Hi,

My wife and I recently brought a used 2010 Lexus RX 350 with 31K miles. We only had it for 2 months and a few days ago my wife was driving the car to work. All of a sudden, the steering wheel started shaking and the check your engine light came on with the interior light flashing.

She drove the car to a Lexus dealership along the way and the car broke down at the dealership. The service guy told us that the brake failed and 2 of the six cylinders caught on fire.

Service guy told us he never seen this before happened on a Lexus.

Have anyone had this issues before? The car is being fixed and under warranty but very scary to have happened all of a sudden.

Thank you.

 

First, welcome to the forum.

Sorry about the problem with your new-to-you 2010 RX. Problems you've encountered are not common... I can't remember reading anything like this in the many years I've been on CL. I'm very glad your RX is still covered by warranty, it's being handled, and your wife is A-OK, except probably a bit shaken... Was this a CPO or private party transaction?

 

^^^ Same here, never saw this in all these years in any of the CL forums, this is a first. Could have been poor maintenance/oil/gas from past owners... keep us posted with the findings and root-cause. Good luck.

 

Wonder if there were any fluids in there....

 

We brought it from a dealership and they showed us paperwork that the last maintenance was done a month before we purchased the car so an oil change, transmission oil and tire rotation were done. The car is not CPO.

 

OP, FWIW, if you've not done so already, register yourself on Lexus.com in the Owners Section including the VIN of your RX. You'll gain access that way to all service that Lexus has done since original delivery on your RX, as well as anything the previous owner may have done and input in that system themselves. The longer-term history may prove interesting.

 

they can show you that last maintenance (because the lexus dealer did it probably when they got the car on their lot). The history would show more (if the old owner had maintenance done at any lexus dealer).

I have never heard of this either (although I'm a newbie to the forums), but this seems extremely odd to me. I tend to lean towards the old owners not doing a thing. Either that or something from the road impaled your engine all of a sudden. I know it must be very frustrating to you, and I hope it all works out and Lexus takes care of it properly.

 

I am curious exactly what the service guy meant when he said this. I wonder what actually caught fire as the cylinders themselves are a) metal b) inside the engine block c) technically "on-fire" many times per second. Was it an electrical fire, or just that part of the block had an oil build up or leak?

Having pumped gas many years ago on a highway gas station before self serve took over, I've seen more than once cars pull in on hot summer days and erupt in flames as their oil coated engines ignite. Those were the good old days, dashing around with fire extinguishers putting out engine fires nearby lines of 70s era cars with their gas caps behind the license plate sloshing gas onto the pavement when it got full...

 

Here is an update. Service guy just called me. Said they just ordered a valve string for the engine and they will disassemble the engine and check all pieces and replace the broken pieces. Service guys said this is not common but does happened.

Thank you everyone for your comments and guidance.

 

Brake failed on a RX that has only 31k? Transmission oil changed already on a sealed transmission? Check engine light came on with all the interior lights flashing and you didn't have the car towed to the dealer?

 

mchung78, I'm sorry to hear what happened to your wife while she was driving the RX. It's not something I've seen before either. And I have to agree, it would've been best to pull over and call Lexus roadside assistance or Safety Assist using the SOS button (if you subscribed) immediately. Fortunately the dealer figured out what the problem was and is fixing it under warranty. Please keep us posted.