Three problems related to power train have been reported for the 2008 Lexus RX350. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The oil cooler pipe assembly on the engine failed catastrophically causing a sudden lost of a large volume of oil. The failure occurred while driving on a street and was only noticed while parking (a CO-worker saw the oil pouring out of the car).
We have complained about a noise upon starting the car for the past year when having the vehicle serviced. This was the first service visit where dealer was able to pinpoint the code and they came back with the cam shaft variable valve timing (vvt) gear issue. The repair estimate was $6830. I found your recall dated September 4, 2013 # 13v395000 for vvt on Lexus gs350, is350 and is350c models for the same model year and find it suspicious as the same engine is used. I am wondering if other RX 350s have the same issue and the recall should actually be expanded to include the Rx350 model. At this point, the dealer says they need to tear the vehicle down to accurately assess if it is the bolts or another issue but the expense is very high. I also was wondering what the range of miles were on the recalled vehicles? thank you for looking into this.
At 65,000 miles vehicle had a major breakdown. Serpentine belt ruptured causing fire and smoke inside the engine compartment and both inside the cabin and outside. Gas pedal became inoperative and vehicle had to be towed to a repair facility. As further determined the cause of the belt rupture is the a/c compressor freezing stuck. Repair is extremely costly. Parts alone are close to $1500. Lexus is not willing to help in any way and all of the maintenance per the maintenance booklet is performed and on time. Additionally the maintenance booklet does not require any work other than filters, oil changes until 100,000 at which time only spark plugs are mostly due to be replaced. A/c compressor should not have gone out at 65,000 miles on a 2008 Lexus.