10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
26 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
13 / 0
Average Mileage:
27,735 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.

2005 Lexus ES 330 engine problems

engine problem

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2005 Lexus ES 330 Owner Comments (Page 2 of 3)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #39

Jan 282005

ES 330 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 25 miles

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

The contact owns a 2005 Lexus ES-330. The contact stated when shifting gears, the vehicle would abnormally jerk. When accelerating, the vehicle was hesitant to respond. In addition, the vehicle would intermittently lose power as if it were attempting to stall. The dealer advised they were aware of the failure in his year and model vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 25 and the current mileage was 20,000. Updated 10/25/10 the consumer also stated the vehicle stalled in traffic. Also, the vehicle would move forward on its own at times. Updated 10/27/10

- Peadody, MA, USA

problem #38

May 252010

ES 330 6-cyl

  • 64,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Lexus ES330. The contact was driving approximately between 10-15 mph in a parking lot. The vehicle began to surge forward and accelerated rapidly. When pressure was applied to the brake pedal there was no power response which resulted to the vehicle crashing into three parked vehicles. The contact suffered minor pain in the right side of the body. A police report was filed of the incident. The vehicle was towed to a storage evidence facility with major body damages. The cause of failure had not been determined at the time of the compliant. The failure mileage was 64,000. Updated 11/16/10 updated 11/16/10

- Sherman Oaks, CA, USA

problem #37

Oct 202009

ES 330

  • 95,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Lexus ES330. While driving at approximately 60 mph and passing another vehicle, the contact depressed the accelerator pedal but the vehicle continued to accelerate. He depressed the brake pedal and but the vehicle did not stop. The contact shifted into neutral to stop the vehicle. The contact called the dealership and was advised to remove the floor mat. The failure occurred again but the contact did not remove the floor mat. The vehicle had not been inspected at the time of the complaint. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000. The current mileage was approximately 98,000.

- Charleston, SC, USA

problem #36

Nov 022005

ES 330

  • miles

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

Lexus ES 330, when accelerating, there is a hesitation. Dealer said it was related to octane of gasoline, that I should increase the octane to 92. This did not help. They lie at every angle...

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #35

May 032010

ES 330 6-cyl

  • 70,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Lexus ES350. While driving at 2 mph, the vehicle began to rev, suddenly accelerated and hit a cement wall. Both the contact and passenger sustained bruises and there was front end damage. The contact called the dealership but the dealer stated that they would take no responsibility for the failure. The vehicle had not been inspected or repaired at the time of the complaint. Failure mileage was 70,000. Updated 07/26/10. Updated 08/09/10

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #34

Apr 022010

ES 330

  • 42,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Lexus ES330. The contact stated that on April 2, 2010 while driving approximately 2 mph, the vehicle suddenly accelerated, struck a curb and then crashed into a cinder block wall. The air bags did not deploy but there were no injuries or police report filed. The contact called the manufacturer who requested that she not have the vehicle repaired until their investigators inspected it. The vehicle was at a local body shop when the complaint was filed. The current and failure mileages were approximately 42,000.

- Norfolk , VA, USA

problem #33

Apr 052010

(reported on)

ES 330

  • miles

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

2005 Lexus ES 330. Consumer states unintended acceleration. The consumer stated the sudden acceleration resulted in an accident.

- Riverhead, NY, USA

problem #32

Jul 172007

ES 330

  • 21,000 miles
Pulling into my garage. 2005 Lexus ES330 suddenly accelerated and went thru the back brick wall. One-time occurrence. Cost $10,000. Insurance paid to fix car, fix garage. Then dropped me.

- Milwaukee, WI, USA

problem #31

Mar 162010

ES 330

  • miles
I have a 2005 Lexus E330 and have the similar issues as others on this post. It is extremely frustrating but at very slow speeds, the car accelerates (surges) almost on demand. I have not taken it to the dealer due to the costs that may be involved.

- Apex, NC, USA

problem #30

Dec 152007

ES 330

  • 19,000 miles
While driving, I too experienced sudden unintended acceleration of the vehicle. I overtook a slow moving vehicle in front of me on otherwise an empty one-lane straight road. As I eased back into the lane, the vehicle began to race. I pressed the brake pedal and the car really wanted to go faster and faster. As I was reaching speeds in excess of 50mph, I then shifted to neutral but to no avail as the vehicle continued to accelerate. Luckily, the brake worked at all times. I kept it pressed down real hard while the rpms were going well above 6K. The vehicle behaved as if both the gas and brake pedals were pushed down all the way. Finally, the brakes did their job and as I slowed to a stop and turned the engine off with a key. After collecting myself I turned on the ignition and continued with my trip. Next day, I took the vehicle to highland park Lexus in northbrook, il at which point the service manager just shrugged his shoulders in disbelief. I long returned the vehicle after the lease expired but can provide me info so that you guys can locate the vehicle and test it if it still on the road somewhere.

- Vernon Hills, IL, USA

problem #29

Jan 242009

ES 330

  • miles

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

Car out of control on residential street near my home. Sudden acceleration; brakes would not stop car and I could not control steering. Hit telephone pole then a parked car. That car and my 1905 Lexus ES 330 were totaled.

- Millbrae, CA, USA

problem #28

Dec 092006

ES 330

  • 24,266 miles
On Dec. 9, 2006, our '05 Lexus ES330 accelerated spontaneously in reverse down our (fortunately long) driveway. Braking did not stop the car. In fact, the tires squealed loudly as I braked. I put the car into neutral in order to stop it. We immediately took the car to a Lexus repair shop. They, of course, could find nothing wrong. They mentioned having received some reports of floor-mat problems causing acceleration, but couldn't tell me more. The floor-mat on this Lexus was fixed, so that wasn't the problem. This incident only happened one time. I thought the problem was related to the cruise control, because my brother-in-law had a similar problem (going forward though) that was diagnosed as the cruise control causing acceleration. Even though Lexus said my cruise control checked O.K., I never used it again. We decided to sell the car, & did so within 6 months.

- Westport, CT, USA

problem #27

Jun 222009

ES 330

  • 27,000 miles
I own a 2005 Lexus ES 330. Last June as I was attempting to park on the 3rd level of a parking garage, the vehicle accelerated on its own. I was actually at a standstill and the vehicle engine roared and proceeded forward on its own. I put both feet on the brakes and put the car in park. The engine then died down. I checked to make sure that the floor mat was not obstructing the accelerator and it was not. At the time, I chalked it up to "a fluke"; however, in light of the problems that have occurred in relationship to the Toyota vehicles, I felt I should report this occurrence. I personally do not think this was related to the accelerator, I think it had to do with the electronics. I have not had any further occurrences; however, it is worth a notation.

- Camden-Wyoming, DE, USA

problem #26

Dec 162006

ES 330

  • 10,350 miles
While pulling into a parking lot my 2005 Lexus 330 suddenly accelerated and went through a fence and did $1784 in damage to the car. I do not believe I pushed on the accelerator pedal but pushed on the brake pedal. Since then I have not had a problem and have routine maintenance at an authorized dealer.

- Los Altos, CA, USA

problem #25

Oct 012005

ES 330

  • 500 miles
Hello: I drive a 2005 Lexus ES330. While I have not had a problem with the braking system, the electronic throttle is a different story. If you are entering an on ramp to a freeway then release the throttle, then almost immediately reapply the throttle the car will not respond. It takes 2 seconds or so before the engine starts to rev up and the car is definitely unhappy about this. This process of acceleration, the coasting, then accelerating again yields this same result with almost 100% repeatability. The internet forums are loaded with information about this same issue. Definitely something in the electronics is not right!

- San Jose, CA, USA

problem #24

Feb 202010

ES 330

  • 5,000 miles
I have the infamous ES330 hesitation problem which is part of the sub-standard operating parameters of the car. When purchased from the dealer new in 2005, I was advised after taking the car back several times, that updating ecc module probably would not fix the problem and it didn't. the dealership was very aware and blamed the lag on Toyota's "drive by wire? design used on this car. Further, they said Lexus new about and probably wouldn't correct the problem until the next model year. The hesitation is especially apparent when pulling away from a full stop or when power is required to merge into traffic. To compensate, the driver has to keep pushing down on the gas until the car decides to accelerate -- then the driver has to quickly ease up on the gas to keep the car from over accelerating.

- Burr Ridge, IL, USA

problem #23

Feb 212010

ES 330

  • miles
Accelerator pedal becomes hard often. This causes abnormal response while accelerating. Complained a few times to the dealer when bought this car. They upgraded ECM software. However, the problem did not go away. Dealer says this is how acceleration by wire works. I never experienced this behavior with any of my cars including Toyota before. I strongly believe Lexus should fix this problem as it may cause accident if I'm not very aware during driving with this issue - luckily, there has not been an incident so far.

- Allen, TX, USA

problem #22

Jan 032008

ES 330

  • 16,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Lexus ES330. The contact stated that while driving at 45mph, without a warning the vehicle accelerated on its own while depressing the brakes. The vehicle crashed into a median and when he put pressure on the brakes the vehicle stopped. The contact was then able to drive off normally. There were only damages to the rims. The dealer was contacted and they stated that they could not assist him with the issue that the vehicle had.this acceleration problem had occurred three times at the time of the complaint. There have been no repairs to the vehicle to- date. The failure mileage was 16000 and current mileage was 25003.

- West Spring Pines, NC, USA

problem #21

Feb 172009

ES 330

  • 18,000 miles
I was driving our Lexus ES330 with my wife from NJ to ct on a highway. At one point during the drive, removed my foot from the gas pedal, but instead of slowing down, the car started accelerating. In panic I started applying the brakes, but the car would not slow down at all. Fortunately, there was no other car right in front of me, otherwise it would have resulted in a messy crash. It was very scary. Eventually accelerator stopped working completely and the car stopped in lane of the highway. I can't believe Toyota has not included this model in their recall list. This is ridiculous. And, I checked it then, the mat on the driver side was not stuck in the gas pedal.

- Jersey City, NJ, USA

problem #20

Feb 152005

ES 330 6-cyl

  • 5,000 miles
The Toyota problem of unexpected acceleration is a problem with my 2005 Lexus ES330, I have complained to Toyota/Lexus and they claimed to have fixed it with a software programming update (which did not help) I have explained to them that it is dangerous and has almost caused an accident in traffic on numerous occasions. They claim it is not a fault and have refused to fix the software programming problem.

- New Albany, IN, USA

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