donkiboy

I've got a CPO '15 AWD f sport with 40k miles. Ever since getting it last year, I've noticed right away that it requires a heavy foot to come to a stop (or to remain stopped).

1) I need to keep my foot down hard on the brake pedal to keep the car from lurching forward at red light.

2) When coming to abrupt stop my brake pedal bottoms out early and requires lot of distance to stop. There is no linearity to the brake pedal effort and stopping ability.

Any other cars I've driven, if I mash my brake pedal with enough force it should induce head / neck snapping forward and tires would chirp or smoke.

bclexus

You most definitely have a brake problem...and it should be looked at right away. What you describe is not normal by any means, and is dangerous. It almost sounds like you have lost your brake's power assist.

jdpdata

Something wrong with your master cylinder or brake lines. That's not normal. My GS takes very little brake effort to stop the car. Almost too sensitive for my taste.

DiezDos

I agree with jdpdata. I've always thought our brakes were almost too sensitive. Definitely a problem there somewhere. Be careful.

bclexus

If your brake pedal feels stiff or hard you have a failed brake assist (booster) most likely. Typically, the amount of pressure required on the brake pedal for braking is only ~16 - 18 pounds of pressure. The GS 350 requires minimal brake pedal pressure to brake or to remain stopped.

chinee

Definitely scary... I was thinking air in those brake lines, but any of the problems mentioned above are also likely.

donkiboy

I knew this was abnormal when I started getting leg cramps after a short drive.
The amount of brake pedal travel is very short and then feels like rock hard bottom is reached.
Pushing down any further from that point induces no bite and I would just hold on as my car eventually comes to a stop.

I'll be bringing my car in to the dealer asap. Thanks to all for chiming in.

bclexus

Be careful driving to the dealership! Please let us know what was found - it may help others that experience the same thing. Thanks in advance...

JeffKeryk

Your CPO pays off in times like this. Good luck.

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

He paid the premium for CPO and the car had the brake issue from the start. Clearly it passed their CPO test, rather useless and not worth the money imo.

bclexus

Yes, clearly it did pass the Lexus CPO checklist (assuming it was Lexus CPO'd), which means the brakes were working fine when it was tested. Obviously something failed soon thereafter. Do you really think a Lexus technician is not going to notice a stiff, hard to press, brake pedal that takes a lot of effort to stop the car ... and, allow such a vehicle to be test driven by a potential buyer? C'mon man - you know better than that!

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

"Ever since getting it last year, I've noticed right away that it requires a heavy foot to come to a stop (or to remain stopped)."

bclexus

That does not mean the brakes didn't work correctly when the car was CPO'd by Lexus. I seriously doubt the buyer bought a car that he had to press super hard to get the car to stop, and remain stopped. Donkiboy would have been a fool to buy such a car without getting the brakes fixed right away (under warranty by the way)! But why didn't he get his brakes fixed? The brakes may have had a failure shortly after he bought it ... however it's rather strange that in the 12 months that he has owned the car (since May, 2018) donkiboy has never mentioned anything about the brakes - good, bad or indifferent. You would certainly think he would have mentioned something about his car's terrible and dangerous brakes (he readily admits he knows what good brakes feel like) in the whole year that he's owned the car. He has mentioned a few other less significant things about his car, but nothing whatsoever about the brakes!

JeffKeryk

I am assuming the CPO warranty will help. But perhaps not...
We are all curious as to what happens next.

FYI, CPO performed a brake job on our car, prior to delivery.

donkiboy

UPDATE:

I got it checked out by the dealer and they say everything looks and functions like it should. No error codes and the brake system looks OK upon inspection.
In retrospect, the braking power isn't exactly non-existent. That was bit overstated on my part.
The brake pedal just feels stiff and had short pedal travel before bottoming out. Most braking scenarios feel like it requires more pedal action than otherwise needed on other cars.

Brake service was done (during CPO process) about 3000-4000 miles ago. I've only logged 3000 miles since owning it for 12 months.

Possibly residual surface rust on the rotors causing this brake pedal feeling?
Or brake rotors need to be bedded in properly?