Other speed control problem on the 2002 Lexus Rx300
6 crashes 2 injuries 8 of the 13 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other speed control problem gets reported
Owners of the 2002 Lexus Rx300 report other speed control problem at a median of 120,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 85,000 miles and a quarter after 145,000 miles, from 11 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 78,000 miles. It is the 3rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 45,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 175,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 130,567 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
9% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43,433 miles | 85,500 miles | 120,000 miles | 143,796 miles | 174,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 6 a crash and 2 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $250–$2,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 5 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2003, at a median of 40,000 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 125,000 miles.
By volume the 2001 carries the most reports, with 14; the 2002 has 13. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Throttle became stuck on 2002 lexus rx300 while car was being driven causing it to rapidly accelerate. Car had to be turned off before it could be stopped. Car was towed to lexus dealer. I was told it was just a "freak" accident that a tiny piece of plastic had gotten sucked into throttle. I want to be sure this was an accident and is not a defect. *jb
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 rx300 lexus. While driving 55 MPH on a hill, the vehicle accelerated on its own and the pedal was stuck to the floor. She was only able to stop the vehicle after shifting into neutral gear. The contact shut the engine off and attempted to exit the vehicle; however, the doors failed to open until she restarted the vehicle. There was a loud noise present in the engine after restarting the vehicle; however, the vehicle began moving in reverse. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where the vehicle was purchased. The diagnostic computer test indicated that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. The dealer stated that the floor mats could have caused the failure; although, the hooks were securely fastened onto the floor mats. The failure occurred on one occasion. The failure mileage was 43,433 and the current mileage was 73,000. Updated 01/05/10 *bf updated 01/07/10.*jb
I owned a 2002 lexus rx300, which was totaled in may of 2009 due to a sticking accelerator. After I started it in my garage, the very second, I engaged the drive gear, with my foot securely planted on the brake, my vehicle took off like a rocket. It crashed thru my garage door, proceeded about 20 feet across my driving pad, crashed thru a brick retaining wall and did not stop until it hit my neighbor's house next door. My vehicle was totaled and collision resulted in massive damage to my home and my neighbor's home. Toyota inspected my vehicle and advised that my incident was not the result of a manufacturing defect and that they were unable to determine the cause. My vehicle had 61,000 miles and was in mint condition, at the time of the crash. I reported this incident to NHTSA on 6/1/09. There has been no mention of later model lexus in any of the conversations. I'd like for someone to address my issue as well. Thank you. *jb
Also reported on the 2002 Lexus Rx300
Complete transmission failure
Other powertrain problem
Other engine problem
Airbag failed to deploy in a crash
Parking brake failure
Seat belt or retractor failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 13 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other speed control problem happen on the 2002 Lexus Rx300?
Across 11 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 120,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 85,000 miles and a quarter after 145,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other speed control problem on the 2002 Lexus Rx300?
13 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 70 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed