2005 Lexus RX problems
NHTSA has received 39 complaints about the 2005 Lexus RX, and 13% of them involve air bags. After that come brakes (13%) and body & structure (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 39 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 13% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 3 and 3
- Injuries and deaths
- 3 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 80,000 miles 25 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 | 5 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 2 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 2 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 6 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 6 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 2 |
What the data shows
Among the 25 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 80,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 3 complaints mention a crash; 3 complaints mention a fire; 3 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 81% 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 2005 ranks 16th most-complained-about out of 23 model years of the Lexus RX with enough data (6 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
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.
While backing out of my parking place in our underground garage I put on the brake to go from reverse to drive. When I put the vehicle in drive the engine raced up and the car surged forward. I was only 15 feet from a brick wall of which I hit at an angle. I bounced off this wall and went 10 feet further head on into another wall. I did not touch the gas petal, the mats are rubber and were not a problem. The vehicle just suddenly accelerated.
The chrome in the interior of the wheels bubble and delaminate. This caused the tire to lose pressure slowly, until tire failure occurred. The tire failures rendered the tires irreparable, even if the tire was only 3 months old. So far this has occurred on three of the four wheels supplied by lexus at the time of purchase. All failures have occurred within 6 months of each other. The lexus has a low pressure warning indicator, but it has not activated during these times. The tire pressures are regularly checked.
The dashboard is sticky and cracking. It started back in 2009-2010 when my fingernail would catch in the plastic when turning key ignition. Now there are cracks completely across the dash and pieces have fallen off. It is also sticky to the touch. Have brought back to lexus dealer and twice they have not come back to me with a resolution from customer assistance. Have seen problem with other lexus and toyota vehicles and have had other cars in fl that have not had never had issues with the heat such as this.