2011 Lexus IS 250 problems
NHTSA has received 38 complaints about the 2011 Lexus IS 250, and 53% of them involve air bags. After that come brakes (8%) and cruise control (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 38 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 53% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 8 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 4 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 4,000 miles 18 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 | 12 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 3 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 0 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 0 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 2 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 18 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 4,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 8 complaints mention a crash; 4 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 87% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2011 ranks 4th most-complained-about out of 8 model years of the Lexus IS 250 with enough data (34 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.
I was driving my vehicle and the vehicle 3 car lengths ahead of me put on his brakes and when I went to put on my brakes my car continued to accelerate and I had no control of the braking and ran into the back of the vehicle. My airbags failed to deploy- my car was a complete loss to the front end ($17,000.00) and the insurance appraiser,body shop, police officer, towing company were stunned that the airbags failed to deploy do to the severity of impact and damage.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 lexus is 250. While driving approximately 50 MPH, the contact crashed into another vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact sustained injuries to the right thumb that required medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a collision center, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The VIN was included in NHTSA campaign number: 16v340000 (air bags). The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 lexus is250. The contact stated that while making a left turn, another vehicle crashed into the passenger side of the vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. The driver did not sustained injuries, the front passenger sustained face injuries that required medical attention. The other driver did not sustain injuries. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or an independent mechanic for a diagnostic testing and was not repaired.
Unintended acceleration event while driving up a steep hill, vehicle began to accelerate quickly on it's own accord. While braking, the brakes went all the way to the floor and only served to destabilize the vehicle and slow it slightly. Tachometer was pegged at 6,000 RPM and the vehicle would not stop. After pushing the "start" button several times the vehicle shut down and was brought to a stop. This took almost two minutes and was extremely dangerous.