2006 LEXUS RX Complaints

WHEN BRAKING, IF A POTHOLE OR BUMP IN THE ROAD IS HIT OR WHEN EITHER THE TEMPERATURES ARE REALLY COLD (ON OCCASION) OR THE HYBRID BATTERY CHARGE IS CLOSE TO FULL, THE CAR'S REGENERATIVE BRAKING STOPS AND THERE IS A DELAY IN THE FRICTION BRAKES BEING APPLIED BY THE SYSTEM. WHEN THIS OCCURS, THE CAR SEEMINGLY JERK FORWARD FOR A SECOND. DEALER STATED THAT THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE BRAKES. THIS BEHAVIOR HAS RECURRED OVER THE LAST 4 YEARS/60,000 MILES. NO FIX FROM LEXUS. HAD TO LEARN TO EXPECT THIS BEHAVIOR AND DRIVE ACCORDINGLY (ON OCCASION HAVING TO EMERGENCY BRAKE WITH ABS ACTIVATED). *TR

2006 LEXUS RX 400 AT SLOW SPEEDS STEPS ON BRAKE AND NOTHING HAPPENS FOR ABOUT 2 - 3 SECONDS. THIS HAS NOT CAUSED AN ACCIDENTS AS I HAVE ALLOW ENOUGH SPACE FOR BRAKES TO RESPOND. THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN WITH ANY PATTERN AND IS DIFFICULT TO PREDICT WHEN IT WILL HAPPEN. *TR

LEXUS RX400H HAS A BRAKE ISSUE. INSTEAD OF STOPPING IT SOMETIME ACCELERATES AND CONTINUOUS BRAKING LEADS IT TO STOP. THE HYBRID TECHNOLOGY FORCES MANY OF US TO CHANGE ALL FOUR COMPANY FITTED ALL FOUR TIRES JUST IN 2 YEARS. VERY DISAPPOINTED BY PAYING PREMIUM FOR PREMIUM BRAND BUT NOT GETTING PREMIUM QUALITY! *TR

LEXUS RX400H BRAKE MOMENTARY LOSS OF BRAKING EFFICIENCY. IN FREQUENTLY, AFTER LONG STEADY CONTROLLED BRAKING DOWN A HILL, THE BRAKES ON MY LEXUS WILL RELEASE WITHOUT INPUT FROM ME FOR A SECOND IN TIME. THE LOSS OF BRAKING CAUSES ME TO PRESS ON THE PEDDLE AND THE CAR'S BRAKING PERFORMANCE RETURNS TO NORMAL. HAVE EXPERIENCED AS I HAVE DECELERATED TO A STOP FOR A SIGNAL LIGHT/STOP SIGN. NOT RELATED TO ANY BUMP IN THE ROAD SURFACE OR THE LIKE. FREQUENCY IS WEEKLY/MONTHLY, BUT RANDOM IN TIMING CAN'T IDENTIFY BRAKES FROM THE SYSTEM FAILURE LIST. CHOSE POWERTRAIN OUT OF FRUSTRATION.*TR

I HAVE BEEN COMPLAINING OF THIS SAME PROBLEM (MY BRAKES FAIL ALSO WHEN GOING OVER ROUGH ROADS) SINCE I BOUGHT MY 2006 LEXUS RX400H. THEY HAVE BEEN TELLING ME ITS NORMAL AND DENY ITS EVEN A PROBLEM. EB. 4: NHTSA TODAY ANNOUNCED IT IS OPENING A FORMAL INVESTIGATION OF THE TOYOTA PRIUS HYBRID MODEL YEAR 2010 TO LOOK INTO ALLEGATIONS OF MOMENTARY LOSS OF BRAKING CAPABILITY WHILE TRAVELING OVER AN UNEVEN ROAD SURFACE, POTHOLE OR BUMP. THE AGENCY RECEIVED 124 REPORTS FROM CONSUMERS, INCLUDING FOUR ALLEGING THAT CRASHES OCCURRED. INVESTIGATORS HAVE SPOKEN WITH CONSUMERS AND CONDUCTED PRE-INVESTIGATORY FIELD WORK. 'SAFETY IS OUR TOP PRIORITY,' SAID TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY RAY LAHOOD. 'THAT IS WHY IN RECENT WEEKS NHTSA HAS ALSO ISSUED A CONSUMER ADVISORY ON THE RECALL OF SEVERAL MODELS OF TOYOTA VEHICLES AND THE PONTIAC VIBE INVOLVING PEDAL ENTRAPMENT AND STICKY ACCELERATOR PEDALS. WE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THESE ISSUES CLOSELY.' NEWS RELEASE. *TR

EVER SINCE I PURCHASED THE CAR IN LATE 2005, MY 2006 LEXUS RX 400H HYBRID SUV WILL LOSE BRAKING EFFORT WHEN GOING OVER A BUMP. I HAVE PRESS HARDER ON THE BRAKE PEDAL TO MAINTAIN BRAKING FORCE TO STOP THE CAR WHEN THIS HAPPENS. THIS HAPPENS EVERY TIME YOU GO OVER A CERTAIN TYPE OF BUMP WHEN THE BRAKES ARE BEING APPLIED. THERE IS NO LIGHT OR WARNING SOUND ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOSS OF BRAKING EFFORT. IF IT POSSIBLE TO SAFELY REMOVE YOUR FOOT FROM THE BRAKE PEDAL OR A SECOND, AND THEN RE-APPLY THE BRAKES, THE BRAKES ARE RESTORED TO NORMAL OPERATION. VIGILANCE IS REQUIRED IN INCREASING BRAKE PEDAL PRESSURE WHEN THIS HAPPENS TO AVOID A CRASH. I HAVE TO COMPLAINED TO SEVERAL LEXUS DEALERS AND TO LEXUS CENTRAL CUSTOMER SERVICE ABOUT THIS ISSUE. I WAS TOLD THE COMPANY NEVER RECEIVED ANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE PROBLEM AND/OR WAS NEVER ABLE TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM IN MY CAR. *TR

I OWN A 2006 LEXUS RX-400H, AND I HAVE EXPERIENCED BRAKING PROBLEMS WHILE DRIVING THIS VEHICLE FOR THE PAST 1-2 YEARS THAT HAS BECOME PROGRESSIVELY WORSE. THE PROBLEM GENERALLY OCCURS AT SPEEDS BETWEEN ABOUT 25-45 MPH, AND INVOLVES A SUDDEN DECREASE IN BRAKING DECELERATION WITH CONSTANT BRAKE PRESSURE, MAKING IT NECESSARY TO QUICKLY APPLY MORE PRESSURE TO BRING THE CAR TO A STOP. FROM MY OWN OBSERVATIONS, AS WELL AS FROM TECHNICIANS AT THE DEALERSHIP, THIS PROBLEM APPEARS TO BE RELATED TO THE HYBRID REGENERATIVE BRAKING SYSTEM, WHICH SEEMS TO ABRUPTLY STOP REGENERATIVE BRAKING WITHOUT COMPENSATING WITH ADDITIONAL FRICTION BRAKING. AFTER FINALLY HAVING THIS PHENOMENON CONFIRMED BY THE DEALERSHIP AFTER OVER WELL OVER A YEAR OF EXPERIENCING IT, I AM BEING TOLD BY THE DEALERSHIP THAT LEXUS ENGINEERS ARE CALLING THIS "NORMAL" AND "EXPECTED" BEHAVIOR OF THE CAR. I AM FILING THIS COMPLAINT BECAUSE I FEEL THAT, WHILE IT MAY BE "NORMAL" OR "EXPECTED" TO LEXUS, IT PRESENTS A SERIOUS A DANGER TO MYSELF AND OTHER DRIVERS WHEN THE VEHICLE DOES NOT RESPOND TO BRAKING IN A PREDICTABLE MANNER. I HAVE ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS BEEN STARTLED BY OCCURRENCES OF THIS PROBLEM WHEN APPROACHING A STOP SIGN OR CROSS WALK, AND CONSIDER MYSELF FORTUNATE THAT I'VE BEEN ABLE TO REACT IN TIME TO AVOID HITTING THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME, OR A PEDESTRIAN. THIS PROBLEM HAS BECOME SEVERE ENOUGH THAT IT CAN BE FAIRLY EASILY REPRODUCED IN THE FIRST FEW MINUTES OF TEST DRIVING. *TR

THE VEHICLE ACTUALLY ACCELERATES OR LUNGES FORWARD WHEN I STEP ON BRAKE AND AM BRAKING OVER UNEVEN PART OF THE ROAD. *TR

I HAVE 2006 LEXUS RX 400H AND HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH MY BRAKE AS PRIUS HAS. WHEN I SLOW DOWN A CAR AND MY CAR HITS A ROUGH PATCH OF SURFACE, OR POTHOLE, THE BRAKE SEEMS TO RELEASE AND I EXPERIENCE 'BRAKE SURGING'. SEVERAL INSTANCE I ALMOST HIT A PEDESTRIAN BECAUSE THE CAR SURGED FORWARD AT AN INTERSECTION. I BROUGHT THE ISSUE TO THE LEXUS DEALER BUT THEY SAID THEY COULD NOT REPLICATE THE PROBLEM DURING THEIR EXAMINATION. HELP! *TR

UNEXPECTED ACCELERATION WHILE IN CRUISE & CLIMBING A HILL OR OVERPASS. SPEED GOES FROM 65 TO OVER 80 . CAR JUMPS & TAKES OFF & HAVE TO HIT BRAKES TO CANCEL CRUISE. OCCURS 50% OF TIMES USED .IN SERVICE DEPT . 4X NOTHING FOUND. . TALKED TO CALIF. SERVICE HEADQUARTERS NO. OF TIMES & NO RESULTS . 2006 TO PRESENT .SERVICE REP NEVER SHOWS UP. *TR