Other engine problem on the 2009 Lexus Rx350
When other engine problem gets reported
Owners of the 2009 Lexus Rx350 report other engine problem at a median of 120,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 70,000 miles and a quarter after 135,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 3rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 15,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 140,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 124,139 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
25% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14,850 miles | 72,000 miles | 119,500 miles | 132,686 miles | 138,989 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
Putting it right typically runs $300–$4,000 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.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 9 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2017, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2010 at 130,000 miles.
By volume the 2007 carries the most reports, with 28; the 2009 has 10. 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.
I was driving my 2009 lexus rx 350 down a major surface street when my power brakes and steering went out. I attempted to drive again after moving to a side street, and my steering and brakes went out 2 more times, I then had my vehicle towed to my lexus dealer. They could not identify the reason for the problem. *tr
When the SUV shifts from 1st to 2rd gear the engine revs up about 1000 rpms and hesitates 2-5 seconds before the shift takes place. I can't rely on power when needed because of this. It's not constant, about 30% of the time it occurs. The same thing happens when down shifting. The dealer, kendall lexus of eugene oregon (rick strong-service manager) is aware of the problem and says "toyota won't put out a new chip to fix the problem". Rick strong also said" I told the salesman he should inform potential buyers about this problem before they purchase a vehicle". This problem is ongoing since I bought the vehicle.
T-sb-0201-11 from toyota/lexus states "some vehicles equipped with 2gr-fe/fxe towing package engines may exhibit an oil seep from the engine oil cooler pipes." this tsb affects toyota and lexus vehicles going back to at least 2008-present. This is a major issue, and I feel this should be handled as a recall instead of a tsb due to the severity of the issue if/when the pipe breaks. I recently elected to have my vehicle repaired on my own just so I wouldn't have to worry about this issue happening to me or my wife, and thus blowing up my lexus rx 350's engine causing thousands of dollars in damages. Seems pretty bad that a recall can be issued for floor mats and accelerator issues, but no recall is issued for this issue which can drain the oil from your engine in a minute, blow up your engine, and then possibly wreck your vehicle. Consumer's engines are now being destroyed, and this is showing up in different online forums. I feel that the NHTSA needs to force toyota/lexus to replace all of the defective engine oil cooler pipes with the newer metal ones that the tsb addresses. They should also be forced to reimburse all costs to…
Also reported on the 2009 Lexus Rx350
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
Other body or interior problem
Other steering problem
Other powertrain problem
Other electrical problem
Liftgate, tailgate or trunk failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 10 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 engine problem happen on the 2009 Lexus Rx350?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 120,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 70,000 miles and a quarter after 135,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other engine problem on the 2009 Lexus Rx350?
10 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 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