2004 LEXUS RX330 Complaints

THE VEHICLE DASHBOARD HAS EXPERIENCED ABNORMAL CRACKING AND DECOMPOSITION THROUGHOUT. IT STARTED WITH HAIRLINE CRACKS WHICH SPREAD ALL THROUGH THE DASH. SINCE THE DASH STARTED TO TURN STICKY/GUMMY, PIECES OF THE DASH STARTED FALLING OFF NEAR THE ENDS (E.G. WHERE THE DASH MEETS THE GLOVE COMPARTMENT). OF CONCERN IS AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT IN CASE OF AN ACCIDENT. FOR EXAMPLE, SINCE THE DASH HAS BEEN COMPROMISED AND HAS CRACKS, WOULD THE AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT CAUSE THE DASH TO SPLINTER AND SHOOT PIECES AT THE CAR'S OCCUPANTS? WOULD THE STICKINESS OF THE DASH CAUSE THE AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT TO FAIL SINCE IT CAN STICK TO THE DASH DUE TO IT'S NEWLY ACQUIRED ADHESIVE PROPERTIES? VISIBILITY CONCERNS ARISE DUE TO THE REFLECTIONS OF THE DASH ON THE WINDSHIELD. SINCE THE DASH CAN NO LONGER BE KEPT CLEAN BECAUSE EVERYTHING STICKS TO IT, BOTHERSOME REFLECTIONS ARE CAST ON THE WINDSHIELD DURING CERTAIN LIGHTING CONDITIONS. THE LOCAL LEXUS DEALERSHIP AND LEXUS CORPORATE WAS NOTIFIED AND THEY INSPECTED THE VEHICLE. THEY SAID THE VEHICLE WAS NO LONGER COVERED UNDER WARRANTY AND SINCE MY VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN SERVICED AT THE DEALERSHIP, THEY WOULD NOT PAY TO REPLACE THE DASH; THEY DID OFFER A 25% DISCOUNT FOR THE COST OF THE PARTS. FROM MY RESEARCH, IT APPEARS FAULTY MATERIALS MAY HAVE BEEN USED BY TOYOTA/LEXUS FOR A PERIOD OF SOME YEARS AS THERE ARE MANY REPORTS OF THIS SAME CONDITION HAPPENING TO OTHER OWNERS. SINCE THERE ARE SAFETY CONCERNS INVOLVED, I BELIEVE LEXUS SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE AND REPLACE THE FAULTY DASHBOARDS. *TR

THIS IS NOT AN ACCIDENT COMPLAINT. MY CAR HAS A DEFECT IN THE DASH VINYL (CRACKS AND 2 HOLES) THAT I FEAR COULD EFFECT THE AIRBAG OPERATION IF IT WERE TO ACTIVATE. I UNDERSTAND LEXUS HAS RECOGNIZED THIS IS A COMMON MANUFACTURING DEFECT OF THESE MODELS BUT CLASSIFY IT ONLY AS A COSMETIC PROBLEM AND ONLY OFFER A REPLACEMENT AT THE OWNERS EXPENSE. HAS THERE BEEN ANY REPORTS OF AIRBAG PROBLEMS IN THESE VEHICLES? ANY LAWSUITS? *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 LEXUS RX 330. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING IN REVERSE, THE POWER STEERING ASSIST FAILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, WHO STATED THAT THE HARMONIC BALANCE PULLEY WAS FRACTURED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE INCIDENT. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 21,000.

I WAS RECENTLY GIFTED MY MOTHER'S 2004 LEXUS RX330 AND HAVE BEEN NOTICING FOR SOME TIME NOW AN EXTENSIVELY CRACKED DASHBOARD THAT HAD BEEN GETTING PROGRESSIVELY WORSE FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS. IN ADDITION, THERE ARE SEVERAL STICKY SPOTS ON THE DASH WHICH APPEARS TO BE MELTING MATERIAL. I HAVE SEEN THIS COMPLAINT ONLINE REPEATEDLY FROM OTHER RX330 OWNERS AND WAS WONDERING IF THERE IS A CLASS ACTION SUIT. THERE IS STILL AN EXTENDED WARRANTY ON THE CAR. AFTER CONTACTING THE DEALERSHIP IN MIAMI THEY HAVE REFUSED TO COVER THE ENTIRE COST OF REPAIR. THIS IS CLEARLY A MANUFACTURER DEFECT. *TR

I WAS DRIVING SOUTHBOUND ON THE 405 IN LOS ANGELES. I WAS BEGINNING TO CHANGE LANES AND WAS LOOKING INTO MY DRIVER'S SIDE REAR VIEW MIRROR WHEN I OBSERVED THE MOLDING COME OFF OF THE LEFT REAR QUARTER PANEL WINDOW AND STRIKE THE HOOD AND WINDSHIELD OF THE CAR BEHIND ME. IT OCCURRED TO ME HOW DANGEROUS THIS COULD HAVE BEEN IF A MOTORCYCLIST HAD BEEN FOLLOWING ME. IT COULD HAVE EASILY HIT HIM OR HER DIRECTLY IN THE FACE. IN RESEARCHING THE INTERNET FOR A PRICE ON THE MOLDING, I HAVE SINCE LEARNED A LARGE NUMBER OF RX330 OWNERS HAVE HAD THIS ISSUE. ADDITIONALLY, I HAVE LEARNED THAT LEXUS DOES NOT SELL THE MOLDING SEPARATELY. INSTEAD, THEY SELL THE ENTIRE WINDOW ASSEMBLY, AND I HAVE SEEN POSTINGS OF SOME OWNERS PAYING AS MUCH AS $400.00 TO HAVE A DEALER REPLACE THE WINDOW. THIS ITEM SHOULD NOT BE REGULARLY LAUNCHING ITSELF OFF OF THESE VEHICLES ENDANGERING OTHERS ON THE ROADWAY. LEXUS SHOULD BE RETROFITTING THESE VEHICLES WITH IMPROVED MOUNTING FOR THIS MOLDING INSTEAD OF CHARGING OWNERS FOR THE COMPANY'S MISTAKE. WITH THE NUMBER OF THESE VEHICLES ON THE ROAD, IT SEEMS IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE SOMEONE FOLLOWING ONE OF THESE VEHICLES IS INJURED OR WORSE. *TR

DEFECTS IN HEADLAMP ASSEMBLY CAUSED WATER FROM RAIN TO ACCUMULATE INSIDE THE LAMP, OVERTIME, THE WATER CAUSED THE HI-VOLTAGE UNIT TO SHORT OUT AND THE HEADLAMP IS IN-OPERATIVE (THIS IS FOR THE LOW BEAM HID LIGHTS). REPLACEMENT COST IS $1,800 PER LAMP ASSEMBLY (DEALERS QUOTE). THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE SINCE THE LOW BEAM IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR DRIVING AT NIGHT. *JB

THIS VERY METICULOUSLY MAINTAINED GARAGED VEHICLE BEGAN TO CRACK OVER THE TOP OF THE AIRBAG ON THE PASSENGERS SIDE. IT CONTINUES TO GROW. IT IS NOW VERTICALLY CRACKED ABOUT 4 INCHES. IT IS ALWAYS GARAGED PARKED AT WORK AND AT HOME. THE SUN HAS HAD ZERO EFFECT ON THIS OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS OF OWNERSHIP. NOT SURE PRIOR TO THE 2 YEARS. I SEE FROM THE INTERNET THIS SEEMS TO BE A COMMON ISSUE WITH THIS CAR. *TR

THIS IS OUR 2ND COMPLAINT REGARDING OUR 2004 RX 330. WE HAVE OWNED IT FOR 8 MONTHS AND HAVE PUT 7K MILES ON IT SINCE PURCHASE, AND IT ONLY HAS 85K NOW. SINCE PURCHASE WE NOTICED THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTING AND JERKING PROBLEMS AT ALL RATES OF SPEED WHEN STARTING/ DRIVING/STOPPING. WE CONTACTED OUR LOCAL LEXUS DEALERSHIP TO ASK IF SOMETHING COULD BE DONE, AND WAS ADVISED THEY COULD CHECK TO SEE IF THE PREVIOUS 1ST OWNER OF VEHICLE HAD EVER "UPGRADED" THE COMPUTER CHIP THAT CONTROLS THE SYSTEM. SO, WE TOOK IT IN AND THEY DETERMINED IT HAD NOT BEEN DONE SO WE PAID THE $100.00 FOR THE UPGRADE. WE HOPED IT HAD SOLVED THE ISSUE, BUT NOW IT IS EVEN WORSE. SEVERAL DAYS AFTER GETTING THE VEHICLE BACK, I WAS ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY GOING 70 MPH WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL ON AND ACCELERATED TO CHANGE LANES AND PASS ANOTHER VEHICLE. DURING MY ATTEMPT TO PASS WITH MY FOOT ON THE ACCELERATOR, FOR 5 OR 10 SECONDS THE ENGINE/ TRANSMISSION FROZE AND IT WAS LIKE YOU WERE IN NEUTRAL GEAR, IT DID NOTHING, AND FINALLY WITH MY FOOT ALL THE WAY DOWN ON THE ACCELERATOR IT KICKED BACK INTO GEAR AND I WAS ABLE TO PASS THE VEHICLE TO MY SIDE. IF SOMEONE WOULD HAVE BEEN BEHIND ME I'M SURE THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN AN ACCIDENT, AS THE TRUCK WAS IN MOTION BUT NOT ACCELERATING. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT SAID THEY HAD COMPLAINTS AND WERE AWARE OF THE ACCELERATION ISSUE, BUT HAD NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED WITH IT "FREEZING" LIKE THAT. HE SAID THE TRUCK WILL JUST HAVE TO "LEARN MY DRIVING PATTERN", AND UNLESS TOYOTA DOES A RECALL IT WILL ALWAYS HAVE THESE ISSUES. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE RESOLVED, SOONER THAN LATER AND IT IS JUST NOT A "FLOOR MAT" CLIP FIX. I AM NOW AFRAID TO DRIVE THIS TRUCK SINCE IT'S A TOSS UP AS TO WHEN OR WHERE IT COULD HAPPEN AGAIN. *TR

WE PURCHASED OUR 2004 LEXUS RX330 IN JANUARY 2013 AS THE 2ND OWNER WITH 78K MILES. WE BEGAN TO NOTICE AT LOWER SPEEDS THE TRUCK WILL JERK FORWARD WITH NO WARNING WHEN BEGINNING TO ACCELERATE FROM A STOP, OR EVEN WHEN DRIVING AT HIGHER SPEEDS ON THE HIGHWAY WHEN MAKING LAND CHANGES OR SLOWING DOWN IN TRAFFIC. WE HAVE A 2001 LEXUS RX 300, AND IT NEVER HAS HAD THIS ISSUE. WE ARE VERY CONCERNED AND THIS IS DEFINITELY A SAFETY ISSUE, AND WILL BE CONTACTING OUR LOCAL LEXUS DEALERSHIP TO LET THEM KNOW, SO IT CAN BE DOCUMENTED. SINCE READING OTHERS COMPLAINTS, IT SEEMS THAT LEXUS IS NOT STANDING BEHIND THIS ISSUE, WE MAY BE LOOKING TO TRADE IT IN AND GO BACK TO THE HONDA CRV, WHICH HAD NO PROBLEMS AT ALL, WE JUST LIKED THE LUXURY OF THE LEXUS, AND WANTED AN UPGRADE, NOT A VEHICLE THAT CAN CAUSE AN ACCIDENT WITH NO WARNING. *TR

FRONT END COLLISION IN 2004 LEXUS RX 330 WITH 206,000 MILES GOING APPROXIMATELY 55 MPH. CAR IS TOTALED PER INSURANCE ADJUSTER. DRIVER AND THREE CHILDREN IN CAR. NO SERIOUS INJURIES. NO AIRBAGS DEPLOYED. HAVE CONTACTED LEXUS AND AM AWAITING ANSWER. CAR HAS BEEN TO DEALERSHIP SEVERAL TIMES SINCE PURCHASED AND NOTHING MENTIONED ABOUT AIRBAG ISSUE. *TR