2011 Lexus Rx350

2011 Lexus RX350 SUV AWD

Overall

★★★★☆

Front Crash

★★★★☆

Side Crash

★★★★★

Rollover

★★★★☆

2011 Lexus RX350 SUV FWD

Overall

★★★★☆

Front Crash

★★★★☆

Side Crash

★★★★★

Rollover

★★★★☆

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC

TOYOTA IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2011 LEXUS RX350 PASSENGER CARS MANUFACTURED FROM AUGUST 30, 2010, THROUGH MAY 18, 2011, AND EQUIPPED WITH VEHICLE DYNAMICS INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT (VDIM). THE CALIBRATION FOR THE HYDRAULIC CONTROL VALVES IS INCORRECT. DUE TO THIS CONDITION, THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT THE RIGHT FRONT WHEEL MAY NOT BE CONTROLLED PROPERLY DURING ABS (ANTILOCK BRAKE SYSTEM) OR VSC (VEHICLE STABILITY CONTROL) ACTUATION.

Campaign: 11V377000

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

The contact owns a 2011 Lexus RX350. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH the front driver seat heater was activated and moments later smoke and flames were present coming from the center console of the vehicle. After stopping and exiting the vehicle the fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. During the incident, the vehicle was destroyed and later towed away by the insurance company. No injuries were reported and no police or fire reports were taken. The cause of the fire was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not contacted regarding the incident. The failure mileage was 150,000.

SUSPENSION

Rear control arms are rusted and can break and cause an accident.i went for an alignment and they couldn’t do the full alignment beater of the corrosion

POWER TRAIN

Tranmission failure around 100k miles. Spoke to few others with similar engine and transmission from lexus who had similar issues. This could be a widespread issue. Costs between 6 to 9 thousand dollars to fix.

ENGINE

My 2011 Lexus RX350 was running fine as I ran errands for groceries and other items around town one day. Then, out of the blue, I realized that after returning home and parking in my garage, there was a trail of oil in my driveway, leading to my vehicle. I looked under the engine area and noticed a pool of oil. I had a certified mobile mechanic come to my home and provide a diagnosis. This diagnosis was that a hole had formed in the rubber Engine Oil Cooler Line, and drained nearly all the oil in my engine. He mentioned that one more mile and I could have had total engine failure. He proceeded to replace it with a new Genuine Lexus, all metal Oil Cooler Line. I contacted Lexus about this incident, but they provided no compensation for this occurrence, even though there was a short 4-year technical service bulletin they issued barely a year after production, that called out this was indeed a flaw in their design. After doing some research, I see this is a VERY common issue, with many in the past most recent years having this very issue. Yet, Lexus has not recalled this, nor reimbursed those that have suffered from this manufacture defect. I am really hoping that something can be done by NHTSA and/or Lexus to resolve this issue that I am certain is still plaguing thousands of Lexus owners on the road, and putting our and those around us' safety at risk. Surely, a part that obviously and very consistently degrades over the course of 5+ years so often, needs to be addressed and recalled for the sake of safety and integrity.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

I was driving my 2011 Lexus RX 350 on July 7, 2023, to a swimming pool. I was pulling into a parking spot just rolling to a stop with my foot on the brake. The car suddenly accelerated with grate speed and ran on the curb of the sidewalk forward to a small rock wall, I immediately turned the vehicle to the right and pressed down on the brakes, but the vehicle kept moving about 45 feet and came to a stop after crushing another two vehicles in the parking lot. These two vehicles were destroyed and not repairable according to the insurance company. For my car the right front side was crushed and both airbags on the drive side deployed, and my chest and legs were injured by the airbags. The biggest injury was my mental injury which made me unable to return to normal life.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE,ENGINE

On Saturday July 15, 2023, at between about 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. CDST the vehicle was parked overnight in a garage, spontaneously caught fire and burned and was a total loss. There was a smell I would associate with an electrical fire. People reported hearing a car alarm and a "popping sound" before the fire. The fire department extinguished the fire and had the car towed out of the garage of a condominium association. Fire damage to property (except the subject car) was minimal but there was extensive smoke. In my opinion based on this incident, electric/hybrid cars should not be parked indoors.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE

Oil poured out under vehicle under right side passenger side from oil cooler line overnight in my garage. Lexus stated that I was lucky that this did not occur while driving as oil would have blown completely out due to the pressurized line and damaged the engine. There was no warning lights on. I backed the car out of the garage leaving a stream of oil and discovered the problem. I had the vehicle towed to the dealership as I never saw anything like this. According to Lexus service representative this is a known defect and has been upgraded by Lexus to a solid metal line at failure only but only for a specific amount of time. (Evidently the vehicle was manufactured with a part metal and part rubber coolant line that split on the rubber portion of the line.) Seems to me that this should have been a recall to prevent major damage to the vehicle and during driving hazard to consumer as the vehicle would stopped completely as oil would be blown out completely. My cost was estimated and paid for at $695.00. I think this should have been a recall.

ENGINE

Oil cooler line ruptured while driving. Lexus issued an extended warranty to 12/31/2016 on the Oil Cooler Line. Lexus sent an advisory letter to owners of record several months prior to our purchase. Our dealer: Rohrich Lexus, did not inform us of the problem when purchased 09/2014. Nor did they address the problem when they serviced the vehicle in 08/16, an oil change. Now we have $500 plus in repair costs for the Oil Cooler Line replacement which could have been avoided if Rohrich Service Department had advised us of the Extended Warranty that covered our vehicle. THE OIL COOLER LINE WAS RUBBER AND THE FIX WAS A METAL LINE.

POWER TRAIN,ENGINE

The contact owns a 2011 Lexus RX350. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, an abnormal clicking sound was coming from the vehicle. The contact stated that the AWD and oil pressure warning lights were illuminated. The contact pulled over and discovered oil leaking from the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and the contact was informed that the oil cooler line was leaking. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred her to an authorized Lexus dealer for assistance. The contact expressed concerns that the failure could have resulted in loss of vehicle control due to traction, as well as a potential for the vehicle to catch on fire due to the oil leak. The vehicle was not repaired and remained in the possession of the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 118,000.

ENGINE

I have never had any issues with the oil and this car has had all of its oil changes on time and regular. Last evening I was driving home and the low oil pressure light came on. Within moments I started hearing a knocking Noise. I parked the car cause I was at home at that time and I checked the next morning and there is no oil in the car now. There's oil all underneath the undercarriage. I looked online and found a story of another guy this happened to and it ended up being an oil cooler pipe. I guess these are rubber and there's a recall warranty notice on these. My car has not been driven since I parked it. Please advise. Car is included in this warranty recall.