Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (service brakes, ABS, rotors and pads, parking brake).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2004 Lexus RX330 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 Lexus RX330. While backing up the vehicle in the driveway at a low rate of speed, the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration and crashed into the garage and house. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. During the incident, the vehicle failed to immediately stop while depressing the brake pedal. The cause of the failure was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 119,000.
On January 17, 2005 I was involved in an automobile accident in my 2004 Lexus RX330. This accident occurred less than 1 mile from my home, on my own street, 1-2 minutes after leaving my home. It had snowed the night before and the roadway was still snow/ice covered, it was a frigid morning. I was traveling approximately 15 miles per hour and the vehicle brakes failed to engage. I attempted to push the brake petal to the floor without result. The anti-lock brakes did not function. The damage to this vehicle exceeded $8000. Days after the damage to the vehicle was fixed my husband took the vehicle to the Lexus of towson dealership to have the braking mechanism looked at. During the drive to the dealership (in similar, snow covered/frigid conditions) my husband was able to reproduce this problem, again just after leaving our home. …
On the date of the accident I was driving my 2004 Lexus rx300 approaching an intersection with cars stopped in front of me waiting for the traffic light to change to green. Although I kept pressing on the brakes nothing happened and I ended up crashing into the car ahead of me and causing a chain reaction involving four (4) other cars, then swerving onto the side of the road and finally coming to a stop by hitting the traffic light pole. None of the air bags deployed. Still visibly in shock, I was helped out of my vehicle by others who had stopped to help including those involved in the accident. The police arrived shortly after on the scene and began an investigation by asking other drivers who had witnessed the accident. According to the police reports, the drivers behind me clearly saw the brake lights on though the vehicle obviously continued moving. …
2 to 3 years prior to this accident I was coming to a stop light and the brakes did not work, but only for a few seconds. I reported this to my husband and he took it to several mechanics but did not find anything wrong with the vehicle, my husband has owned a auto parts store for 40 years and knows a few qualified mechanics. 3 people were on a freeway about 1/4 mile from off ramp doing about 65 MPH, we started to move over to the slower lane as we got to the slower lane I stepped on the brakes to slow down for the off ramp when I felt the brakes were not working, I pumped the brakes several times to make sure I was stepping on the brakes but instead of slowing down the vehicle kept accelerating. I depressed the brake pedal as hard as I could and hung on for dear life upon entering the off ramp I struck another vehicle and flipped the car several times. …
In May 2007, I was involved in an automobile accident in my 2004 Lexus RX330. This accident occurred less than 10 miles from my home, it was a frigid morning. I was traveling approximately 5 miles per hour and the vehicle brakes failed to engage. I attempted to push the brake petal to the floor without result. The anti-lock brakes did not function. The damage to this vehicle exceeded $9500. The brakes shake violently when applied and this has happened several times before and after the accident. At the time of the accident, my airbag did not even deploy I was going so slow. I reported this problem to Lexus of seattle in October 2006 and they said I needed a front brake job, which I did, the accident occurred less than 6 months later.
I got into a car accident on the way to work. I was going 30 MPH off a freeway exit and had to slam on my brake because the cars in front of me all stopped all of a sudden. I stepped on my brake pad all the way down but my car did not stop at all and ran into the truck in front of me. My 2004 RX330 went under the back of the truck in front of me, and my hood was all crumpled up. My insurance paid for all the repairs, which was over $9000.00 and now my inruance will go up. The repair was 2 weeks long, and the car in front of me filed a claim with my insurance company.
While driving 25 MPH approaching red light driver applied the brake pedal and the brakes failed. The brake pedal went to the floor. This caused consumer's vehicle to collide with the vehicle in front. No damage to vehicle struck in rear and minimal damage to front bumper of Lexus. Driver's right foot bruised. 1 month later vehicle taken to dealership where the brake booster was replaced. The consumer sustain an injured foot as a result of the accident.
The service (foot) brake is not holding pressure at a stop sign or stop light when the vehicle is in drive. Even though foot brake is applied fully, vehicle tends to move forward and May cause an accident with the car/object in front of the vehicle.
Dt: caller was trying to park and the brakes did not hold. Caller hit a garage and two other vehicles. Caller was going about 5 MPH. Dealer has not been contacted yet. Manufacturer will get back to caller.
Locked brake pedal;1. On turning on the ignition, the brake peddal locked. When this problem appeared the first time, I wasn't sure what happended as the brake pedal unlocked after turining on and off the ignition again. 2. During the 5000 mi service I told the dealership that the brake indicator light had not turned off (light on the dash board) once and asked them to check. They assumed this to be related to the recall my vehicle had for the brake lights (tail lights) and fixed the vehicle for the recall issue. 3. Once again the brake pedal locked on jan 28th when I turned on the ignition when the vehicle was parked on a slope in snow. While I used the parking brake to control the vehicle the pedal did not unlock. After repeatedly turning on and off the ignition I was able to unlock the pedal (about 5 mins) and I then called up the dealership. 4. …
NHTSA investigations
Vacuum brake booster failure
On February 10, 2005, the office of defects investigation (odi) opened a preliminary evaluation to investigate alleged loss of brake power-assist in certain 2004 model year (my) Lexus rx330 vehicles built through approximately June 30, 2004.the subject vehicles were manufactured at Toyota motor manufacturing Canada, inc.?s cambridge, ontario assembly plant and were equipped with vacuum brake booster assemblies…
Brake complaints in other RX330 years
Frequently asked questions
How common are brake problems on the 2004 Lexus RX330?
NHTSA has 65 complaints about the brakes of the 2004 Lexus RX330, 23% of the model year's 287 complaints. The component named most often is power assist (17 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2004 Lexus RX330 brake problems?
No. NHTSA lists no brakes recall for the 2004 Lexus RX330, though it has 5 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2004 Lexus RX330 brake problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 10,000 miles, and 82% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 10 crashes, 0 fires and 4 injuries and 1 death to brakes problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.