Three problems related to automatic emergency braking have been reported for the 2020 Lexus RX. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2020 Lexus RX based on all problems reported for the 2020 RX.
I am submitting this correspondence to formally report a serious safety incident involving my 2020 Lexus Rx 350 and to request a thorough investigation. On Saturday, February 7, while attempting to park the vehicle, I experienced a sudden loss of control, resulting in the vehicle accelerating forward and colliding with a metal gate. The exact cause of this event is unknown. During the incident, the vehicle’s pre-collision and automatic braking system failed to engage despite an obstruction being present. Additionally, the airbags did not deploy at the time of impact. A minor child was present in the vehicle, properly secured in a child's safety seat. While no injuries occurred, the vehicle sustained extensive damage and was rendered inoperable. I would also like to note that this vehicle was subject to an airbag recall on November 29, 2025, which was serviced prior to this incident. Despite completing the recall service, the airbags failed to deploy during the accident. After the vehicle was towed, the airbags unexpectedly deployed while it was being lifted onto the tow truck using a crane, further raising concerns regarding the reliability and safety of the airbag system.
I was driving about 75mph on the interstate and there were no vehicles or other objects near me when my car braked on its own as if there were a vehicle/object in close proximity to the front of my vehicle.
Just after topping a hill on an interstate highway, both lanes of traffic ahead of us came to a sudden and complete stop. I was in left lane and reacted quickly and applied full braking power and managed to stop a foot or 2 from the rear of the stopped car ahead of us. A few seconds later we were hit from the rear by two cars, one, a black late model camry, which almost stopped and a 2nd, a large, new german-maker grey SUV, which never applied brakes, destroyed the black camry behind us and then destroyed our car, when it hit the left rear and after impact continued pushing the front of the car into the steel cables separating our lane of travel from the oncoming traffic in the other lane of the interstate, until the steel cables stopped us. Neither the electronic collision alert system, the air bags or the emergency braking system activated. The electronic system in our new Lexus then came on and told us that the collision alert/airbag activation system was defective and to contact our dealer for inspection and repair. However, our car was totalled destroyed and taking it to a dealer for "inspection" was neither possible nor practical, but my wife and I walked away without any known injuries. Lexus was advised of the defect, the extent of damage, and told where car was and invited to inspect it. Not sure if Lexus ever inspected it.