Seven problems related to power steering fluid have been reported for the 2007 Lexus RX350. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
(aw no dealer info) tl the contact owns a 2007 Lexus Rx350. While the vehicle was undergoing a routine oil change, the contact was informed by the technician that the rack and pinion was leaking power steering fluid and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a recall. The approximate failure mileage was 58,000.
The rack and pinion is leaking fluid (atf is used for power steering) from the passenger side dust boot indicating a worn out seal at only 70,000 miles. The only fix is to remove and replace the rack and pinion system at a substantial cost. I believe this is a major design defect with this rack and pinion system because I have other vehicles with well over 200 k miles and no problems.
My power steering fluid is leaking and I need to replace the rack and pinion. I only have 56,000 miles on the car. I'm seeing a lot of complaints about this and believe there is a defect. The problem was caught before I lost steering capability.
2012 power steering rack failed. Leaking at the rubber seal boot on right side under vehicle. Used a rebuilt part to replace it. 2015 December, power steering fluid leaked out of fluid casing all over the ground. I pulled off of the toll rd because of the noise. Took it to Lexus and diagnosed power steering rack needs to be replaced again because rubber seal boot is leaking again. They have stopped using rebuilt and now use new kit to repair. They want me to pay for half the repair. There are thousands of complaints about this issue with Lexus and other Toyota vehicles which use the same part. If my car loses all the fluid before I get it repaired, especially if on the freeway there could be a fatal accident. Lexus has taken months to return my calls in order to get this repaired. I finally go a return call from customer service on may 4th. Will not get on the freeway until this is resolved.
Leaking fluid and unusual noise in steering components . I took the vehicle to the dealer and had to have steering rack and shaft replaced for a cost of $2,207. 00. I asked service representative if this was covered by any type of extended warranty and he said no. I indicated I was a Toyota driver since 1970 and said that not only had this never happened to me on a vehicle before, I had never heard of this issue. He told me it was quite common!! as I had bought the vehicle used in naples, florida, I looked up the repair history in the Lexus data base and imagine my surprise when I discovered these parts had also been replaced at 52,847 miles. I wrote to Lexus USA and got a call stating the standard line that the repair was beyond the 1 year warranty period etc. To Toyota motors and its Lexus division, I say that you have let a 40 year customer down big time. I never had any major problems with my toyotas and now this when I thought I had up scaled to Lexus. I have lost faith in the Toyota brand and I say "shame to you Lexus".
During routine car maintenance, I was notified by the Toyota technician that the rack and pinion assembly was leaking power steering fluid and needed to be replaced in order to maintain safety operation. The mileage at the time of failure was 86,817. The technician stated that the only fix for this issue was to remove and replace the entire rack and pinion assembly at a cost of $1,700. I believe that this is a design defect and should have been recalled by Toyota, given the number of failures I have found reported on the NHTSA website. It appears to be a common problem with other Lexus Rx350 owners from various years.
During my annual state vehicle inspection conducted by a Lexus dealership, service technicians indicated that one of the boots on the power steering rack had a hole/tear and was leaking power steering fluid, and there was an additional leak from a seal in the power-steering gear assembly. The estimate and final cost to replace the entire rack and pinion system was $1600+, and I found myself at the mercy of the dealership, who said I would "fail" my state inspection if I chose not to have them make this repair. I have since read online where numerous other Rx350 and related Lexus vehicle owners have experienced the same or similar steering rack failures and seal leaks, and there appears to have been at least 1 Lexus recall campaign on a non-rx350 vehicle for this issue. Unfortunately this was not a warranty repair for me, and since many other Lexus vehicle owners have documented this same issue (and service technicians are quite familiar with the problem), it would seem that Lexus would take the high road and commence a recall campaign for vehicles already on the road with this problem, and would correct or eliminate this problem for future vehicles now that it's a known, documented issue. Unfortunately Lexus does not appear willing/able to take the high road on this one.