When pulling into parking space at a low speed (2 MPH) car suddenly accelerated even though accelerator pedal was not being depressed. Operator's foot was on brake pedal the entire time but car would not stop until it hit a parked vehicle. At the time the car was being turned to the right coming into the parking space. There was a high curb (~10 inches high) at the front of the parking space and a median but the car jumped over this and struck the parked on the other side of the median.
Lexus LS430 sudden acceleration problems
14 of the 154 owner complaints about the Lexus LS430 describe sudden unintended acceleration, most of them for the 2005 model year.
- owner complaints
- 14
- worst model year
- 2005
- typical mileage
- 53,100
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
- 20055
- 20044
- 20031
- 20022
- 20012
Often reported together
What owners say
As I was turning onto a road from a private driveway the car suddenly accelerated causing the car to cross over both lanes of the road and crash into a mailbox. The result was damage to the front of my car and a broken mailbax post.
I turned around in a parking lot by backing up and reversing my direction, after I reversed my direction the car shot forward without my foot on the gas pedal. I kept pumping the brake hoping it would stop and I shot out of the parking lot into the line of traffic and avoided two lanes of cars driving west until I collided with a car heading east. It ripped off the front bumpers of both cars. I felt trapped in the car and could not control it. It just kept accelerating. I wish that I had the presenceof mind to turn off the key or push the automatic lever to neutral or even reverse. But it all happened in a few seconds and I just didn't have the presence of mind to do anything but step on the brake pedal. Just once before, some months ago, I was parking the car in a public garage and it accelerated quickly asi reached an off ramp. Luckily I was able to turn the steering wheel and negotiate the car around the corner onto the ramp. It scared me, but I thought it was just a freak incident and thought no more about it because I was able to slow the car down once I went round the corner. But this latest time I couldn't stop it and the car is a total wreck.
Driving into the garage to park, the car jerked and suddenly accelerated. Crashed into the shelvings, plumbing tools and parts. Pushing everything against the rear wall which was damaged.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 lexus ls430. The contact stated that while entering into a parking space with her foot on the brake at 5 MPH, there was sudden acceleration and the vehicle crashed into a building. No one was injured and the vehicle was destroyed. The police were called and a report was filed (#2771757). The dealer was contacted who offered no assistance. Prior to the accident, there was an electric failure. The dealer was called who stated unless the vehicle continued to have the failure, she could bring it in, but if there was no more failure she did not have to bring the vehicle in. The insurance company was contacted. The manufacturer was contacted and offered no other assistance. The failure mileage was 78,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 lexus ls430. The contact stated that while driving at 5 MPH, the vehicle suddenly accelerated while her foot was on the brake pedal. The vehicle crashed into a parked vehicle. There were no injuries. The contact called the manufacturer and was told that someone would contact her in 6-8 weeks. The failure mileage was approximately 63,000.
2005 lexus ls430. Consumer states unintended acceleration *tgw the consumer stated when he approached his parking space, the vehicle suddenly accelerated even though his foot was on the brake. Fortunately, a steel fence stopped the vehicle from crashing into the adjacent building. The consumer stated the vehicle sustained $5,000 in damages.*jb updated 05/12/10.
Sudden uncontrolled acceleration of 2004 lexus ls430: owner was in parking garage beginning to exit garage from parking place when lexus suddenly accelerated uncontrollably. Owner applied brake pedal but could not stop the lexus. Owner steered lexus to avoid hitting other vehicles and collided with medical office building, glanced off side of building and collided head-on with electrical power transformer. Owner was seriously injured. (lawyer wrote in on behalf of his client). Updated ivoq 06/03/10.
On 10/17/09 at about 5:40 pm, after drinking a vodka with ice, my husband and I went to dinner in our 2005 ls430 lexus. We intended to go to dinner a relatively short distance away. I turned on military trail, proceeded to the left lane traveling southbound towards northlake blvd, palm beach gardens, florida. As I approached a traffic light my lexus unexpectedly sped up. I tried to apply the brake. There were cars stopped in front of me at the red light. Despite my efforts my car continued to accelerate. I took evasive maneuvers to avoid the stopped vehicles in front of me. The left tires of my lexus went up on the center median and my car continued to accelerate through the intersection. I missed the vehicles stopped at the traffic light and traveling through the intersection. My car would not stop accelerating. I struck a corvette stopped in the left northbound lane of military trail. After striking the corvette, I continued through the southbound lanes until I intentionally drove my car into a fire hydrant in order to stop and avoid striking gas pumps at a shell station. My husband and I were injured in this crash. The driver of the corvette passed away. My lexus is still in police custody. No repairs have been made at this time. I was charged with driving under the influence (manslaughter), and 3 other charges. I am vigorously fighting those charges as I was not impaired and, as evidenced by my evasive maneuvers, had control of my car. But for the sudden acceleration, this accident and death would have not occurred. In nov. 2008, my husband was driving the same lexus and as he pulled into our garage the car would not stop and hit cabinets in our garage. Looking back and comparing what happened in my accident on 10/17/09 it is clear that my husbands earlier accident was the result of some sort of malfunction of our lexus accelerator system. No repairs were made to the vehicle at that time.updated 04/22/10*bfupdated 07/07/10.*jb
I have a 2004 lexus ls 430 that has a random problem that the dealers tell me is normal. On occasion when I roll to a stop the car lunges forward on its own forcing me to apply extreme pressure on the brake to stop the vehicle. It accelerates just for a split 2nd then stops. I have learned to stop approx. 20' behind a vehicle just in case the car decides it wants to lunge forward. This has happened no less than 6 times since we purchased the vehicle new in 10/2003. I have explained the problem to the dealer at least 4 times and they tell me they can not find a problem and its normal. With the latest toyota problems I suspect there is an electrical problem and I wanted to report the problem to you.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Lexus LS430 sudden acceleration
Which Lexus LS430 years have sudden unintended acceleration problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2005 (5 complaints), 2004 (4 complaints) and 2001 (2 complaints).
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used Lexus LS430?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history