Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VISIBILITY - POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS | |||||
| EL00803 | 08/12/2003 | 10003557 | Power window auto feature malfunction. *tt | 10/23/2003 | |
| VISIBILITY - REAR WINDOW WIPER/WASHER | |||||
| 00804 | 09/23/2004 | 10010146 | Rear wiper improvement. *jb | 11/04/2004 | |
| VISIBILITY - SUN ROOF ASSEMBLY | |||||
| 00105 | 03/31/2005 | 00105 | 10018267 | Grinding/groaning noise from the moon roof when tilting or opening. *ts | 12/20/2005 |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| VISIBILITY | |||
| 05/07/2012 | 77000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2004 rx330 lexus. the contact stated that the passenger side rearview mirror exploded from the casing. in addition, an unknown liquid leaked from the mirror after the failure. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was told that the vehicle had to have struck something in order to cause the failure. the contact then took the vehicle to a local mechanic and was advised that it appeared as if the mirror exploded independently, which was hanging from the vehicle by several wires. the failure and the current mileage was 77,000. kmj | |||
| 05/07/2012 | 77000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2004 lexus. the contact stated the passenger side rear view mirror exploded out of the casing that holds the mirror in place. the contact stated that liquid leaked from the mirror after the failure. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was told that the vehicle had to hit something to cause the failure. the contact took the vehicle to a mechanic and was told that it looked like the mirror exploded and it was left hanging by the wires. the failure mileage and current ileages were 77,000.rl | |||
| 12/20/2011 | |||
| Like many other people, i am complaining about the headlight condensation on my lexus rx330. the passenger seat headlight fogs up so that it is very cloudy. this affects the quality of the light beam at night as it makes the light dimmer. i've asked lexus to fix this problem and they quoted me close to $2000 for something that really should be a safety recall. i am not the only person experiencing this problem. i've done some research and found that there is currently a lawsuit going on about this problem. this problem needs to be fixed immediately. | |||
| 09/15/2005 | 60000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2004 lexus rx330. while driving 15 mph he noticed that both side view mirrors were loose and when he hit a bump in the road the mirrors trajectory changed. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for the failure. he was advised by the dealer that both side mirrors needs to be replaced at a cost of over $1,000. the failure had been on going since september of 2005. he called the manufacture multiple times and can not get a answer from them regarding the failure. he also stated the roof rack was corroding. the vehicle had not been repaired for either failures. the failure mileage was 60,000 and the current mileage was 85,000. vwb | |||
| 12/23/2010 | 106000 | ||
| Auto dimming side mirrors fail causing the mirror to show double headlights. this makes the mirror extremly difficult to use. seeing 4 headlights instead of two causes the driver to spend excessive time looking into the mirror to determine if it is safe to change lanes. research on car forums indicates the failure of these autodimming mirrors is the result of heated side mirrors. excessive heat causes the gel in between the glass to leak, causing the double head light effect. | |||
| VISIBILITY - DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER SYSTEM | |||
| 08/15/2007 | 48000 | 5 | 06/24/2004 |
| In heavy rain, with defogger turned on to keep windows clear, if the car hits a large puddle, the ac shuts down and the defroster starts blowing hot, moist air. all windows fog over immediately. no way to continue driving. ac can only be restarted by turning ignition off then back on. this happened on local roads several times, then in mid august 2007, it happened on the interstate at approximately 70 mph. i had to pull over to the grass median by rolling down the drivers window and sticking my head out into the rain. after turning ignition off and on, the defroster works again. lexus dealer reports that this is normal operation designed to protect the engine in case the ac compressor locks up. they refuse to correct the situation. i no longer drive the car in the rain. this is an extreme safety hazard. *tr | |||
| 07/14/2007 | 47500 | 1 | 06/24/2004 |
| Transmission hesitation on 2004 lexus rx330 nearly resulted in high speed accident on several occasions. on july 14, 2007 while merging from i-75 in tampa on ramp into rush hour traffic, the lexus at first failed to slow (to match speeds) when gas pedal was released, then when the pedal was depressed to accelerate after the merge (traffic flow was erratic), it failed to accelerate for about 2 seconds, and we had to drive off the pavement to avoid a rear end collision. we have reported the transmission hesitation problem to lexus 5 or more times so far, and they say it is operating as designed. this situation is hazardous under certain common traffic conditions. the july 14, 2007 incident was one of several where we nearly had a serious accident because of the transmission delay. *tr updated 01/09/08. *lj the consumer stated in heavy rain defogger turned to keep windows clear. while driving if vehicle hits a large puddle a/c will turn off and no way to restart the a/c other than to turn the ignition off. updated 12/12/07 *tr | |||
| 01/01/2004 | 1 | ||
| Vibration when air conditioner on. 2004 lexus rx330.*ak | |||
| VISIBILITY - GLASS, SIDE/REAR | |||
| 07/26/2004 | 100 | 1 | 07/23/2004 |
| Rear window shattered without probable cause. consumer took the vehicle to the dealer, and the police were notified. it was determined that the window broke due to extreme heat. *ak the consumer purchased another 2004 lexus (model/rx330) and the same window shattered. the service manager suggested that this happened due to heat. *sc *jb | |||
| VISIBILITY - REARVIEW MIRRORS/DEVICES | |||
| 04/07/2005 | 35250 | 1 | 10/31/2004 |
| Back-up camera (when gear is put in reverse) does not display any image.*ak | |||
| VISIBILITY - REARVIEW MIRRORS/DEVICES - EXTERIOR | |||
| 09/15/2003 | 1 | 09/15/2003 | |
| The outside rear-view mirrors on the lexus 2004 rx330 are hazardous. if the mirror adjustment switch on the dash is not in the neutral position, the outside mirrors rotate downward when the gear lever is placed in reverse. in theory, this would be helpful if the curbside mirror rotated enough so that the driver could view the curb when parking. the problem is that the engineer who designed the system thought the curb would be on the left side--which it would be if you were driving the car in japan. anyway, that left-side mirror rotates so far downward that the driver is looking at the pavement beside the car, and that pavement can easily be mistaken for a blank horizon. the driver is thus prevented from seeing a pedestrian or obstruction on the left-rear side of the car. the dealer refuses to fix the problem, saying there is no fix. of course there is a fix--lexus just does not want to pay for it. the only way to get this fixed is for nhtsa to force a recall. *jb | |||
| VISIBILITY - SUN ROOF ASSEMBLY | |||
| 01/01/1901 | 1 | ||
| 1994 lexus rx330 hesitates while depressing the accelerator. *kb the vehicle has been taken to the dealer several times to alleviate the problem but they claimed that the vehicle was operating within normal specifications. the vehicle has also been plagued by other malfunctions to include squeaks, rattles, multiple malfunctions of the sunroof electronics, broken seats and liftgate alignment problems. *nm updated 08/14/06. *jb | |||
| 07/10/2004 | 6 | 07/10/2004 | |
| On july 10,2004 i picked up my new vehicle, a lexus rx 330 from the bayridge lexus dealer in nys. within a 1/2 hour, while testing the safety features of vehicle, i had placed a large stuffed animal (in place of a human body part of a adult or child). although all the windows and remote rear door automatically opened when coming into contact with foreign object ( stuffed bear), the sunroof jammed the bear between the closing glass and frame i immediately brought the vehicle back to the dealership with the stuffed animal still jammed in the sunroof back to the dealership the service technician were unable to dislodge the stuffed animal's head from the jammed sunroof (imagine if this was a child's body part???) and had to dismantle the sunroof to remove the stuffed animal and had me return on the 12th determine the cause and to fix the sunroof. since that time, this same vehicle has been repaired by the same lexus dealership a minimum of 6 times for problems with the sunroof. all the while i was returning with the vehicle to be get sunroof repaired, i was under the impression that they had reported this obverous safety defect that a foreign object (stuffed bear over 2 1/2' in length and as soft as a child's hand) would get jammed between the closing glass and the frame of the sunroof without a safety feature to automatically open the window if a foreign object gets in way of closing as with the remote truck closing system and the automatic windows this vehicle is factory equipped with. nys has the lemon laws for new vehicles sold that are defective. it was during this process in collecting my service records from bayridge lexus that i discovered that they never looked into this matter as a safety defect, nor was it reported (to the best of my knowledge) to any official agency that car manufactures are required to report possible safelty defects. *jb | |||
| 07/14/2005 | 1 | ||
| Consumer's sunroof did not retract on the 2004 lexus rx330 when her 8 year old niece placed her hand in the way of the closing glass.*mr the glass pinched the pointer and middle finger of the child's right hand. *jb | |||
| VISIBILITY - WINDSHIELD | |||
| 10/20/2004 | 1 | 08/26/2004 | |
| Sun glare from dashboard reflects in the windshield obstructing visibility. lexus rx330. dealer says others have complained but no fix other than dash cover. tried dash cover but only black works to some extent. black does not match the tan leather interior of this luxury vehicle. the problem is especially bad when traveling a tree lined street into the sun where there is alternating bright sun and shade.*ak | |||
| VISIBILITY - WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER | |||
| 03/05/2004 | 1 | 20 | 04/21/2003 |
| This car is equipped with an automatic wiper system. when the automatic mode is used the wipers fail to keep the windshield clear. in a light rain, the windshield can get to the point where you must take manual action to clear the windshield. i understand that this problem is not isolated to my car but occurs in other cars equipped with the automatic wiper system manufactured by toyota. i've reported the problem to lexus hq. *jb | |||