Power Steering Fluid problems of the 2008 Lexus RX350

I have been driving my vehicle around and noticed my steering wheel has become "loose". The power steering fluid was leaking, but I wasn't able to pinpoint the problem. I filled it back up with anti-leak power steering fluid, but a couple months later I had it checked out because the steering became noticeably looser. Rack and pinion is in need of replacement. My vehicle has been serviced from brand new since 2007 and only has 75,000 miles on it. My vehicle is out of warranty, but this seems to be a common problem with the manufacturing of the vehicle (based upon other consumer complaints). Normal city and highway driving.

I took my car in for a routine service; when I went to pick it up I was told that the rack and pinion was leaking, there was a tear in the boot and it was leaking fluid, after being quoted $1800 for parts and labor I declined the repair. I find it hard to believe that a 7 year old car with majority of highway miles would have an issue with the rack and pinion going bad. When I came home I did some research and found that this seems to be a common problem with the second generation RX. In my family, majority of our cars are toyotas & Lexus; we have a corolla, 2 camry's, sienna, highlander, is350, Rx350. One camry has almost 200kmiles, the corolla has over 150k miles. We've owned 2 other corollas, es250, celica, I've owned other brand cars too and have driven over 150k miles and never had a problem with the rack and pinion boot tearing. This is not the first time I had an issue with the RX, the last time there was an issue with a (motor) oil line bursting, the oil line that runs from the oil cooler - thank god nothing happened, the car made it home safely home (but no low oil light came on) and we had it towed to the dealership and the repairs were covered under warranty. Was told by a mechanic that the oil line bursting was a common problem, and that the newer RX models the pipe was replace with metal pipe. In my opinion about the rack and pinion, it's definitely a safety issue - the steering oil could potentially leak onto the exhaust and catch fire, and if all the power steering fluid leaks out one may not realize it and may not be able to steer the car out of harms way. We've owned so many Toyota/Lexus cars and we've never had any problems, we've always been an believer of Toyota/Lexus, but this RX has got me worried. I hope that this is not a sign of things to come. Will be thinking really hard about Toyota/Lexus when it comes time to buy another car.

The rack and pinion steering blew up spewing power steering fluid all over the undercarrage. Loss of the power steering resulted do to lack of fluid. No prior warning of any leaks or poor performance from the steering. No noise indicating that there may have been a leak. Fortunately, no accidents was caused. The oil got all over the catalitic converter and could have resulted in a fire. This is a very unsafe condition that could have been catastrophic.

When I brought my car at the dealer for service, I was told the power steering fluid was leaking and therefore the rack and pinion steering assembly would need to be replaced at a cost of $1602. 44. My car has low mileage and so for a luxury vehicle, I thought this type of replacement this soon was ridiculous. I have researched through the internet and found same problem with this car. This type of luxury car at 81,000 miles should not need this replaced. Despite with all complaints and same problem with this Lexus 2008 Rx350 regarding the power steering rack assembly, Lexus should recall this part for replacement with no cost to owner.

When I was at the dealer for my routine oil change, I was told the powering steering fluid was leaking and therefore the rack and pinion steering would need to be replaced at a cost of $1790. My car is out of warranty but low mileage and so for a luxury vehicle, I thought this type of replacement this soon was ridiculous. I have 2 friends with the exact same car and same year and they both had the same problem and had to have theirs replaced as well. One was under warranty, one was not. I called to complain to Lexus corporate and was offered $700 to help pay half of the repair. This type of luxury car at 65,000 miles should not need this replaced.

When I was at the dealer for my routine oil change, I was told the powering steering fluid was leaking and and therefore the rack and pinion steering would need to be replaced at a cost of $1600. My car is out of warranty but low mileage and so for a luxury vehicle, I thought this type of replacement this soon was ridiculous. This type of luxury car at 55,000 miles should not need this replaced. It seems like a manufacturing defect and Lexus should do a recall to fix this problem for all 2008 Lexus Rx350.

My car has been making noise while driving . The power steering fluid is leaking and keeps dropping low. Complaints have been made to Lexus dealer at massepuqua, NY and lately farmingdale, NY now over past many years . On every visit.