There are 13 stored owner reports matching the brakes leading-label group for the 2005 Lexus RX in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 13 of 13 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)An AutoZone, Durlast brand brake master cylinder failed in less than one year. The piston in the master cylinder dislodged, preventing proper braking in at least two of the four disc brake calipers. The Duralast master cylinder has been retained for inspection. The safety of the driver, passengers, other motorists and pedestrians were placed at risk due to the malfunction of the shoddily manufactured brake component. Braking distance and stopping efficiency were adversely affected. The problem was confirmed by the automobile repair center. The manufacturer has, so far, failed to contact me about the defective brake component. No warning lamps or messages were associated with the master cylinder failure.
The contact owns a 2005 Lexus RX330. The contact stated while driving at approximately 45 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed but the vehicle was slow to respond. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who informed the contact that the Duralast brake master cylinder was inoperable. The contact was informed that the piston in the brake master cylinder had become dislodged, causing the braking system to become less efficient. The mechanic replaced the part. The local dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 210,000.
PULLING IN TO A PARKING SLOT AT DENTAL OFFICE, WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE, THE CAR SUDDENLY REVVED AND ACCELERATED FORWARD AT A HIGH SPEED. WITH MY FOOT STILL ON THE BRAKE, THE CAR DID NOT STOP UNTIL HITTING THE ROCK WALL SIDE OF THE BUILDING. *TR
BRAKE PEDAL GOES SOFT WHILE HOLDING BRAKES ON AT A STOP. THE CAR WILL START TO ROLL FORWARD UNLESS MORE BRAKE PEDAL PRESSURE IS APPLIED. BRAKE PEDAL GOES ALMOST TO THE FLOOR. PUMPING THE BRAKES RESTORES PRESSURE. MY SHOP BLED THE BRAKES TWICE AND FOUND NO AIR IN THE SYSTEM. BLEEDING DID NOT CORRECT THE ISSUE. THEY SAID THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE MASTER CYLINDER AND IT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED... *TR
TAKATA RECALL, I CALLED ABOUT THE RECALL FOR THE ENGINE COOLING AND THE BRAKES HYDRULIC AND THEY SAY MY CAR IS NOT IN THE RECALL BUT I AM HAVING PROBLEM WITH MY COOLING
I STARTED THE CAR AS USUAL, LET IT IDLE FOR 10-15 SECONDS, PUT IT IN DRIVE AND LEFT THE DRIVEWAY. SECONDS LATER OR 150-200 FEET LATER, I APPLIED THE BRAKES, FELT THE BRAKES GETTING MUSHY FOLLOWED BY A HUGE BILLOW OF WHITE SMOKE BLOWING OUT OF THE EXHAUST. I USED THE EMERGENCY BRAKE TO STOP THE CAR (WAS ONLY TRAVELING AT 5-8 MPH) AND TURNED THE IGNITION OFF. WHEN I INSPECTED THE MASTER CYLINDER, I NOTICED IT WAS EMPTY - ABSOLUTELY NO FLUID IN IT. SURMISED THE WHITE SMOKE COMING OUT OF MY EXHAUST WAS THE BRAKE FLUID BEING DRAWN INTO IT BUT I DIDN'T KNOW HOW OR WHY. I LEFT THE CAR SIT IN MY DRIVE WAY UNTIL I HAD THE ENERGY AND TIME TO DEAL WITH IT. LATER ON, I LOOKED UP HOW TO REMOVE THE MASTER CYLINDER OFF THE INTERNET WHEN I NOTICE RECALLS FOR 2004-2005 RX330'S, IN PARTICULAR MASTER CYLINDER SEALS AND VACUUM BOOSTERS. BOTH ISSUES REFLECTED EXACTLY WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO MY CAR. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO LEXUS OF WESTMINSTER WHO PROMPTLY SAID A RECALL SEAL WAS REPLACED (ALTHOUGH I DON'T RECALL THIS HAPPENING) AND IT WILL COST ME $200 TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM. I HAD THE AUTO TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT LEXUS MECHANIC WHERE I FOUND OUT THE BRAKE BOOSTER FAILED. ADDITIONAL RESEARCH FOUND RECALL NOTICES ON BOTH OF THESE ITEMS WITH THE DESCRIPTIONS DESCRIBING WHAT OCCURRED ON OTHER RX330'S WAS EXACTLY WHAT OCCURRED WITH THIS LEXUS, YET LEXUS OF WESTMINSTER REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE ANY PROBLEM OR LIABILITY ASSOCIATED WITH THESE TWO ISSUES. ALL THEY SAID WAS THE SEAL (MASTER CYLINDER) WAS REPLACED SOME TIME AGO AND ANY FURTHER REPAIRS ARE ON ME. *TR
PERIODICALLY THE BRAKE,ABS,VSC, AND LOW PRESSURE LIGHT BLINKS WHILE DRIVING , AS SOON AS THE KEY IS TURNED OFF THEN BACK ON THE WARNING LIGHTS DISAPPEAR. *JS
PERIODICALLY THE BRAKE,ABS,VSC, AND LOW PRESSURE LIGHT BLINKS WHILE DRIVING , AS SOON AS THE KEY IS TURNED OFF THEN BACK ON THE WARNING LIGHTS DISAPPEAR. TROUBLE CODE SCANNED C 1249, AND C 1223 OPEN CIRCUIT IN STOP LIGHT SWITCH OR ABS CONTROL FAULT ERROR. OXIDE GREASE RESIDUE ON ELECTRICAL CONTACT POINTS MAKE THE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH SUSCEPTIBLE TO FAILURE. TOYOTA LEXUS HAD A RECALL THAT ONLY COVERED CERTAIN DATES WHILE THE PROBLEM BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH FAILURES CONTINUED IN NEWER MODELS. LEXUS REFUSES TO FIX OLDER MODELS SAYING THE PROBLEM WAS FIXED AFTER LATE 2004, WHICH AS WE ALL KNOW NOW IS NOT CORRECT. I WOULD LIKE LEXUS /TOYOTA TO REPLACE MY BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH AT NO EXPENSE TO ME SINCE IT WAS A ASSEMBLY ERROR ON THEIR PART. *TR
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 LEXUS RX-330. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 5 MPH, THE CONTACT APPLIED THE BRAKES BUT THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT STOP AND CRASHED. DURING THE FAILURE, THE CONTACT COULD SMELL A BURNING ODOR AND NOTICED SMOKE WAS ESCAPING FROM UNDER THE VEHICLE. THERE WERE NO INJURIES. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WHERE THE BRAKES WERE REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 51,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 52,000. UPDATED 03/16/11 *BF UPDATED 03/21/11
ON OCTOBER 17, 2010 I WAS DRIVING MY 2005 LEXUS RX330 INTO MY GARAGE AT LESS THAN 10 MPH. ON MY WAY UP THE DRIVEWAY, I PUT MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE PEDAL. WHILE MY FOOT WAS ON THE BRAKE PEDAL, THE CAR MADE A NOISE AND ACCELERATED FORWARD. I PUMPED THE BRAKES SEVERAL TIMES AND EVENTUALLY FORCED THE CAR TO STOP RIGHT BEFORE HITTING THE GARAGE CABINETS. LATER MY HUSBAND STARTED THE VEHICLE IN THE PARK POSITION. WHEN HE STEPPED ON THE BRAKE, THE RPM'S ZOOMED FROM 1,000 RPM TO 3000 RPM (RACING THE ENGINE). MY HUSBAND WAS ABLE TO DUPLICATE THIS DANGEROUS PHENOMENON FOUR CONSECUTIVE TIMES. SIMPLY STATED, THE BRAKE WAS ACTING AS AN ACCELERATOR. WE ATTEMPTED TO VIDEOTAPE THE PROBLEM, BUT COULDN'T RECREATE THE SITUATION. UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION I FOUND DOZENS OF OTHER INCIDENTS FILED THROUGH THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION ADMINISTRATION OF THE SAME YEAR, MAKE, AND MODEL AS MY VEHICLE. MANY OF THESE VEHICLES WERE ALSO ENGAGED IN THE PARKING PROCESS. AFTER CONSIDERABLE COERCION WITH LEXUS, WE CONVINCED THEM TO TOW VEHICLE INTO THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP. THE LEXUS DESCRIBED 'NATIONAL INSPECTOR' EXAMINED THE VEHICLE AND 'FOUND NOTHING WRONG.' THERE IS UNEQUIVOCALLY A DANGEROUS PROBLEM WITH THE VEHICLE AND YET, THE TOYOTA CORPORATION REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE POTENTIAL FOR FUTURE OCCURRENCES OR ATTEMPT ANY SORT OF REPAIR. THE FACT THAT LEXUS COULDN'T DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM DOESN'T ABSOLVE THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO OUR FAMILY AND THE AMERICAN PUBLIC. WE CONSIDER OURSELVES CREDIBLE WITNESSES TO THE PROBLEM, CONSIDERING BOTH MY HUSBAND AND I EXPERIENCED THE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS MECHANICAL ANOMALY AND ARE NOT ATTEMPTING TO SUE FOR PROPERTY DAMAGE OR PERSONAL INJURY.
CONDENSATION IN THE HEADLIGHTS STARTED EARLY ON AND IS ONLY GETTING WORSE ON MY 2005 RX 330. ALSO, I HAVE ALREADY HAD TO SWITCH THE FRONT BRAKE PADS OUT AND NOW HAVE TO SWITCH THE REAR BRAKE PADS OUT AS WELL AS THEY STARTED TO SQUEAL AND THE ROTORS WERE ALREADY RESURFACED BEFORE. THE CAR DOESN'T FULLY BRAKE UNTIL I PRESS DOWN EXTREMELY HARD ON THE BRAKES AND EVEN THEN IT SLIGHTLY ROLLS FORWARD AND THEN STOPS. ALSO, WHEN I ATTEMPT TO ACCELERATE, THERE IS A DELAYED ACCELERATION. IT TAKES AT LEAST 2 SECONDS BEFORE IT ACTUALLY BEGINS TO ACCELERATE AND EVEN THEN IT IS NOT A INSTANT ACCELERATION BUT A SLOW ONE. *TR
IN 2005 I BOUGHT THE LEXUS 400 HYBRID. I IMMEDIATELY DETECTED A PROBLEM WITH THE BRAKES - THERE WAS A HESITATION WHEN DEPRESSED AND THEN A SECOND OR TWO IT WOULD ENGAGE. THE DEALER TOLD ME THAT I NEEDED TO "GET USED TO HYBRID DRIVING." WHEN I BROUGHT IT IN FOR SERVICE IN MARCH OF 2006 I AGAIN TOLD THE DEALER THAT THE BREAKS WERE NOT RIGHT. THEY DID THEIR ASSESSMENT AND TOLD ME THAT THIS IS THE WAY IT IS. NOW HEARING ALL THE PROBLEMS WITH TOYOTA AND LEXUS I THINK YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS. I RECENTLY WROTE TO LEXUS AND THEY IMMEDIATELY BROUGHT MY CAR IN AND ARE KEEPING IT FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY WILL FIND OR WHAT THEY WILL ULTIMATELY TELL ME. *TR
WHILE BRAKING FROM 50 TO 60 MPH THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT STOP PROPERLY. THE CONSUMER WOULD HAVE TO APPLIEDTHE BRAKE PEDAL HARDER TO GET THE VEHICLE TO STOP. VEHICLE HAS BEEN TO THE DEALER ON TWO SEPARTE OCCASIONS. THE DEALER REPLACE THE BRAKE BOOSTER THE FIRST AND THE SECOND TIME THEY WAS UNABLE TO LOCATE A PROBLEM. *NM
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Aug 30, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.