2008 Lexus ES350 problems
Owners have filed 276 complaints with NHTSA about the 2008 Lexus ES350. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 62% of complaints. After that come cruise control (14%) and body & structure (4%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 276 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 62% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 33 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 28 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 39,000 miles 93 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 32 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 15 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 12 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 13 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 7 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 3 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 5 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 3 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 3 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 93 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 39,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 62,000 miles (14 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 33 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 28 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2008 ranks 4th most-complained-about out of 10 model years of the Lexus ES350 with enough data (76 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 4 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008,lexus es350. He stated while pulling into a parking space at speeds of less than 10 MPH, the vehicle lunged forward and began to accelerate. The contact attempted to depress the brake pedal to no avail. The vehicle crashed into a tree. The frontal airbags deployed and caused minor injuries to the contact's face. The bottom airbags also deployed and caused injuries to the legs of both the driver and passenger of the vehicle.
On 4-26-10, while in cincinnati ohio, I was the passenger in a 2008 lexus es350 .we were going to kroger. The driver stopped at a stop sign and after leaving the stop sign the car suddenly accelerated all by it's self to a very fast speed. Due to the car's excessive speed, the car left the street and hit 2 other vehicles & a tree. Special note: since this type car was part of a recall.
Owner of 2008 lexus es received recall notice for issue with sudden acceleration. Car was taken to lexus service dept for repairs. However a month or so later, the car suddenly accelerated getting up to speed of approx 70 MPH in a residential area. Brakes did not stop or slow car down. As a result, two parked cars were hit, and damaged residents yards before running head on into a tree in someone's yard. The driver and passenger were injured.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 es 350 lexus. While driving 15 MPH, and approaching a traffic light, the vehicle suddently accelerated excessively and crashed into another vehicle. There was no damage to the vehicle, nor were there any injuries. The contact's vehicle sustained minor damage. He notified the insurance company when the crash occurred. There was no police report. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 43,000.
I bought one lexus (toyota) es 350 last november with about 3,500 miles (currently 8,200miles). Recently, I found front wheel on the right side could not be recovered to straight position (steering also). I took my car to lexus dealer in peoria, il, but they talked me that the issues happen because your car hit holes or curbs. I want to ask who can tell me that their cars never hit holes or curbs, if issues happen as long as your car hits holes or curbs.