The latest incidence happened in [[redacted]] of city [[redacted]] on [redacted]. The engine intermittently stalls automatically after I backed up in Reverse for a very short distance. The engine was still running but the car was locked, and red warning lights appear. I had to turn the engine off and restart it to move the car. The same incidence happened several times before. When it happened, there were no persons or cars behind at all. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Engine & cooling
Lexus ES 300H Engine problems by year
9 complaints filed with NHTSA about the Lexus ES 300H's engine & cooling. Stalling, loss of power, oil consumption, overheating, head gaskets, timing chains and engine failure.
Engine complaints by model year
Latest ES 300H engine complaints
Driving car experienced a loud thump. Lost all engine power. Pulled to side of road. Had a hybrid system unavailable warning. Called a tow. Checked oil level to find it below the low mark. Car left a huge puddle of oil when loaded. Got to dealership. They found a hole in the engine block. Engine seized. Looms like it was the rod for the first cylinder. This issue sounds like what was the 2020 model years recall. My car had 128k on it all maintenance was completed on time, at the dealership. I regularly check oil level, and it was within normal range.
The vehicle stalls when I try to take off causing me to pull into traffic slower
The first incident occurred sometime in late June/early July...indicator lights mentioned below came on and I cleaned off sensors and indicator lamps disappeared on this occurrence. On July 13 2022, I was driving on a busy local road when the following malfunction indicators were displayed: brake system warning, 'check' engine malfunction indicator lamp, electric power steering system warning, parking support brake system, and pre-collision system. As these indicators were displayed, simultaneously the vehicle...
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decelerated to an almost complete stop on the road (though I was pressing gas pedal to floor) and then to a complete stop as I was able to blessedly pull over to a gas station without getting hit (the car sounded like putt, putt as it shut down). The vehicle would not start even though I cleaned off the sensors this time...I sat for about 15-30 minutes and the vehicle restarted and resume normal operations until I was able to get home safely. This happened again on 15 July 2022 while I was driving on I-75N, a truly busy interstate, I was switching lanes to get to the far right lane when all of a sudden, the aforementioned indicator lamps displayed and the vehicle decelerated to a complete stop as I was able to pull over onto the shoulder of the highway...I believe since I had a family member following me, that definitely kept an accident from occurring along with the oversight of the good Lord. While we sat and waited for tow services, I tried wiping the sensors to no avail...yet, upon 30 minutes of waiting, the vehicle restarted and resumed normal operations. I drove vehicle to an auto shop in which they did a vehicle diagnostics check and couldn't find anything wrong...they even drove vehicle to see if problem would reoccur but to no avail.
I leased a 2019 Lexus ES300H in March of 2019. About 1 year later, the vehicle started having serious mechanical issues related to the power of the vehicle and put my life in danger on 3 different occasions. The vehicle has a serious problem with losing power. The very first time that this problem occurred, I was in the left only lane attempting to make a left turn. When it was safe to do so and there was enough distance between me and the nearest vehicle driving in the opposite direction, I pressed on the...
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accelerator to make a left turn and my vehicle suddenly lost almost complete power. I had the accelerator pressed all the way to the floor and the vehicle was barely moving like 3-5 miles per hour. Me and the other vehicle that was coming kind of fast in the opposite direction almost got into a head on collision. I would have very easily and safely, without even rushing, cleared the intersection and completed the left turn had this not happened. After collecting myself from the terrifying experience I just went through and having my life flash before my eyes, pulled over and called Lexus Roadside. They came and towed the vehicle to the dealer. The dealer kept the vehicle for some time, but was not able to duplicate the problem and told me that there is nothing with the vehicle. Regardless of how much I insisted that they do further tests, they refused and told me that the mechanic he driven it home at night and back in the morning and could not duplicate the issue and that if I didn't come to pick up the vehicle, they would park it on the street where it would be subject to tow. After picking it up and literally after about 20 minutes of driving it, almost the same thing happened while I was on the freeway on my way home. The vehicle lost power again and I almost got into an accident. A similar incident occurred the third time. Took the vehicle to service 3 times. Brand engagement has not done a single thing. Lemon Law Department denied the case. Been paying.
While at a stop sign or light, I have experienced on at least five separate occasions where I press the accelerator and the vehicle does not move. I took it in to the Lexus dealer last year and have set up another appointment again next Monday September 27. There response is that they will put it on their diagnostic machine.
Accident description: traveling south on i-95 just past the 895 split. I was traveling in the middle lane with a speed of 60-65 mph. The car started to drift left quickly. There was no vibration warning through the steering wheel indicating lane departure. I was rapidly moving toward the concrete base of the moravia road overpass. The steering was tight. I attempt to brake and steer right but nothing seemed to work. The autobrake was on but did not apply and I hit the concrete base of the wall on the left...
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front corner of the lexus. I did several 360's and landed against the jersey wall in reverse direction of the traffic. The air bags did not deploy. The car would not start. I was able to put my window up/down and the door did open. I remained in place with my seat belt still on until office smith arrived. He recorded the incident. In summary, I believe the low precure fuel pump stopped operating causing the engine to stall at high speed and was thus the source of the crash.
Since I bought the car in oct 2019, this happens everytime I am on local roads (speed <50mph), when I slowdown per the traffic flow, or taking turn (left or right) after yielding, the car hesitates to accelerate as if the gas pedal died on me and then I push the pedal further down only to get the car downshift drastically and revving up to almost always about the hit the car in front (if any) of me. In the few times I am on highway, when I need to speed up to change the lane the car accelerates unpredictably making the driving a scary experience.
VEHICLE STALLED IN DRIVEWAY
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked daily. Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data