2014 Lexus Rx350: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2014 Lexus Rx350
On the 2014 Lexus Rx350, the failure owners report most often is airbag failed to deploy in a crash, with 3 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 5,000 miles. Overall it scores 71 out of 100, high risk for a 2014.
High risk for a 2014 — 140th riskiest of the 270 2014 vehicles we can rate. 22 owner reports; fleet size borrowed from other years of the same model.
What owners report breaking
Owners have reported 13 named failure modes on the 2014 Lexus Rx350, and the three most-reported carry 32% of everything filed, which is an unusually even spread for one model year.
Airbag failed to deploy in a crash leads with 3 reports and about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles.
Other brake problem follows with 2 reports, median 5,000 miles.
Other suspension problem follows with 2 reports, median 10,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into airbag (5), body (3) and brakes (2).
When these failures get reported
20 of the reports on the 2014 Lexus Rx350 came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 5,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 85% by 50,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 0 and 10,000 miles, which alone holds 65% of the dated reports.
85% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles, which is early enough that a fair number of these cars were still under a factory warranty when the owner complained.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 13. The full list is in the table below.
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the median reported mileage
Severity, and what it costs
Across the named modes, 7 mention a crash and 2 an injury. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 6.77, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: airbag failed to deploy in a crash at $1,000–$5,000, other brake problem at $300–$1,800, other suspension problem at $350–$2,000 and other visibility problem at $150–$1,400. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
9% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbag failed to deploy in a crash | airbag | 3 | 3 | — | 6k | — | 0.1 | $1,000–$5,000 | Critical |
| Other brake problem | brakes | 2 | 2 | — | 4k | — | 0.1 | $300–$1,800 | High |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 2 | 2 | — | 9k | — | 0.1 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other visibility problem | glass | 2 | 2 | — | 36k | — | 0.1 | $150–$1,400 | Moderate |
| Complete transmission failure | transmission | 1 | 1 | — | 70k | — | 0.0 | $2,800–$8,000 | Critical |
| Airbag inflator rupture | airbag | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $0–$0 | Critical |
| Seat belt or retractor failure | airbag | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $200–$900 | High |
| Sunroof failure or glass breakage | body | 1 | 1 | — | 3 | — | 0.0 | $700–$4,500 | High |
| Liftgate, tailgate or trunk failure | body | 1 | 1 | — | 2k | — | 0.0 | $250–$1,500 | Moderate |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 1 | 1 | — | 15k | — | 0.0 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 1 | 1 | — | 2k | — | 0.0 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other wheel or tire problem | wheels | 1 | 1 | — | 6k | — | 0.0 | $200–$1,500 | High |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 1 | 1 | — | 56k | — | 0.0 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Unclassified problem | other | 4 | 4 | — | 8k | — | 0.1 | — | Moderate |
This year had no usable recall paperwork, so the fleet-size estimate is the median of other years of the same model. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2014 Lexus Rx350 draws about 0.8 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 73rd percentile of complaint rates among 2014 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. This year had no usable recall paperwork, so the fleet-size estimate is the median of other years of the same model.
The working figure is 27,738 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2014 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Airbag failed to deploy in a crash
The contact owns a 2014 lexus rx 350. While attempting to park the vehicle after a complete stop, during the (gear) shifting from drive to park, the vehicle suddenly accelerated and hit / crashed on to a building and spun off, and the impact caused the vehicle to travel for about 15 feet and stopped. Air bags did not deploy and a police report was filed. No injuries to anyone. The vehicle was towed to the lexus dealership and later to dealership's collision shop. Approximate estimate for the repair is $21,000. Manufacturer was notified through the email option in lexus customer assistance center. Approximate failure mileage was 5,500. It appears to be an issue with the engine or some internal electronic system. Because, when this incident happened, the vehicle was at a complete stop and my (driver) foot was on the brake pedal. *tr
The contact owns a 2014 lexus rx 350. While attempting to park the vehicle after a complete stop, during the (gear) shifting from drive to park, the vehicle suddenly accelerated and hit / crashed on to a building and spun off, and the impact caused the vehicle to travel for about 15 feet and stopped. Air bags did not deploy and a police report was filed. No injuries to anyone. The vehicle was towed to the lexus dealership and later to dealership's collision shop. Approximate estimate for the repair is $21,000. Manufacturer was notified through the email option in lexus customer assistance center. Approximate failure mileage was 5,500. It appears to be an issue with the engine or some internal electronic system. Because, when this incident happened, the vehicle was at a complete stop and my (driver) foot was on the brake pedal. *tr
Other brake problem
Tl* the contact owns a 2014 lexus rx350. While attempting to park the vehicle, the brake pedal failed to respond when it was depressed. The failure caused the contact to crash the vehicle into a tree. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed and there were no injuries reported. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The speed was unknown. The approximate failure mileage was 3,600.
Tl * the contact owns a 2014 lexus rx350. While driving 5 MPH, the vehicle failed to stop when the brake pedal was depressed. The contact crashed into a light pole, which then fell onto the windshield and the hood of the vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. The vehicle was destroyed, but the contact was uninjured. A police report was filed. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 3,500. Updated 08/19/14*lj the light pole bounced off the vehicle, and fell in the street. Updated 08/21/14
Other suspension problem
2.5 months old with 2200 miles has a leaky front right shock. The dealer says the shocks are on back order nationwide and it will take 2 weeks to get the part. It sounds like a possible recall problem. They will replace it under warranty now, but this may happen again right after the warranty runs out. Car feels unsafe to drive, but the dealer insists it is safe. The noise and rough handling is more noticeable in low speeds, but it is felt at all speeds. The problem started on saturday and got much worse by monday. *tr
How it ranks in the 2014 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
Where 2014 sits in the model line
High risk for a 2014 — 140th riskiest of the 270 2014 vehicles we can rate. Every score on this site is a rank inside its own model year, which is what makes a 2004 and a 2019 comparable at all.
Across the 13 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2013 comes out best at 64 and 2011 worst at 80, with 2014 itself at 71.
If the model year is negotiable, 2013, 2007, 2008 and 2009 score lower than 2014 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 2012–2014 generation specifically, 2013 is the strongest year at 64 and 2014 the weakest at 71.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 2012-2014 generation, 2013 Lexus Rx350 scores best at 64 and 2014 Lexus Rx350 worst at 71.
The limits of complaint data
22 owner reports; fleet size borrowed from other years of the same model. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 22 reports, 20 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 91% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
The failure modes are assigned by software reading the owner's own words, which is accurate in bulk and wrong in individual cases. A mode with a handful of reports may contain a misfiled one.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2014 Lexus Rx350?
The most-reported failures are airbag failed to deploy in a crash (3 reports, median 5,000 miles), other brake problem (2 reports, median 5,000 miles) and other suspension problem (2 reports, median 10,000 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 2014 Lexus Rx350 reliable?
It scores 71 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 140th riskiest of the 270 2014 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2014 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Lexus Rx350 is best?
Within the 2012–2014 generation, 2013 scores best at 64 out of 100 and 2014 worst at 71. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
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