Lexus · RX · 2011
0
Recalls
27
Complaints
4/5
Safety Rating
The 2011 Lexus RX has no recalls and 27 owner-reported complaints on file with NHTSA. Overall safety rating: 4 out of 5 stars. Most reported issue: engine (8 reports).
Source: NHTSA Public Records · Updated Apr 22, 2026
This page combines three types of NHTSA data: recall campaigns (official manufacturer or government actions), owner complaints (unverified consumer reports), and crash test ratings (where available). A vehicle with many complaints is not necessarily less reliable — complaint volume correlates with sales volume and vehicle age. Recalls indicate identified defects, not overall quality. To compare this model year with others, use the year navigation in the sidebar or return to the model overview page.
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Overall Frontal Rating
Driver and Passenger Assessment
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Overall Side Rating
Side Barrier and Side Pole Tests
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Rollover Resistance
17.9% rollover risk in single-vehicle crash
Safety Features
Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2011 Lexus RX450H. The contact discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy after the purchase. The vehicle was a private sale. At the time of purchase, the mileage was 116,000. It was later discovered that the mileage was 195,937 upon scanning the vehicle upon scanning the vehicle.
I made a 6-mile trip from my garage and back (12 miles total). The next day, my neighbor asked me to come outside to inspect my driveway where I found a trailing stream of oil. The oil leak was substantial enough to visibly observe an unbroken ribbon of oil spanning the entire length of the asphalt street leading to my driveway and a large pool of oil where I waited momentarily for the garage door to open. Needless to say, I then discovered a large pool of oil under the front of the engine on the passenger side. It was the lower oil cooling line. No warning signal appeared reflecting the leak or low oil pressure. I remembered receiving a letter from LEXUS Corporate stating that this was a known defective part and could be repaired at the dealer at no cost to me. However, the caveat was that the age of the car could not exceed 10 years and the mileage 150,000. My mileage was only 106,400, but the car age exceeded the 10 year limit. Did LEXUS think that the defective part would magically heal itself after 10 years? Why put a limit? LEXUS would NOT assist me in any way, so I had the repair completed at an independent shop. I only repaired one side and now fear the other side will go out and the leak will not be discovered in time before blowing up the engine. I'm white-knuckle driving in a car I used to love. I'm extremely disappointed in the lack of "good-will" provided by LEXUS for a known defective part (a rubber hose, replaced with a metal one) because they would not stand behind their product. Loyalty is a delicate trait, and they have lost mine.
ABS, TRACTION CONTROL, BRAKE LIGHTS & BEEPING SOUND ALL ON. BRAKE PEDAL IS HARD. PEDESTRIANS, OTHER DRIVERS & FAMILY ARE AT RISK DUE TO SAFETY RISK. DIAGNOSIS CODES C1253 - C1256 DURING TEST INDICATES ABS PUMP ASSEMBLY ISSUES. THIS PROBLEM WAS NOTICED BY ME IN LATE AUGUST 2025.
The contact owns a 2011 Lexus RX350. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH the front driver seat heater was activated and moments later smoke and flames were present coming from the center console of the vehicle. After stopping and exiting the vehicle the fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. During the incident, the vehicle was destroyed and later towed away by the insurance company. No injuries were reported and no police or fire reports were taken. The cause of the fire was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not contacted regarding the incident. The failure mileage was 150,000.
Rear control arms are rusted and can break and cause an accident.i went for an alignment and they couldn’t do the full alignment beater of the corrosion
My 2011 Lexus RX350 was running fine as I ran errands for groceries and other items around town one day. Then, out of the blue, I realized that after returning home and parking in my garage, there was a trail of oil in my driveway, leading to my vehicle. I looked under the engine area and noticed a pool of oil. I had a certified mobile mechanic come to my home and provide a diagnosis. This diagnosis was that a hole had formed in the rubber Engine Oil Cooler Line, and drained nearly all the oil in my engine. He mentioned that one more mile and I could have had total engine failure. He proceeded to replace it with a new Genuine Lexus, all metal Oil Cooler Line. I contacted Lexus about this incident, but they provided no compensation for this occurrence, even though there was a short 4-year technical service bulletin they issued barely a year after production, that called out this was indeed a flaw in their design. After doing some research, I see this is a VERY common issue, with many in the past most recent years having this very issue. Yet, Lexus has not recalled this, nor reimbursed those that have suffered from this manufacture defect. I am really hoping that something can be done by NHTSA and/or Lexus to resolve this issue that I am certain is still plaguing thousands of Lexus owners on the road, and putting our and those around us' safety at risk. Surely, a part that obviously and very consistently degrades over the course of 5+ years so often, needs to be addressed and recalled for the sake of safety and integrity.
Tranmission failure around 100k miles. Spoke to few others with similar engine and transmission from lexus who had similar issues. This could be a widespread issue. Costs between 6 to 9 thousand dollars to fix.
On Saturday July 15, 2023, at between about 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. CDST the vehicle was parked overnight in a garage, spontaneously caught fire and burned and was a total loss. There was a smell I would associate with an electrical fire. People reported hearing a car alarm and a "popping sound" before the fire. The fire department extinguished the fire and had the car towed out of the garage of a condominium association. Fire damage to property (except the subject car) was minimal but there was extensive smoke. In my opinion based on this incident, electric/hybrid cars should not be parked indoors.
I was driving my 2011 Lexus RX 350 on July 7, 2023, to a swimming pool. I was pulling into a parking spot just rolling to a stop with my foot on the brake. The car suddenly accelerated with grate speed and ran on the curb of the sidewalk forward to a small rock wall, I immediately turned the vehicle to the right and pressed down on the brakes, but the vehicle kept moving about 45 feet and came to a stop after crushing another two vehicles in the parking lot. These two vehicles were destroyed and not repairable according to the insurance company. For my car the right front side was crushed and both airbags on the drive side deployed, and my chest and legs were injured by the airbags. The biggest injury was my mental injury which made me unable to return to normal life.
Oil poured out under vehicle under right side passenger side from oil cooler line overnight in my garage. Lexus stated that I was lucky that this did not occur while driving as oil would have blown completely out due to the pressurized line and damaged the engine. There was no warning lights on. I backed the car out of the garage leaving a stream of oil and discovered the problem. I had the vehicle towed to the dealership as I never saw anything like this. According to Lexus service representative this is a known defect and has been upgraded by Lexus to a solid metal line at failure only but only for a specific amount of time. (Evidently the vehicle was manufactured with a part metal and part rubber coolant line that split on the rubber portion of the line.) Seems to me that this should have been a recall to prevent major damage to the vehicle and during driving hazard to consumer as the vehicle would stopped completely as oil would be blown out completely. My cost was estimated and paid for at $695.00. I think this should have been a recall.
Oil cooler line ruptured while driving. Lexus issued an extended warranty to 12/31/2016 on the Oil Cooler Line. Lexus sent an advisory letter to owners of record several months prior to our purchase. Our dealer: Rohrich Lexus, did not inform us of the problem when purchased 09/2014. Nor did they address the problem when they serviced the vehicle in 08/16, an oil change. Now we have $500 plus in repair costs for the Oil Cooler Line replacement which could have been avoided if Rohrich Service Department had advised us of the Extended Warranty that covered our vehicle. THE OIL COOLER LINE WAS RUBBER AND THE FIX WAS A METAL LINE.
I have never had any issues with the oil and this car has had all of its oil changes on time and regular. Last evening I was driving home and the low oil pressure light came on. Within moments I started hearing a knocking Noise. I parked the car cause I was at home at that time and I checked the next morning and there is no oil in the car now. There's oil all underneath the undercarriage. I looked online and found a story of another guy this happened to and it ended up being an oil cooler pipe. I guess these are rubber and there's a recall warranty notice on these. My car has not been driven since I parked it. Please advise. Car is included in this warranty recall.
Something had broken causing oil draining out of the car while driving on the highway. The car lost power and I pulled over immediately and shut off the engine. I opened the hood and saw nothing wrong, however when I checked the oil, there was no oil. I then proceeded to look under the car and there was oil all over the under carriage. I then did a walk around and found oil all over the back side. Me and my family were stranded while we waited for a tow truck. We had the tow truck take the RX350 to the local Lexus (Kuni in Denver) dealership where this car has been serviced all its life. When I received the initial call from the service department, He had said he is 99% sure this is the oil cooler pipe. He then said this is a known defect in the design of this part. When I googled "RX350 oil cooler pipe" numerous complaints came back. The initial design is rubber and now they installed one that is metal. This could have been fatal if we had traffic near us. Also this could have major damage to the engine. This should have been recalled however Lexus decided not to and just call it a warranty notice. Even with all the information out there about this highly defective part, the dealership would not cover the cost and told us to directly deal with Lexus. If anyone is reading this, and you have not change out this part, I would get this done! It is not an if this will happen, it is when it will happen. The design of this pipe is elementary and will fail. I thought Lexus being a luxury manufacturer would take more care with their customers! But as you can see, they are not.
While driving Brake & Abs warning lights displayed on the dash with the warning brake malfunction, Took it to the shop they diagnose Bad brake module. My brake pads & rotors and all scedule maintenance uptodate.
AIRBAGS FAILED DURING A MAJOR ACCIDENT
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 LEXUS RX 450H. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING AT 30 MPH, THE CONTACT REAR ENDED ANOTHER VEHICLE BUT NONE OF THE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED. THE CONTACT WAS THE ONLY PERSON THAT SUSTAINED INJURIES (BODY SORENESS) BUT DID NOT SEEK MEDICAL TREATMENT. A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED. THE CONTACT STATED NO WARNING LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED DURING THE INCIDENT. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE CONTACTS RESIDENCE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT INFORMED OF FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 92,000.
MY 2011 LEXUS RX 350 HAS A FRONT TIMING COVER LEAK. TO FIX THE FRONT TIMING COVER LEAK, THE DEALERSHIP HAS AN ESTIMATED PRICE OF $4,000.00. IN ORDER TO REPLACE A GASKET ON THE TIMING COVER, MANY ACCESSORIES AND PARTS NEEDS TO BE REMOVED. I THINK IT IS A SAFETY ISSUE IF THE ENGINE IS LOSING OIL AND IT STOPS RUNNING. I ALSO BELIEVE THAT IT IS A POOR ENGINEERING DESIGN, OR A MANUFACTURER ERROR. IN ORDER TO REPLACE A SIMPLE GASKET, IT REQUIRES MONUMENTAL EFFORT AND EXPENSE. THERE ARE MANY OTHER GASKETS IN THE CAR ENGINE THAT ARE EASILY ACCESSIBLE AND LASTS MUCH LONGER.
OUR 2011 LEXUS RX 350 OIL COOLER LINE FAILED CAUSING ENGINE DAMAGE. A FAMILY MEMBER WAS DRIVING AND THE LOSS OF MOTOR OIL COULD HAVE LOCKED THE ENGINE AND CAUSED AN ACCIDENT. LEXUS IS WILLING TO PAY FOR THE PART, BUT NOT REPAIR THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE FAILED OIL COOLER LINE.
AS WE WERE DRIVING, MY CAR SUDDENLY STARTED RUNNING ROUGH, ENGINE STARTED SPUTTERING, CAR THEN SLOWED DOWN, SEVERAL WARNING LIGHTS APPEARED ON THE DASHBOARD, AND THEN CAR ABRUPTLY STALLED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD AND COULD NOT BE RESTARTED. WE HAD TO PUSH THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD IN A SAFE PLACE UNTIL A TOW TRUCK ARRIVED TO TOW IT AWAY. I RESEARCHED AND LEARNED THRU SEVERAL MEDIA RELEASES THAT A SAFETY RECALL WAS RECENTLY ISSUED AND CURRENTLY IN AFFECT TO COVER THIS SAME EXACT ISSUE IN SEVERAL TOYOTA AND LEXUS MODELS. 1.8 MILLION CARS ARE AFFECTED UNDER THIS SAFETY RECALL. MY CAR EXPERIENCED THE IDENTICAL ISSUE AND UPON MECHANIC'S INSPECTION WAS CONFIRMED TO HAVE A FAILED/FAULTY FUEL PUMP THAT NEEDS TO BE COMPLETELY REPLACED. CAR IS UNUSABLE, REPAIR IS COSTLY AND SHOULD BE COVERED DUE TO NATURE OF DEFECT, UNDER THE RECALL. WE'VE COME TO TRUST THE TOYOTA AND LEXUS BRAND AS WE'VE ONLY OWNED TOYOTA AND LEXUS VEHICLES OVER SEVERAL YEARS. THIS SAFETY ISSUE IS DANGEROUS/UNACCEPTABLE AND HOPE WE'LL RECEIVE THE CUSTOMER SERVICE WE'VE COME TO EXPECT AND APPRECIATE AS LOYAL CUSTOMERS. THANK YOU. *TR
SPIRAL CABLE: HORN HAS STOPPED WORKING
Showing 1–20 of 25 complaints
The 2011 Lexus RX has 0 recalls recorded by NHTSA.
NHTSA has received 27 owner-reported complaints for the 2011 Lexus RX.
The 2011 Lexus RX received an overall safety rating of 4 out of 5 stars from NHTSA.
The most commonly reported complaint categories for the 2011 Lexus RX are engine (8 reports), air bags (4 reports), service brakes (4 reports).
NHTSA does not currently list any recalls on record for the 2011 Lexus RX. To verify the status of your specific vehicle, check nhtsa.gov/recalls with your VIN.
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This page summarizes publicly available data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaint counts reflect reports submitted to NHTSA by vehicle owners and do not by themselves prove defect severity or vehicle safety. Safety ratings may not be available for all vehicle-years. This site is not affiliated with NHTSA or any vehicle manufacturer. For official information, visit the official NHTSA page for this vehicle.