10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
62,506 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 250 seat belts / air bags problems

seat belts / air bags problem

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2008 Lexus IS 250 Owner Comments (Page 1 of 3)

problem #58

Oct 012021

IS 250 6-cyl

  • 95,000 miles

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

The contact owned a 2008 Lexus IS350. The contact stated while driving approximately 15 mph, the steering wheel began to turn to the left independently and crashed into a parked vehicle. The contact-€™s vehicle rolled over and landed on its roof before stopping. None of the air bags deploy upon impact. A bystander assisted the contact to exit the vehicle by breaking the front passenger side window with his foot. The contact was transported to the hospital by ambulance. The contact sustained bruising on her face and body. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the insurance company lot and deemed totaled by the insurance company. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. Prior to the failure, the vehicle was serviced for the air bags recall however, the dealer only replaced the passenger-€™s side air bag inflator and used masking tape for the engine hoses. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000. Seat belt held the consumer upside down like a hammock. The black box did not say seat belt was in use. Prior to accident consumer was driving by construction site and heard loud screeching scraping under car. Car steering or linkage went out and car went to left. Consumer did not intentionally steer car left. Consumer was blamed for accident when car malfunctioned.

- Corona Del Mar, CA, USA

problem #57

Mar 042021

IS 250

  • miles
Airbag light keeps going on and off. Looked up on google. A lot of people are having this issue. I filed for a complaint before and got no response.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

problem #56

Apr 012019

IS 250

  • miles
The wiring harness for the front passenger airbag was recalled by lexus because it is too short and frequently becomes disconnected which disables the front passenger airbag and cause the air bag light to turn on on the instrument panel. Lexus sent a letter informing me of the recall, but it was sent to my parents house and I did not receive it in time. After finding the recall letter, the pandemic also prevented me from making it to the dealership in time. The letter they sent me also had no markings to indicate it was a recall or that the information inside was important in any way so the letter was easily ignored. I spoke with a lexus dealership and lexus corporate and they both refused to perform the safety repair because I was about 2 to 3 months past their deadline (June 2020?). As a result, my front passenger air bag is inoperable and any front riding passenger in my vehicle is at a greatly increased safety risk in the event of a serious crash. Lexus admitted the problem with their wiring harness and instituted a recall, so I don't think it is fair for them to potentially sacrifice the lives and the safety of my front riding passengers because of a superficial deadline. I would appreciate any help you could provide in convincing lexus to honor their safety recall for my vehicle. Thank you.

- Santa Ana, CA, USA

problem #55

Jan 222021

IS 250

  • 190,000 miles

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

I received a letter about a recall after being told I will receive a call back. After a few weeks I contacted Lexus set a date of service was given a rent a car by Lexus was told for free but I paid a deposit. Lexus has refunded me my money after I pick up my car a loud noise was coming from the dash I contacted Lexus via email and scheduled a date was told that they forgot to close a lid and that what was making the noise that time they gave me a Lexus loaner not a rent a car. But it's still making that noise my car never made that noise I go in for a recall service and it feels like I should have never gone now I'm scared to drive to not break anything the noise happens when I turn the ac on ether parked or drive I have video of the noise

- Riverside, CA, USA

problem #54

Feb 152021

IS 250

  • 62,846 miles
Got a airbag light on when I started my car this morning. Everything Is intact. Was reading forums about it. Says this problem Is very common. Please let me know I did not take a picture. But if needed I can take a picture and send it to you.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

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problem #53

Feb 082020

IS 250

  • 105,000 miles
The SRS/airbag light illuminated upon startup of my car, code B1861 driver side knee airbag squib open.

- Portsmouth, VA, USA

problem #52

Mar 192019

IS 250

  • miles

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

Takata recall. My car had the airbag recall but it seems like during the recall they didn't replace the airbag wiring harness, causing the airbag dash light.

- Marysville, WA, USA

problem #51

Jan 082019

IS 250

  • 99,000 miles
As inspected by Lexus dealership in woodland hills ca, my car has airbag light on/off intermittently. Error code B1861 was found that is tied to knee airbag on the driver side. There is a problem with the squib circuit in the instrument cluster I believe. Car has around 99K miles but this safety concern is serious. This airbag is something that never gets used unless you're in an accident. I've never been in one. It is just bad workmanship on Lexus to install such a wiring harness and squib circuit that'll go bad before 100,000 miles. As a customer this is not something that is visible to me nor something I would attempt to touch. It is hidden behind the instrument cluster and dashboard. Dealership quoted $3000+ to fix something that wasn't caused due to customer negligence. It is just bad workmanship from Lexus. There is a great risk involved with driving Lexus IS250's considering this light could turn on anytime and if one gets into an accident, then airbag would not deploy resulting in a possible casualty or serious injuries. This should be a recall on all Lexus affected by this. Customer shouldn't be responsible for these workmanship problems.

- Beverly Hills, CA, USA

problem #50

Dec 202018

IS 250

  • miles
Dash airbag light randomly turned on. Car was parked. As soon as car was turned on the light lit up. Light was not on day before. Took to local Lexus dealership and had code scanned. Dealership informed me that my car needs a new dash harness and repair would cost +$3,000 plus tax for part and labor which is half of what the car costs. Also told me that when the light is on none of my airbags will deploy in the event of a collision which makes me worried to drive the car, especially this time of year. Looked up the issue online and saw it is a common issue with these cars, but there is no type of recall for the issue which is unusual for something that is common and puts lives at risk.

- South Elgin, IL, USA

problem #49

Oct 272018

IS 250

  • miles
Passenger side seat belt warning light comes on with no one sitting there. Need to replace dash/instrument cluster harness.

- Temecula, CA, USA

problem #48

Oct 092018

IS 250

  • miles

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

2008 Lexus Is 250. Consumer writes in regard to airbag recall and airbag light remaining on.

- Chula Vista, CA, USA

problem #47

Jan 012018

IS 250

  • 185,000 miles
Takata airbag. Passenger airbag trouble light comes on dash intermittently when stationary and while in motion on street/highway. When I recently had the takata airbag recall done, the dealership quoted me $2,100 to replace the wiring harness. I researched on-line and found this to be universally occurring problem with Lexus IS250 models and others 2006 and later. The defective part is the connector from the wiring harness coming loose at the plug into the airbag. Since this a universal safety issue and related to a defective part (rather than a mechanical part subject to wear/tear) shouldn't this be a recall? see following link for more details, but it is pretty common lore in Lexus circles that is happening at low miles as well as high miles. Not sure why consumers are paying for this flaw when out of warranty. Https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-2nd-gen-2006-2013/542134-airbag-light-on-with-resolution-tsb.html

- Pasadena, CA, USA

problem #46

Oct 192017

IS 250

  • miles
Wiring harness that is too short.

- Linden, NJ, USA

problem #45

Apr 102017

IS 250

  • 40,000 miles
After having the car I started getting the feel as if the car wanted to cut off each time I came to a stop. There was vibration with in the motor as it seemed. I contacted the dealership and they advise there was a issue with my model with the motor system with the vibration. They fixed the issue so I thought but as of today there is still vibrations at time when I come to a complete stop. Later on I received a recall on the dashboard and door panels. I later received another recall for my airbags, now my airbag light keeps coming on and I'm having to take the car back and forth to the dealership. These items has happen on number of occasions

- Smiths Station, AL, USA

problem #44

Apr 092014

IS 250

  • miles
I purchased my Lexus in Nov. 2012 for approx. $18000 cash from a private person. By early 2013, the SRS airbag warning light stayed to come on, stay on for 1-2 days, then goes off. Then, few months later, it came on and stayed on. So, I took it to a Lexus dealer to check it. They immediately informed me that the cause was a defective SRS wire harness, as per the fault code B1861, which Lexus was well aware of and had issued tsp, and the fix was to replace the SRS wire harness with an upgraded replacement which would cost me $3500-$4000. Not being aware of this issue before I purchased my Lexus, I decided to research the problem to learn more before contacting Lexus customer satisfaction center, as advised by the dealer. However, Lexus customer satisfaction center, as well as Lexus corporate office, refused to take responsibility and carry the entire cost, even so they acknowledged the defect. Therefore, I'm left with a car with nonfunctional airbag system; it would cost me as much as 50% of the market value of the car; it could not be resold; and, it would not pass the dmv inspection. According to all Lexus dealers who inspected the problem, this SRS wire harness is located under the dashboard and can not be damaged except due to an accident where damage reaches the dashboard area. Therefore, it's Lexus responsibility to carry the cost of upgrading the defected wire harness. Moreover, they have informed that it's unsafe to drive the car in its current condition because the airbag system may not function properly in an accident. However, due to the high cost of fixing this problem, I am, like many other Lexus owners, left with no choice but to drive it the way it it and pray I won't get in any accident.

- Valley Cottage, NY, USA

problem #43

Mar 132017

IS 250

  • 107,000 miles
Takata recall when the car Is in motion I have some type of noise coming from my front dash where passenger airbag Is.

- Nashville, TN, USA

problem #42

Apr 252017

IS 250

  • 950,000 miles
Harness - failure of the airbag harness causing the SRS light to stay on. This is a major safety issue and very costly $3,00+. it also appears to be widespread affecting various manufacture years including my 2008 model IS250. I believe this warrants a review.

- Bethlehem, PA, USA

problem #41

Mar 102017

IS 250

  • 81,500 miles
When I turn on my car the SRS light cames on and has stayed on. This disables all safety features. Lexus has a tsb L-sb-0167-08 admitting the faulty design of the wiring harness. Since my car has 82000 miles when the light came on Lexus says I'm out of the 70000 mile warranty. They want $2500 to fix their flawed design wiring harness. My family and my safety areon the line here and this needs to be addressed.

- North Hollywood, CA, USA

problem #40

Apr 112017

IS 250

  • miles
Takata recall. The contact owns a 2008 Lexus Is 250. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 16V340000 (air bags); however, the part for the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. Parts distribution disconnect.

- Westminster, CA, USA

problem #39

Jun 092016

IS 250

  • miles
Takata recall. The contact owns a 2008 Lexus Is 250. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 16V340000 (air bags) for the front passenger inflator; however, the parts to do the repair were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

- Deland, FL, USA

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