10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
71,285 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2008 Lexus IS 350 drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2008 Lexus IS 350 Owner Comments

problem #7

Feb 212021

IS 350

  • 151,037 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Fuel pressure sensor shorted out inside

- Bryant, AR, USA

problem #6

Dec 012019

IS 350 6-cyl

  • 150,000 miles
Ever since I had this car, I always had the constant problem of a weird engine smell of rotten eggs, it overheats out of nowhere constantly after multiple repairs and maintenance paid out of pocket. It would shut off while driving anywhere. These are just some of the receipts.

- West Hills, CA, USA

problem #5

May 292019

IS 350

  • 123,000 miles
I bought 2008 Lexus IS250 with 123K miles on 05/18/19. I had inspected by a mechanic prior to purchasing it. On one ocassion pror to accident, I backed out of a drive way. When I shifted the automatic transmission from reverse to drive it sudden accelerated for a brief moment, but it was clear in front of me and I remain in control. It only happened to me that one time that week and I thought nothing of it. In the morning of May 29, 2019 the car was parallel parked with a vehicle both in front behind it. My wife slowly back up the car to allow room to pull out of the parking spot. She turn the front wheels towards the curb so that the front of the car would slightly stick out. When she shifted the automatic transmission from reverse to drive, the car suddenly accelerated, jump over the curb and hit the concrete wall of a school. She panicked at the sudden acceleration and does not remember if she step on any pedal during that time. She only knows it accelerated as soon as she shifted to drive and then the car hit the wall. There were no injuries and no other car was involved. We moved the car off the side walk and notified the insurance and the school admin.the insurance declared it a total loss and took ownership of it. A gasoline car accelerate by opening the throttle to allow more air into the engine. The electronic throttle suddenly open due to the physical electronics and/or software controlling it when the transmission Is shift between reverse and drive. Dr. ronald a. belt theory seems plausible. If true you would think just changing the software to get an average of voltage samples would prevent the over compensation of the ECU throttle controller cause by low voltage spikes. Https://www.autosafety.org/dr-ronald-A-belts-sudden-acceleration-papers/

- Oakley, CA, USA

problem #4

Sep 282008

IS 350

  • 200 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2008 Lexus IS350. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds the brakes made a grinding noise and wore out prematurely. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who replaced the front brake pads and noticed that the odometer had been tampered with. Also, the contact mentioned that the gear shifter shifted out of park several times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to repair the problem. The failure mileage was 200 and the current mileage was 39,000.

- Corona Del Mar , CA, USA

problem #3

Aug 012009

IS 350

  • 18,000 miles
When coming to a stop or when at a stop, my car would shake very hard as if it was going to turn off. Fortunately, it never has. I would have to put the car into neutral to stop the shaking or it would stop on it's own after 10-15 seconds. During this time, no lights have ever turned on to indicate there was a problem. The first time this happened was in late July 2009/ early August 2009 and ever since then, it would happen at least 2 times a day. My car has been in the shop multiple times for this issue.

- Los Gatos, CA, USA

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problem #2

Dec 182008

IS 350 6-cyl

  • 21,622 miles
Vehicle shifted into neutral at 45mph and ground gears.

- Wilton Manors, FL, USA

problem #1

Jan 052009

IS 350

  • 35,135 miles
When accelerating onto a freeway, the vehicle will shift gears normally. There have been a handful of instances, though, where the gears do not shift as expected. On those occasions, the car would shift upward to the 5th gear (out of 6). After lightly releasing gas pedal, the car does not shift to 6th gear and the RPM stays high around 3500-4000rpm. It stays in that gear unless I briefly tap on the brakes and back to the gas pedal. If the speeddrops to he 35mph range, then it drops to 4th gear. After the incident, the behavior of the car is normal again. The reason for concern is that this occurred about a total of 6 times since I owned the car, and they occurred on a normal daily commute that I consider routine. These few times were definitely out of the ordinary behavior for the transmission.

- Anaheim, CA, USA

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