2003 Lexus ES300 Engine cooling Problems

“On march 26, 2010 my husband and I were stopped at a traffic signal, (with my foot on the brake as you would expect), when the car suddenly accelerated at full throttle. In the brief but terrifying moments that the car was out of control I unfortunately collided with another vehicle as I threw the gear selector into neutral.”

“Our 2003 Lexus es 300 engine area caught in fire when my wife parked in the parking lot. According to the witness, parking lot security, he saw the smoke came out from the engine area for about a minute and then fire. He said it looks like something is short in the electrical/engine and caught the fire. When the fire department arrived to put out the fire which damaged and burned half of the car, a lead fire man commented that he has seen several incidents that the Lexus sedans were suddenly caught in fire while parking. …”

“2003 es 300 - transmission issues: I have been experiencing hesitation upon acceleration almost every time, along with hard shifting 50% of the time. The acceleration hesitation can be scary if I'm trying to enter the highway, or turning left. The hard shifting feels like I got hit from behind. Both problems have been going ongoing for years and Lexus dealer has never been any help. I read many of the online forums and found that both of these problems are very common as are their results for getting these issues fixed - not much luck from the dealer - it works as it is designed . Really? …”

“Strong sulfur smell inside car when stopping after brisk acceleration. A/c in normal setting. Lexus aware of this problem and there is even a service bulletin on sulfur complain smell. Odor is so strong that sometimes people get nauseated. I would have never bought this car have the dealer make me aware of this problem and they knew about this defect before I took delivery of car. Need NHTSA help since there are many Lexus owners complaining about sulfur smell and Lexus is ignoring us - I guess they have a major problem and do not know how to fix or correct problem. …”

“Intermittently when pulling from a stop or turning a corner from a stop, the vehicle would hesitate for several seconds before accelerating. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who informed the consumer that the hesitation was normal. This hesitation has happened more than three times since ownership of the vehicle. The manufacturer is aware of the problem.”