Vehicle Speed Control Problems of Lexus ES330 - part 1

I was driving at 9:30am cst on 7/27/16 when my car experience unintentional acceleration for about 1. 5 miles. My car refused to slow down, even while I had the brakes applied. I have had my car sent to Lexus headquarters to be investigated.

See all problems of the 2004 Lexus ES330 🔎.

The contact owned a 2005 Lexus Es330. While reversing into a parking space at a low rate of speed, the vehicle surged backwards at a high rate of speed, drove over a curb, and then accelerated. The vehicle crashed into a restaurant and three parked vehicles. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was destroyed and towed to a tow yard. A police report was filed and there were no injuries. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

See all problems of the 2005 Lexus ES330 🔎.

Car would not stop at all at low speeds, crash into building in parking lot due to failure.

See all problems of the 2006 Lexus ES330 🔎.

The automobile seems accellerate just a little bit. When you are stepping on the gas it, kind of jumps forward some, without putting more pressure to the pedal. In motion at any speed.

I was parking my car in the parking lot of a garage when my car Lexus 330 suddenly picked up high speed (full throttle) unintentionally. The vehicle went forward and fell approximately about 5 feet to the other parking level and violently hit the back of a pickup truck which was parked. I had my seat belt on. My body went forward and backward violently. For the next few days I had experienced muscle pain, stiffness and poor night sleep. The accident was reported to the police.

The contact owns a 2005 Lexus Es330. While driving approximately 5 mph, the brake pedal was depressed and the vehicle continued to accelerate. Due to the failure the contact crashed into the proceeding vehicle. There were no personal injuries. A police report was not filed for the incident. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer, who stated that the failure was contributed to the interference of the floor mat that was not properly installed and secured by the designed hooks. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 108,575.

The contact owns a 2006 Lexus Es330. The contact stated that while driving 10 mph, the vehicle accelerated independently. The contact applied the brakes but the vehicle continued to accelerate. After several minutes of applying an immense amount of pressure to the brakes, the vehicle came to a stop. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnosis but no cause for failure was found. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure and current mileage was 45,907.

On December 5th, 2012 around 1:50 pm in the afternoon, I drove the car to pick up our nephew from school. While I was slowing down and looking for a parking place suddenly the car sped up and accelerated! even though I applied hard on the brake the car kept running very fast and only stopped when it hit bushes and the house on the right of the road. I was lucky that no kids came out from school yet and no other cars were nearly so damages only caused to the car and the property.

When I press the accelorator there is a hesitation in the car speeding up and while driving there is sometimes that same hesitation.

The contact owns a 2006 Lexus ES 330. The contact shifted from reverse to drive when the vehicle abnormally accelerated and crashed into a concrete pillar in the parking lot. The vehicle began smoking after the crash and the contact sustained moderate injuries. The air bags failed to deploy at impact. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection or repairs and the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was destroyed. The failure and the current mileage was 60,000. Updated11/29/11 updated 12/14/11.

Lexus excellerated from 70 to 85 mph. On freeway brake and emergency brakes would not work or slow the car down. Put the can in neutral and went up elvated a freeway transittion road. Car was at 4rpms.

On 2/25/2011, I drove the car 15 minutes on the I-5 freeway to la jolla. The car was then parked for 2 hours so the engine was cold. I started it, backed out of parking place, and accelerated slightly to pass another car backing up. I was exiting a condo complex and speed was generally under 10-15 mph going over speed bumps. The total distance traveled was about 150 feet on gentle, 5 degrees?, downhill grade, generally coasting with slight pressure on the brake pedal, to reach the exit which was at a streetlight at a busy street. The light was red so I gently increased the force on the brake pedal. I then sensed that the brake was suddenly not stopping the car. I applied as much force as possible and could not come to a complete stop. I shifted the car into neutral and the pressure being applied to the brakes stopped the car instantly. The engine raced like I had never experienced before. I then turned the ignition to off. I shifted the transmission into park. Knowing of the problem with floor mats and accelerator pedal problems, I reached down and pulled the floor mat towards the seat and away from brake and accelerator pedals. I restarted the car. There were no further problems.

The contact owns a 2004 Lexus Es330. While parking, the vehicle suddenly jumped when shifted into drive. The vehicle accelerated over a cement block, went uphill and crashed into bushes and rocks. The contact suffered minor injuries. No police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer but had not been inspected or repaired. The contact called the manufacturer who stated that a representative would inspect the vehicle. The failure mileage was 25,790 and the current mileage was 25,794.

I was leaving a car wash (at a busy intersection in penfield, NY), the "car wash" light turned green, I put it in gear and lightly pressed on the gas pedal to approach the workers for them to dry and vacuum the car. There was no floor mat in the drivers front side so that they could vacuum that area. The car speed forward out of control I tried to steer between 2 steel safety post, missed the workers, crossed the sidewalk and 5 lanes of traffic toward a telephone pole, hit the curb, flipped over, I lost consciousness. The car stopped right side up pointing toward the car wash. Car wash employees (and other witnesses) rushed across the street and when I woke up one of the attendants was removing my seat belt and pulling me out through the broken window, there were many witnesses who thought it was a miracle that I was still alive and that the car did not hit any workers, pedestrians or drivers of other vehicles which had now all stopped . No air-bags were released? I was rushed to the hospital . I was released 4 hours later stiff, sore, bruised, minor concussion and told to stay around for a week (we were planning to return to FL the next day) to make sure that there are no serious problems. Police were on site, did a report, fireman were there to clean up the leaks. My insurance CO. Has totaled the car. I feel that Lexus should evaluate this car to determine the actual cause, it was not the floor mat, it was in the back seat, nor was it operator error, the car was accelerating out of control and very hard to steer. If the "Lexus" had a mind then it had gone crazy? I have talked to the local Lexus dealer who told me that there are no recalls on this vehicle and read me the party line that there are no problems with the 2005 Es330 Lexus, it's operator error? I guess the other 38 owners of the 2005 Es330 that have postings on this site are all wrong. Based on toyotas (Lexus) attitude I will never buy another product made by Toyota. I am happy to be alive, thank god.

The contact owns a 2005 Lexus Es330. The contact was pulling into a parking space with the brake pedal depressed when the vehicle abnormally accelerated and jumped a curve. The vehicle was towed to the nearest authorized dealer where the contact was advised that the issue would need to be escalated to the manufacturer due to damages to the undercarriage. The contact was awaiting a decision from the manufacturer. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileage was 28,000.

The contact owns a 2006 Lexus Es330. While the contact was driving approximately 5-10 mph, an unexpected increase in acceleration occurred causing the vehicle to travel over the curbside and crash into a house. The damaged exterior siding of the house exposed an enormous hole the width of the vehicle which extended through the interior wall. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed of the incident with no personal injury. The entire front end of the vehicle sustained damages. The cause of failure had not been determined at the time of the complaint. The vehicle was taken to a collision center where the contact was awaiting further diagnostic of the failure. The failure mileage was 76,000.

I would like to report an incident happened on may 14, 2010. At around 2:30pm, I was driving my 2006 Lexus ES 330 to a shopping center. The center is located on the south west corner of 75 and legacy drive, in plano, texas. When I arrived to the center, I found the near-by parking spaces were all packed. So I decided to park my car at far west corner of the parking lot. I found a spot that was not very occupied. When I slowly approached to a parking space, I put my foot on the brake and prepared for the full stop. But instead of experiencing a full stop, I was pulled forward at full speed as if the vehicle was on full acceleration. The car went up the curb for a plant-bed/medium and cleared a couple of big plants. I turned the wheel as I struggled to maintain control of the vehicle. Finally it stopped after went through the plant-bed/medium. After it made a full stop, first thing I did was checking to see if my foot was on the brake. And it was. After I calmed myself down, I mentally revisited the incident. One feeling standing out was that the acceleration of the vehicle I experienced was completely different from my stepping on the gas pedal. In normal driving, the accelerating is gradual as there is a lag between stepping on the gas pedal and the gaining of the speed. In this case, the vehicle simply garnered speed and running through the bump and plant-bed/medium. I called park place Lexus where I do all the maintenance services. They asked me to bring the car in. An assistant service manager at the Lexus recorded the incident and told me that the engineers would look into that on following Monday. On Monday, I was advised to call 1-800-255-3987. I described the incident to a Toyota support representative and expressed my worry and concern of the safety of driving my Lexus. He told me they will establish a case for the incident and it will take about four to six weeks to finish the investigation.

Throttle control computer failed on 2004 Lexus. Could not get the car to go more than 5 miles per hour. Lexus/Toyota says it is unrelated to the 1000's of other complaints having to do with the throttle. I believe that it is related and should be part of the recall.

2004 Lexus ES 330 acceleration is sticking/stalling and jerking when vehicle is driving and slowing down in traffic. Contacted Lexus dealer and representative and they claim the car computer is constantly adjusting feel like jerking motions.

I have a 2005 Lexus e330 and have the similar issues as others on this post. It is extremely frustrating but at very slow speeds, the car accelerates (surges) almost on demand. I have not taken it to the dealer due to the costs that may be involved.

My Lexus 2004 model Es330 has been accelerating by itself. This acceleration has been happening two to three times a week for about a year. I did not realize that the car was accelerating by itself, but have noticed more during last 3 to 4 months.

Accelerator pedal becomes hard often. This causes abnormal response while accelerating. Complained a few times to the dealer when bought this car. They upgraded ecm software. However, the problem did not go away. Dealer says this is how acceleration by wire works. I never experienced this behavior with any of my cars including Toyota before. I strongly believe Lexus should fix this problem as it may cause accident if I'm not very aware during driving with this issue - luckily, there has not been an incident so far.

I have the infamous Es330 hesitation problem which is part of the sub-standard operating parameters of the car. When purchased from the dealer new in 2005, I was advised after taking the car back several times, that updating ecc module probably would not fix the problem and it didn't. The dealership was very aware and blamed the lag on Toyota's "drive by wire? design used on this car. Further, they said Lexus new about and probably wouldn't correct the problem until the next model year. The hesitation is especially apparent when pulling away from a full stop or when power is required to merge into traffic. To compensate, the driver has to keep pushing down on the gas until the car decides to accelerate -- then the driver has to quickly ease up on the gas to keep the car from over accelerating.

I have a 2004 Lexus Es330 with accelerator problems. My initial problem was as I come to a stop light and it turns green, before I have to stop I would accelerate and there would be a hesitation where the engine feels like it is stalling. It would then accelerate with a thump. I took it in to the Lexus dealer in hawaii (oahu) and they recognized it as a computer program problem that tells the car when to accelerate. I was told that they can "try" to fix it by changing the computer chip and resetting the memory in the computer. However, they said that it would either fix the problem or create other accelerator problems. They know that this problem exists. It fixed my initial problem but has caused other problems such as car now jerks upon accelerating while traveling 5-15 mph. From a stop, my car sometimes hesitates and then accelerates when I step on the gas pedal. I know other Lexus owners have complained as well as camry owners that have a v6 engine and the same transmission as the Lexus Es330. You can google it.

I had 2 accelerating experiences with my 04 Lexus. Both led up to several $ damage to my car and I other car. Then the 3rd one occurred when my car was in for repair and the Lexus garage loaned me a 2009 Lexus, the same thing - it accelerated and I drove into a brick wall. I thought they were my fault. The state of minnesota intervened and took my drivers license so I can longer drive. I feel this was an injustice and want my license returned.

The contact owns a 2005 Lexus Es330. While driving at approximately 60 mph and passing another vehicle, the contact depressed the accelerator pedal but the vehicle continued to accelerate. He depressed the brake pedal and but the vehicle did not stop. The contact shifted into neutral to stop the vehicle. The contact called the dealership and was advised to remove the floor mat. The failure occurred again but the contact did not remove the floor mat. The vehicle had not been inspected at the time of the complaint. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000. The current mileage was approximately 98,000.

I was backing out of my garage in my 2006 Lexus ES 330. The car was idling at about 1400 rpm, with my foot on the brake I put the car in reverse, released the hand brake and started to slowly back up. Suddenly, the car shot out of my garage, down my driveway, across the street, jumped the far side curb turning right and struck a light pole which was broken off. The car was traveling on its own at a high rate of speed. At this time, in a state of confusion and extreme agitation I attempted to shift the car into neutral but instead I accidentally shifted into drive. I went forward continuing in a high rate of speed back across the street and into my driveway when I finally managed to get the car in neutral. I would like to emphasize that at no time did I ever touch the accelerator pedal! this appears to eliminate sticking accelerator pedals as a cause of this problem. I would like to inform you that this same problem occurred on may 14, 2010, also backing out of a driveway, although at that time I had not heard of this Toyota problem and did not realize exactly what was happening. My Lexus dealer informed me that they were unaware of this problem happening to this Lexus model prior to this. Updated ivoq 09/22/10.

The contact owns a 2006 Lexus Es330. While driving on a residential street at 35 mph he approached the intersection, he attempted to engage the brake pedal and was unable to stop the vehicle. To avoid crashing into a vehicle head on, he crashed into the center barrier and a stop sign at the gas station. The vehicle stopped moving when it crashed into the gas station brick sign. The driver and passenger air bags deployed and a tire blow out also occurred. There were no injuries. The insurance company will investigate the failure. The current and the failure mileages were 32,000.

Upon starting and putting car in reverse engine experienced uncontrollable acceleration. Car it backed across a the traffic lane in a parking lot with the brakes applied stuck two parked cars and ended up on top of a planting area after hitting a tree planted there. Police were called and responded. The car has been looked at by a mechanic but could not find a visible problem with the accelerator.

I own a 2005 Lexus ES 330. Last June as I was attempting to park on the 3rd level of a parking garage, the vehicle accelerated on its own. I was actually at a standstill and the vehicle engine roared and proceeded forward on its own. I put both feet on the brakes and put the car in park. The engine then died down. I checked to make sure that the floor mat was not obstructing the accelerator and it was not. At the time, I chalked it up to "a fluke"; however, in light of the problems that have occurred in relationship to the Toyota vehicles, I felt I should report this occurrence. I personally do not think this was related to the accelerator, I think it had to do with the electronics. I have not had any further occurrences; however, it is worth a notation.

I owned a 2005 Lexus Es330 that was involved in a crash. On 4/29/09 the driver of the vehicle was pulling into a parking spot when the car accelerated after her foot was off accelerator causing the vehicle to crash through a storefront wall and windows, causing extensive damage to building and totaling the vehicle. The police did not believe that there was an acceleration problem nor did I, until hearing this recent report on the news.

I was driving our Lexus Es330 with my wife from NJ to CT on a highway. At one point during the drive, removed my foot from the gas pedal, but instead of slowing down, the car started accelerating. In panic I started applying the brakes, but the car would not slow down at all. Fortunately, there was no other car right in front of me, otherwise it would have resulted in a messy crash. It was very scary. Eventually accelerator stopped working completely and the car stopped in lane of the highway. I can't believe Toyota has not included this model in their recall list. This is ridiculous. And, I checked it then, the mat on the driver side was not stuck in the gas pedal.

Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6) our 2006 Lexus Es330 hesitates and stutters when accelerating after a slow-down, stop or during a turn. I have read various things which suggest it could be throttle control, computer controlled accelerator, or mass air flow maf sensor or air intake sensor ais, etc. Etc. But something is definitely wrong. Dealer is no help. We took the car for this trouble to Lexus of valencia and saw assistant service manager [xxx] . He told us that this the way the car was built. I then tried my best to handle this car but it caused the same problem again and again. We took the car to the dealer a 2nd time -- valencia Lexus and the manager told us nothing is wrong with this car. I have been having this problem since I bought the car in 1/14/2009. It hesitates when I take turns, or when I stop at traffic lights and stop signs. Many times the accelerator goes idle during these events and car does not move and than I put more pressure on the accelerator but then it goes fast and I almost end up hitting the car in front of me.

I was pulling into a parking space in a shopping center with my foot on the brake when the car suddenly surged forward. The car sped up to a speed of approximately 45mph. I swerved in and about the cars in the parking lot and had no control over the speed, braking or steering. I eventually stopped the car after about 200 yds. By shifting into neutral, turning off the ignition and bouncing over at least four curbs. No physical injuries or property damage. The car is at the dealers for inspection.

My wife was driving a 2004 Es330, when she pressed the brake on a 15 mph speed, the car instead surge forward with a very high speed and she heard a roaming noise coming from the engine. In a few seconds, the car ran up a curb and she managed to avoid hitting the trees and wall. The car was damaged and she is not going to drive the car again. Lexus dealer simply said they can not find any problem with the car. I did research on this NHTSA data and found a lots of same complains against Es330 and es350. I am very upset by the way Lexus handled the issue.