2024 Lexus ES Reliability Report

The contact owns a 2024 Lexus ES 350. The contact stated that while attempting to use the front driver's side seat belt, the seat belt failed to extend as needed, and the contact was unable to use the seat belt. The contact stated that the failure had been occurring intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 10,100.

I was able to reproduce the issue. When accelerating from a stop, but not yet passing 7 mph (typically 3-5mph registering on the speedometer), then suddenly braking, the brakes do not immediately engage, but rather engage after several seconds have passed. The system/vehicle is available for inspection upon request. The vehicle did not stop (as the brakes weren't applied) causing a collision. I am able to reproduce the issue in the vehicle. No inspection has yet taken place. No warning lamps or other vehicle messages appeared prior to or following the braking failure and the resulting collision. This undocumented behavior was not noted prior to the failure resulting in a collision. Normal driving conditions would not expose the failure. Limited video is available upon request.

The vehicle's speedometer shows an inaccurate reading, up to 7MPH less than the actual speed. This has been verified multiple times, measured against WAZE and a speedometer app. At lower speeds, i.e., less than 30MPH, the divergence between the speedometer and the true speed is 1-3MPH. At medium speeds, between 40-60MPH, the divergence is 5-7MPH. At highway speeds, the speedometer initially shows the same larger divergence but after several minutes starts to converge to within 1-2 MPH of the apps. The convergence disappears shortly after the vehicle slows down. The vehicle was brought into the dealership for repair but they said nothing was wrong. At that time, I was provided a loaner vehicle of the same make and model, and its speedometer matched WAZE perfectly at all speeds. I then contacted Lexus customer service, who opened up a case number. I uploaded photos and videos to Lexus documenting the problem. Lexus has now advised me by telephone (representative was "Israel") that they have closed the case based on what the dealer said, and further, that they will not recognize or rely on a third-party application such as Waze. They refused to provide me with an email or letter confirming this; all I have is a screenshot of the Lexus support platform showing the case has been closed. I believe this is a serious safety issue, and I am shocked that Lexus refuses to acknowledge or repair this. I have attached the photos provided to Lexus, screen shots of the two Lexus support cases, both stating "case closed", and the Lexus dealer invoice showing that the problem was brought to their attention (page 3 of the invoice). I am unable to upload the videos (2 x 1 minute long, one on a city street and one on an interstate) as they are larger than your system allows. If you can provide an alternate method to upload them I will be happy to do so. The vehicle is available for inspection and testing at your convenience. I hope your agency can assist with this issue.

See attached document for complaint