I was pulling into a curbside parking place on a residential street with a slight uphill incline. The car slowed almost to a stop because of the incline. I put my foot very lightly on the gas pedal so as to move forward and make room for another car to park behind me. The pedal went all the way to the floor of its own accord and the car lurched forward into the parked car in front of me, causing considerable damage before I was able to stop the car, reverse and park. Police were called but declined to file a report as no one was injured and the damage was not severe. Because I was afraid to drive the car again, I had it towed to the dealer where it was purchased and has been serviced. It is currently being inspected. This is the first and only time of such an occurrence.
Lexus RX330 brake failure problems
26 of the 526 owner complaints about the Lexus RX330 describe brake failure.
- owner complaints
- 26
- typical mileage
- 12,000
By model year
- 200426
Often reported together
What owners say
I have 2004 lexus rx330. Yesterday, april 26th, 2010 while driving to local bank, I needed to apply the brakes. I pushed on the brake pedal and it made some weird sound and pedal went all the way to the floor and vehicle had hard time stopping. Somehow I managed to come back home safely. The pedal goes to floor and vehicle barely stops. I do not see any leaks in my garage where vehicle is always parked. I took it to the toyota dealer and he says master cylinder has internal leak and need to be replaced along with brake pads both front and back.
2 to 3 years prior to this accident I was coming to a stop light and the brakes did not work, but only for a few seconds. I reported this to my husband and he took it to several mechanics but did not find anything wrong with the vehicle, my husband has owned a auto parts store for 40 years and knows a few qualified mechanics. 3 people were on a freeway about 1/4 mile from off ramp doing about 65 MPH, we started to move over to the slower lane as we got to the slower lane I stepped on the brakes to slow down for the off ramp when I felt the brakes were not working, I pumped the brakes several times to make sure I was stepping on the brakes but instead of slowing down the vehicle kept accelerating. I depressed the brake pedal as hard as I could and hung on for dear life upon entering the off ramp I struck another vehicle and flipped the car several times. I ended up with a cracked sternum, the passenger broke 3 or 4 of her vertebra, and passenger in the rear seat was fatal. Updated 03/10/10 *bf *tr updated ivoq 09/28/10 update 9/19/2011
In may 2007, I was involved in an automobile accident in my 2004 lexus rx330. This accident occurred less than 10 miles from my home, it was a frigid morning. I was traveling approximately 5 miles per hour and the vehicle brakes failed to engage. I attempted to push the brake petal to the floor without result. The anti-lock brakes did not function. The damage to this vehicle exceeded $9500. The brakes shake violently when applied and this has happened several times before and after the accident. At the time of the accident, my airbag did not even deploy I was going so slow. I reported this problem to lexus of seattle in october 2006 and they said I needed a front brake job, which I did, the accident occurred less than 6 months later.
Brake failure on lexus rx330.
While driving 25 MPH approaching red light driver applied the brake pedal and the brakes failed. The brake pedal went to the floor. This caused consumer's vehicle to collide with the vehicle in front. No damage to vehicle struck in rear and minimal damage to front bumper of lexus. Driver's right foot bruised. 1 month later vehicle taken to dealership where the brake booster was replaced.*ak the consumer sustain an injured foot as a result of the accident.
Picking up my daughter at a friends house and fortunately was only going about 5-10mph to a stop sign when my brakes failed without warning. I had to put my entire body weight on the pedal to slow the vehicle down. The car was towed by flatbed to dealership and determined it was the brake booster assembly. At the same time my fuel injector assembly apparently needed to be replaced which I had no idea of until I recieved my work order sheet. I was accused of using cheap gas which I absolutely never used. I only use the highest grade of fuel in my vehicle so they could give me no other reason for the coincidence. It seems like many 2004 rx330's have been have alot of brake issues but lexus' answer to the problem is that if the problem can be fixed then the car is running according to specifications. My question to them was can they fix the problem of the loss of a life when this unsafe vehicle produces that problem? I have also had to have brake rotor pads replaced at 15,000 miles which according to the service tech was out of the ordinary but not according to a lexus customer satisfaction administrator. I find it appalling that lexus is not standing behind its product to have these unsafe vehicles taken off the road instead they are willing to risk consumers lives nationwide.... So much for customer satisfaction.
On january 17, 2005 I was involved in an automobile accident in my 2004 lexus rx330. This accident occurred less than 1 mile from my home, on my own street, 1-2 minutes after leaving my home. It had snowed the night before and the roadway was still snow/ice covered, it was a frigid morning. I was traveling approximately 15 miles per hour and the vehicle brakes failed to engage. I attempted to push the brake petal to the floor without result. The anti-lock brakes did not function. The damage to this vehicle exceeded $8000. Days after the damage to the vehicle was fixed my husband took the vehicle to the lexus of towson dealership to have the braking mechanism looked at. During the drive to the dealership (in similar, snow covered/frigid conditions) my husband was able to reproduce this problem, again just after leaving our home. The dealership (a 40 minute drive from our home) was unable to reproduce this problem and told us to call back if the problem occurred again. Today, may 24, 2005, we were informed during a routine oil change that there may be a problem wth the brakes and that a campaign was underway to investigate. I wanted to formally add my vehicle to this list of compaints.
I have a lexus rx 330, 2004. Starting in april 2004 right after I purchased it on march 31, 2004 I have had brake problems with this car. It would jolt when you were applying the brakes, and pull to the side. This was reported by phone, and during its first check up at 1000 miles. Told they could not find anything. Continued problem. Told same at 5000 mile check up, but they replaced brake booster anyway. While backing out of drive brakes failed, and vehicle ran into a yard. Then brake light came on. Lexus dealer sent car carrier to pick up. Driver saw there were no brakes and light was on. Told by dealership the brakes working and light on, but replaced brake boosters again. This time supposedly with another type. I was assured each time nothing wrong with car. Kept driving it, and car would continue to jolt, and pulled to side while steadily applying brakes. Even to the point it would break traction in rain. Had car picked up again,, and they told me this time it was a chip which controlled the baffle system that controlled the brakes. I refused to let them work on it, and asked lexus at this time to buy the car back under the ga lemon law which was very clear about major system failure such as brakes. His buy back process has been going on since february. The car has been at the dealership unable to be driven. Signed a contract with lexus to buy it back over 45 days ago and they still have not given me my money.
Vehicle has experienced 2 total brake failures. When applying the brakes , the vehicle failed to stop. The pedal went down to the floor. Owner towed the vehicle back to the dealer and had the vehicle serviced after being there for 10 days. Approximately 30 days later this problem re-occurred. Owner had the brake actuator assembly and pads replaced. Problem still occurs. *nm
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Lexus RX330 brake failure
Which Lexus RX330 years have brake failure problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2004 (26 complaints).
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