NHTSA Complaint #10112285 — 2002 LEXUS IS 300

I OWN A 5-SPEED MANUAL 2002 LEXUS IS300. CURRENTLY, MY CAR HAS 40,000 MILES. EVERYTHING IN THE VEHICLE IS STOCK, NO MODIFIED PARTS AND ACCESORIES. I DRIVE THIS CAR NORMAL LIKE ANY OTHER MANUAL TRANSMISSION CARS. I REV MATCH WHEN I DOWNSHIFT, NEVER RIDE THE CLUTCH ETC...I HAVE BEEN DRIVING MANUAL CARS FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS. A FEW DAYS AGO, I NOTICED THAT THE TRANSMISSION CLUTCHED BEGAN TO SLIP AS I WAS ACCELERATING ON-RAMP ONTO FREEWAY. THE CAR IS DRIVABLE BUT I HAVE TO BE CAREFUL ACCELERATING AND PASSING OR ELSE, THE CLUTCH SLIPS AND CAR WON'T ACCELERATE. BECAUSE OF THIS PREMATURE CLUTCH FAILURE, I CAN'T DRIVE THE CAR AS IT WAS INTENDED TO BE. I DRIVE IT REALLY SLOW. PAINFULLY SLOW. I CAN'T BELIEVE LEXUS (TOYOTA) WON'T WARRANTY THIS ITEM. MOST MANUAL TRANSMISSION CARS' CLUTCHES HAVE A LIFETIME OF AT LEAST 100,000 MILES. AS AN ENGINEER, I SEE THIS AS A MANUFACTURER DEFECT. BECAUSE OF THIS INCIDENT, I WILL NEVER EVER PERSUADE POTENTIAL LEXUS BUYERS IN BUYING LEXUS VEHICLES.