puddintane

Lexus recalled brake boosters on some or all 2004 Rx's in April of 2005.
In March of 2005, I called Wilke Lexus, spoke to the service manager, to ask if my daughters RX needed a brake booster change, because my own 2004 RX had been recalled in December of 2004, and in fact sat in the dealers lot for 3 weeks or more because the part was not available.
I was assured that her RX was not subject, because certain VINs were not part of the problem.

This is a dangerous situation because the brakes can fail, and the driver is unable to stop the car.

The new recall INCLUDED her car She did not receive a recall notice from Lexus

She had her car in for service 5-4-2005; 11-19-2005, 6-17,2006 at 2 Lexus (Wilke owned) dealerships. At none of those times was the recall mentioned to her, or was it done.

Yesterday, she had another service at Wilke Lexus. Tis time, an alert and concientious service writer , Michelle Flynn, found and proceeded with the recall, replacing the brake booster. I asked her why in the three previous visits, the recall had not been noticed by whomever wrote her up for service.
She could not tell me. Meanwhile the car had been driven 23000 miles with a potentially fatal brake problem. I consider this real negligence on the part of Wilke and Chester Springs Lexus

Anybody out there with an RX should have a booster change.

puddintane

Lexus321

I just bought a pre-owned '04 RX330. How do I find out whether I should have a booster change? Thx.

dhamaka127

I bought one recently also..how do i find out???

Tammy

This is the Technical Service Information Bulletin concerned .

Lexus321

Thx, Tammy. But still how do we tell whether the vehicle was produced prior to the "Production Change Effective VIN"? Which part of the VIN represents the date? Thx.

puddintane

The bulletin contained in this thread has been superceded by a later (April 2005)
recall, which included later VIN numbers than the December 2004 one. . I would call 1-800-255-3987 (option 3) to see which RX 330 VINs were included in the later one.

puddintane

Tammy

Your VIN number is lower than the production change number, the change applies to your vehicle.

If your VIN is higher than this number, the new unit is already installed.

rxdriver

The TSIB that Tammy posted later became a recall. (That's not true for all TSIB's - just this one.)

It's "Special Service Campaign" # 5LA.

It includes most 2004 RX330's made in Canada (VIN starts "2T2") with serial # below C016494 for 2WD or C032369 for AWD.

However, the brake booster installed on the car must also be from a certain lot number. Your serial number could be lower than the above numbers but you could still have a brake booster from a different lot. In that case, they won't replace it.

If your serial number is in that range, then you should be sure that either the work was done or the lot number you have was checked and found to be excluded.

Lexus321

Thanks. If my VIN starts with "JTJ", I guess the recall does not apply to my vehicle then.