Complaint volume
42 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2018 Lexus RX Complaints
42 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2018 Lexus RX, grouped by component category.
42 Total complaints
5 Crash reports
0 Fire reports
3 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are unknown or other, fuel/propulsion system, service brakes. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 5 crash reports, 0 fire reports, 3 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 14 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 17,759 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to unknown or other, fuel/propulsion system, service brakes?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2018 Lexus RX?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2018 Lexus RX
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2018 Lexus RX complaints?
5 Crash
0 Fire
3 Injury
0 Fatality
4 Towed
3 Medical attention
What are the most common 2018 Lexus RX complaint categories?
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 6
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 5
SERVICE BRAKES 5
VISIBILITY/WIPER 3
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 2
STRUCTURE 2
AIR BAGS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 1
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 1
42 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2026 | STEERING,SUSPENSION | I was starting to lose control of the car and took it to the dealership for a check . The car has only 52000 miles and the Ball Joints and the sway bar links are leaking grease according to the dealer | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2026 | ENGINE,BACK OVER PREVENTION,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1. Check engine light comes on. 2. Intelligent collision system (ICS) plashing while driving | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2026 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The 12.3-inch display of the instrument panel is blank at startup. Operating the vehicle with this display blank reduces the ability to see certain malfunction indicators. If malfunctions occur while driving, continuing to drive could lead to an increased risk of a crash or an increased risk of injury in the event of a crash. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2025 | ENGINE | Engine block #1 misfire , 02/gasoline ratio level problem | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2025 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | I have a panoramic sunroof and the sunshade retracts when the switch is pressed but the shade bunches up and stops before fully retracting. It appears from online searches that it’s a well known problem with Lexus and can result in a very costly repair that’s caused in no part by the owners of the vehicles. A recall of this manufacturing defect needs to be issued. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | STRUCTURE | The contact owns a 2018 Lexus RX 350. The contact stated that upon arriving to the residence and parking the vehicle, the front driver’s side door failed to open while pulling on the interior door handle. The contact rolled down the window and was able to open the front driver’s side door while pulling the exterior door handle. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the front driver’s side door handle needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Upon further investigation, the contact related the failure to Lexus Special Service Campaign Number: 20LC02. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 47,518. | Crash: No Fire: No | 47,518 |
| Jul 2025 | STRUCTURE | On our 2018 Lexus RX 350 L, the left front interior door handle broke and we had to roll the window down and open the door from the outside. I learned that there was a recall - Lexus Special Service Campaign 20LC02 but our Lexus VIN was not listed. Our Lexus Model/year was manufactured in 05/18 and that was within the production period of the recall, April 2015 to September 2018. I believe that Lexus not including our suv's VIN in the recall was an oversight. As a result, I reached out to Smithown Lexus in NY and they did not honor the recall and wanted $219 + tax just diagnose the problem. I also called Lexus Guest Experience Center at 1-800-255-3987 and thety also did not honor the recall. Since, I purchased and installed the door handle. Is there a way I can get get reimbursed for parts and labor of $450? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | iOS lite has come on for the second time. Sensor had to be replaced early this year. Cost $500. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2025 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | The fuel pump sensor electrically shorted. The assembly failed. (tube assembly, fuel suction w/ pump and gage), gasket, fuel suction tube set. It is available for inspection. The car could stall at any time because the fuel pump sensor cannot accurately determine the fuel level or how much fuel is being injected into the engine. There was a warning light. Lexus covered two other fuel pump safety issues for this make and model (2018 RX 450h), one under a manufacturer recall and one through a customer support program. This is a THIRD defect with the fuel pumps on these vehicles for which Lexus has NOT offered coverage or notified its customers. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | SERVICE BRAKES | Brake squack/barking noise when brakes are depressed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | 1. At [XXX] on [XXX], I was pulling into my gym's parking lot, when I stepped on the break to park my car, instead of stopping, the car accelerates rapidly and crashed through the other side of the sidewalk where there were light pole and cement walls, throwing me forward and backward with seat belt on, I was in total shock! 2. My insurance sent a field inspector to the body shop 2X in hope to repair my car but ended up declaring it a Total Loss. 3. Lexus said they would send a field tech to get the EDR (Event Data Recorder) data from my 2018 Lexus RX350 within 30 days, but the results won't be available for 30-45 days after that. Lexus's slow response to this accident concerns and disappoints me b/c it was a serious crash that Lexus should treat it seriously and promptly. 4. The disbelief of a 'young' car with only 12297 miles could have issues like this puzzled me and drove me to do a lot of online research, then I came across this site [XXX] which contains an article titled '10 Common Problems of A Lexus RX350'. Problem #5 described exactly what had happened to me: 'ONE RECURRING PROBLEM THIS CAR HAS IS THAT THE SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONS SEVERELY. THIS TYPICALLY HAPPENES WHEN THE DRIVER IS TRYING TO PARK THE VEHICLE. REPORTS PAINT THE SAME PICTURES REPEATEDLY: THE DRIVER IS PULLING INTO A PARKING LOT, THEY PUSH THE BREAK PEDAL, AND INSTEAD OF STOPPING, THE CAR ACELERATES RAPIDLY, WHICH RESULTS IN A CRASH." Based on this article, it seems that Lexus should have issued a recall, but no! 5. The strange thing was that NO airbags were exploded/activated, yet the vehicle was damaged to beyond repair, it makes me wonder if there was an issue with the airbags too. If this incident had occurred at an intersection, I dare not imagine the outcome...I could have been killed or critically injured along with other innocent people on the road. I am very traumatized by the whole experience and sadly, the feeling seems to have gotten worse as time goes. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES | I am writing to raise a serious concern regarding a issue with my 2018 Lexus RX450hL involving the brake actuator. Since purchasing the vehicle at 63,000 miles, I have noticed hissing, clicking, and squeaking noises when applying the brakes. As the mileage increased to 83,000, these noises have worsened, becoming unbearable. In addition, I am experiencing a shaky driver-side mirror and a rusting hood latch, both of which present safety concerns. For a vehicle under 5 years old , I believe these problems do not reflect the quality I expected, particularly given the premium price I paid. According to Lexus' Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) #L-SB-0032-23 Rev, issued in October 2023, which addresses squawk or knock noises from the engine compartment when the brake pedal is pressed or released, affecting models like the RX450hL. My vehicle exhibits symptoms similar to those described in the TSB. The vehicle was regularly maintained by the previous owner at Lexus of Thousand Oaks and Woodland Hills. Despite this, the major part like brake actuator has failed prematurely. Given Lexus' reputation as a luxury brand, it is unacceptable that such a critical component would fail before the vehicle is 5 years old or has reached 100,000 miles. The combination of the brake actuator defect, the shaky mirror, and the rusting hood latch is disappointing, especially for a vehicle of this caliber. When I initially contacted Lexus Customer Service, I was also dealing with rusting parts and a failing brake booster. Lexus of Cerritos provided a repair estimate of around $5,000 for brake actuator. I was advised to reach out to Lexus Customer Service after my request for a good faith repair was denied due to the inability to obtain the complete maintenance history. However, I have since confirmed with the previous owner and Lexus that the vehicle was regularly serviced. I am also aware that Lexus has issued brake actuator-related recalls for several models. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | HVAC servo motor failure. There are many complaints on internet if you google. Multiple other lexus models have CSPs regarding same problem too.. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | VISIBILITY | The driver-side mirror shakes noticeably while driving making it hard to see what's on your left, specially at night. Even though I'm reporting in 2024 w/ 55k miles, I just bought this L-Certified CPO Lexus 1 week ago, so the problem was likely there before. There are a couple of other signs that this car doesn't handle the South Florida heat very well and my guess is the adhesive on the mirror has started to fail. There is a service notice on late model NX to address this that replaces the entire mirror assembly and they'll likely do this as well when I take it in, but it is a fairly simple issue to resolve yourself following some YouTube videos even if they're not specific to this make/model. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | If you by mistake forget to put your car on Parking the transmission does not lock by itself creating a hazard of movement of the vehicule that can cause an injury's or even worse. That was reported to the dealer and dismissed the issue as normal. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2024 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Two days ago, upon entering our vehicle, there was a smell of gasoline as we drove. Our fuel guage wend from 1/4 tank to EMPTY in minutes. I pulled into a gas station and when attached the nozzle, gas entering the tank was POURING out from underneath. I drove the car to the venue we were headed to and parked on a dirt/gravel spot so as to limit fuel runoff to nearby vehicles. We had the vehicle towed to Bob Tyler Toyota, the nearest Lexus type service center. I called service at Lexus of Mobile and the employer stated that there are no recalls. The free flowing fuel endangered not only my and my wife but anyone around the vehicle. No warning lights whatsoever. The tow driver concurred that fuel was POURING until the tank was emptied. I have not been contacted by the service department thus far. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE | The contact owns a 2018 Lexus RX350. The contact stated at start-up there was raw a fuel odor entering the cabin of the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The failure occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 42,548. | Crash: No Fire: No | 42,548 |
| Jan 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,STRUCTURE | The driver side indoor door handle no longer works. Despite my model being part of the special service campaign 20LC02, dealer says that my VIN number is not covered despite it being the exact problem described. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | The car makes a "Brake Squawk" noise when the brake pedal is applied. The noise sometimes is unbearable. Dealer replaced the brake actuator. The noise came back after a few months. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2018 Lexus RX350. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 MPH, and as she was approaching a toll road gate, there were several lanes that were closed and marked with traffic cones. The contact stated that as she was turning the wheel to steer into an open gate she crashed into one of the traffic cones. The contact stated that her vehicle was equipped with front collision avoidance and that normally the vehicle would have automatically braked before crashing into any objects in front of the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle rolled onto its roof. The contact stated that all the air bags had deployed. The contact stated that emergency services and the police were on the scene. The contact stated that the police issued her a traffic violation ticket. The contact stated that she had bruises on her face and arms, shoulders, and chest. The contact refused treatment on-site and was not transported to the hospital. The contact stated that later that day her husband drove her to the emergency room. The vehicle was towed to an impound lot and was later declared a total loss by the contact's insurance provider. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 27,000. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | 27,000 |
| Jan 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | Lexus 2018 Rx450hl is known to have issue with brake actuator. A faulty brake actuator causes the car to fail sudden stop. It’s definitely a safety issue. Lexus have technical service information bulletin(tsib) for this issue since 2019. They never contact the owner to replace the faulty part. So if the car is under warranty they will fix the problem with no cost. But if the warranty pass the threshold, they are charging the costumer 3.5k to replace it. It’s an absolute horrible business practices. This part is a manufactured defect and it’s a safety issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | This car just send me a warning light last night about the all wheel drive system and issues about the engine, I was in the dealer this morning and I tell them the problem with the car but they was charging me for everything and left the lexus repair shop I work in my car and this not supposed to be happen I care of my car really good but now I hace to stop working because all this issues with the car. Now the car just stop working and I'm stock in middle of the city without another way to work and I don't have money for nothing. Please help me! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | Car displaying parking brake malfunction and and cruise control malfunction intermittent when using the parking break, seem that TSB (T-SB-0168-19) was open for Camay from 2018 to 2020 exhibiting the same issue but not for this car. This a safety concern since parking brake becomes disable, this issue resets after restarting the car again. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The slightly opened sunroof spontaneously exploded with shattered glass flying outward and some glass pieces falling on my husband while he was driving. The vehicle can be inspected; however, a Lexus dealership replaced the sunroof glass without charge, the next day after the incident. The unexpected loud explosion with flying glass startled my husband while he was driving. Fortunately, there were no cars around him at the time, because the fright caused by the explosion could have caused a multi-vehicle accident. A Lexus dealer inspected the sunroof damage, and though they would not acknowledge this was a manufacturer defect, they did replace the glass without charge, stating it was a "one-time goodwill gesture." The day before the repair, the damage was inspected by Senior Officer Sampson of the Maryland Transportation Authority (phone number 410-537-1197) on December 13, 2021 (not long after the incident). There were no warnings or symptoms of any kind that would have alerted the driver to the spontaneous explosion. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2021 | POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | WHEN STEPPING ON THE GAS PETAL ONE OF THREE THINGS HAPPEN. 1. NORMAL ACCELERATION WHICH YOU EXPECT AFTER 60 YEARS OF DRIVING AND WHICH WE OBTAIN FROM A 2014 LEXUS RX350 THAT WE OWN. 2. HESITATION OF BETWEEN 1 AND 5 SECONDS BEFORE ACCELERATION BEGINS. 3 EXCESSIVE ACCELERATION ( SURG OF ACCELERATION MUCH MORE THAN EXPECTED). THIS EXCESS ACCELERATION MAY HAPPEN AFTER THE HESITATION OR THERE COULD BE "NORMAL" ACCELERATION AFTER THE HESITATION AND HAPPENS WHEN ACCELERATING AFTER BEING STOPPED.. THE HESITATION AND EXCESS ACCELERATION CAN BE FROM A STOPPED POSITION IE STOP SIGN OR TRAFFIC LIGHT OR WHILE MOVING AND NORMAL SPEEDS. THERE SEEMS TO BE A CONSISTENT HESITATION AT THE 60 TO 65 MPH WHEN ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE ON HIGHWAY. AT 70 MPH EVERYTHING SEEMS TO WORK AS EXPECTED. THE SURGING AND HESITATING SEEMS TO BE AT LOWER SPEEDS AND AND WHEN MAKING TURNS IN CITY STREETS AND MOVING UP OR DOWN HILLS AND IN PARKING LOTS WHEN MOVING OUT OF PARKING SPACES, BUT IT HAPPENS AT ALL SPEEDS UP TO 65 MPH. THE CARS HAS ACCELERATED WITH OUT DEPRESSING THE ACCELERATOR - THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A DELAYED ACCELERATION AFTER PRESSING THE ACCELERATOR A HALF BLOCK BEFORE. THIS HAPPENED WITH A LEXUS REPRESENTATIVE WAS IN THE CAR WITH ME - I WAS DRIVING SO HE COULD NOT TELL IF THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED OR IF I ACCELERATED. STARTING IN EARLY 2019 WE HAVE TOLD LEXUS WHEN THE CAR WAS SERVICED( TWICE YEARLY THAT THE CAR BEHAVED IN THIS MANNER. EACH TIME THAT HAVE TOLD US THEY DID NOT RE-CREATE THE DESCRIBED BEHAVIOR AND THE CAR WAS PERFORMING AS DESIGNED. | Crash: No Fire: No | 100 |