My Near Death Experience In A Runaway Lexus Rx300

[Avista]

Following the latest recall of some Lexus models with "Brake Master Cylinder" problem, I thought I bring you up to date with my experience.

In June 2010 whilst driving my Lexus RX300 I experienced what I now know to be Unintended Sudden Acceleration and Brake Failure where my car suddenly self-accelerated to speeds beyond 100Mph and the brakes did not work.

Fortunately I managed to bring the car to a halt by putting the car into neutral. This was helped by a slight uphill incline and the fact that road and traffic conditions were favourable.

The AA man who attended the incident recorded an error on his diagnostic kit which indicated a Throttle Body problem.

The car was relayed to the local Lexus dealer who involved Lexus GB in the investigation. From the beginning the standard response from Lexus was that there had been no similar incidents reported in the UK.

Although not directly accusing me of inventing the story, I still believe that Lexus treated the incident as bogus when it was passed on to their claim investigator.

Lexus GB discredited the recorded error code because the AA man hadnt used a Lexus approved diagnostic kit.

More than two months later Lexus GB returned my vehicle after replacing the Throttle Body although Lexus stated that no fault had been found.

I returned the loan vehicle and collected my car but noticed that the brakes were somewhat unresponsive and felt spongy. Initially I thought this must be because I was nervous following my previous near death experience in this car and also because I had become accustomed to a different car during this time.

I returned my car again to Lexus who initially dismissed the problem but after a test drive their technician subsequently confirmed that there was a leak from the Brake Master Cylinder causing the brake problem.

I was shocked to hear that once again I had been driving a dangerous car although I had been assured by Lexus that the car was 100% safe following their investigations and component change whilst the car was in their care for the previous three months.

Is my trust in Lexus well placed?

[steve2006]

Trust in Toyota has been greatly diminished since the last fiasco but when a Corporate company fails to believe you and another professional (the AA) it is beyond comprehension.

I am not entirely sure here but the last throttle problem with the sticky pedal which needed the modification was manufactured in China,my question is where have these faulty brake master cylinders manufactured?

Japanese engineering is known for its precision and high quality but it would appear that due to costs more and more parts are being made in other far eastern countries where material quality, tolerances and quality control could be some what lax.

In my personal opinion a company which appears to put profits before safety is a company to avoid.

[Jimxms]

That's quite a shocking story Avista. I'm glad to hear that your quick thinking and the road conditions allowed you to get away from the ordeal unhurt.

I suppose its easy to say these things in hindsight, but a better route may have been to get the car checked over independently by a couple of reputable garages and have them write down their diagnostics. This would be more than enough proof for it not to simply get 'brushed off' by Lexus, and if necessary take them to court.

If that was me, I'm not sure I could bring myself to drive the same car again - especially with family in the car too. It may sound very 'american' of me, but I'd probably be looking to take legal action against Lexus if only to show how serious I was about what had happened. It's not right for them to just get away with this kind of thing, and at the very least I think you deserve some form of compensation for what happened.

Nobody should ever be in a situation where they need to take evasive action against their own car putting its passengers at risk.

[Steve ( West Mids )]

Seems a bit strange that you had two independent faults at the same time. Glad you got through it OK.

[Avista]

Seems a bit strange that you had two independent faults at the same time. Glad you got through it OK.

With a high-revving engine the vaccume boost for the brake servo is not replenished and therefore the brake pedal goes very hard. You would probably need to exert nearly 300 pounds of force to depress it. On Toyota America site you are advised to brake with both feet in such circumstances. Now that's something you will not find in the Lexus car manual.

[Avista]

That's quite a shocking story Avista. I'm glad to hear that your quick thinking and the road conditions allowed you to get away from the ordeal unhurt.

I suppose its easy to say these things in hindsight, but a better route may have been to get the car checked over independently by a couple of reputable garages and have them write down their diagnostics. This would be more than enough proof for it not to simply get 'brushed off' by Lexus, and if necessary take them to court.

If that was me, I'm not sure I could bring myself to drive the same car again - especially with family in the car too. It may sound very 'american' of me, but I'd probably be looking to take legal action against Lexus if only to show how serious I was about what had happened. It's not right for them to just get away with this kind of thing, and at the very least I think you deserve some form of compensation for what happened.

Nobody should ever be in a situation where they need to take evasive action against their own car putting its passengers at risk.

I suppose I was naive, but when the car was relayed to the local Lexus dealer I expected that due to the public safety nature of the fault Lexus would want to intelligently investigate this incident to prevent a potentially lethal incident, particularly after all that had happened in America. Unfortunately from the beginning I received a standard corporate response of denial in that they had received no other reports of similar incidents in the UK. Well, that may well be true but how does that help me?

I also experienced the leaking brake master cylinder problem before Lexus officially announced the problem on 21 October 2010. I contacted Lexus regarding the brake problem 3 weeks prior to this date and considering the fact that I had collected my car only a few days earlier following a 3 month process of investigation into the problem of self-accelerating, the initial response was that there is nothing wrong with the brakes.

I am in the process of preparing a set of documents which includes the Lexus/Toyota inspection report of my car and correspondence to and from Lexus regarding this matter. I can publish these on this site if members are interested.

[Jimxms]

I suppose I was naive, but when the car was relayed to the local Lexus dealer I expected that due to the public safety nature of the fault Lexus would want to intelligently investigate this incident to prevent a potentially lethal incident, particularly after all that had happened in America. Unfortunately from the beginning I received a standard corporate response of denial in that they had received no other reports of similar incidents in the UK. Well, that may well be true but how does that help me?

Yeah its unfortunate that this is how all companies operate. Deny deny deny, don't say sorry (because that's admitting the fault), make customer think it was their fault, hope it all goes away.

I do hope you get it resolved to your satisfaction though mate.