 2015 · 2,000 miles · GA

Unintended acceleration on at least 3 occasions. Took back to lexus. They extracted information from computer and sent back to lexus. Dealer would not address problem locally and said they have had no other complaints. Lexus was to respond...have heard nothing on all occasion, car was stopped and took off on its own.

Filed Feb 4, 2015 · Acceleration, Brakes · 17,000 miles · NY

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 lexus is 250. The contact stated when attempting to shift into reverse and engage the brakes, the vehicle failed to stop and the contact had to shift into park. The failure occurred more than once. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 17,000. The consumer stated when she stepped on the brake to start the vehicle and put the gear in reverse, the vehicle lurched backwards as she lifted her foot off the brake. She was unable to stop the vehicle with the brake. She threw the vehicle into park and turned it off. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where they kept it overnight and ran performance checks. They did not find anything wrong and said it could have been the weather mat that was on top of the lexus carpet mat. The consumer paid for the repairs, but did not state what they were. The consumer stated it was the second time, she experienced sudden acceleration. Updated 09/17/15

Filed Dec 14, 2014 · Acceleration, Body · 1,740 miles · FL · crash

On dec. 2, 2014, I was entering a walgreen's parking lot in my leased 2014 lexus is 250, which I had owned for only 4 months with 1740 miles. Moving at 5mph or less, I turned the wheel to enter a parking space, when the car suddenly accelerated and took off. I pressed the brakes to the floor and nothing happened. The car jumped up over a planted median filled with bushes, trees and a phone pole. The front tires became lodged in mud and that stopped the car. I missed the telephone pole by less than 1 foot. Luckily, I had an individual witness the entire episode. I telephoned lexus emergency services and lexus customer relations immediately. The car had to be removed from the median by a tow company and was taken to the dealership where purchased. After examining the car from dec. 3-dec. 10, the dealership claims there is body damage but no mechanical problem with the car. The dealer called on dec. 10 saying the car was ready to be picked up. I noted inaccurate data in the service report from what I told the service manager originally, and I was given no information as to follow-up on this matter. I was simply told that lexus corporate had been out to see the underside damage to the vehicle.(front bumper, paint, cracks on base of bumper), and that I would hear from them in 10 days. I called lexus corporate and was told that the matter is now in the legal dept. And that it would be far more than 10 days for a response. Rather, I could expect a call in 4/6 weeks or longer. I am now driving a leased vehicle that I am very scared to operate, not knowing when a similar incident could occur where I could be killed or injure or kill someone else. Lexus, particularly the dealership, appears to be wanting to distance themselves as far from possible from finding a suitable resolution.

Filed Apr 23, 2014 · Acceleration · 17,100 miles · MA

During the month of december 2013, I experienced several incidents of unintended acceleration. I also had several before december that I didn't pay much attention to. What they had in common was that the vehicle was almost stopped with my foot on the brake when I experienced a surge. In one instance, I was easing out of a strip mall parking lot onto a major highway with just the idle speed momentum moving the car with my foot on the brake. The car surged and pulled me into the roadway blindly but fortunately there were no oncoming vehicles. Happened again on march 20, 2014 with full documentation on my part.

Filed May 29, 2013 · Acceleration, Brakes · 9,000 miles · PA

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 lexus is250. The contact stated that the vehicle lunged and then accelerated independently. The failure was experienced several times. On one occasion, the failure occurred immediately after start-up and the vehicle accelerated into a neighbor's driveway. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times for the failure. A diagnostic was performed, but the dealer was unable to determine the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 9,000 and the current mileage was 44,000. Updated 7/29/13 *cn the consumer stated the vehicle failed to stop at a stop sign, then lunged forward about 10-12 feet. The brakes did not work, even though she pushed the brake to the floor for several minutes. Finally, the vehicle stopped in the middle on the intersection.

Related recalls

Vehicle speed control: accelerator pedalReported December 19, 2005 · 3,567 vehicles affected
What is wrong
On certain passenger vehicles, there is a possibility that the accelerator pedal may temporarily become stuck in the partially depressed position due to inadequate clearance between the accelerator pedal linkage and a plastic pad embedded into the vehicle's carpet.
Risk
This condition may interfere with the accelerator pedal returning to the idle position, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Dealers will inspect the clearance of the acceleration pedal and carpet, replace the pedal assembly with a revised assembly, and modify the carpet free of charge. The recall began on december 27, 2005. Owners may contact lexus at 1‑800‑255‑3987.

Recall number 05V565000 · Recall details

Questions about the Lexus IS 250 sudden acceleration

Which Lexus IS 250 years have sudden unintended acceleration problems?

The model years with the most reports are 2007 (8 complaints), 2006 (5 complaints) and 2009 (3 complaints).

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