NHTSA Complaint #11353208 — 2011 LEXUS RX HYBRID

THE OIL COOLER PIPE BROKE ON MY 2011 LEXUS RX450H STARVING THE ENGINE OF OIL AS I WAS DRIVING HOME FROM WORK. THE PART IS CURRENTLY UNDER WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT BY LEXUS AND IS A KNOWN PROBLEM ON MY MODEL YEAR OF VEHICLE. THE MALFUNCTION IS PARTICULARLY INSIDIOUS AS OIL ONLY LEAKS WHEN THE ENGINE IS RUNNING, HOWEVER WITH A HYBRID WHEN THE VEHICLE STOPS THE ENGINE STOPS AND SO DOES THE LEAK AT LEAST UNTIL YOU HAVE REACHED A HIGH ENOUGH SPEED FOR THE ENGINE TO KICK BACK ON AGAIN. IN MY SITUATION I RECEIVED NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS, OIL LIGHTS OR ANY OTHER INDICATION OTHER THEN SUDDENLY IT FELT LIKE MY ENGINE WAS RUNNING A LITTLE ROUGH. I IMMEDIATELY PULLED OVER (I WAS JUST ON A CITY STREET) AND FOUND THE BACK OF THE VEHICLE WAS COVERED IN OIL. I HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO THE LOCAL LEXUS DEALERSHIP WHO IDENTIFIED THE ISSUE AS THE OIL COOLER PIPE AND LEXUS CORPORATE PAID FOR THE REPAIR UNDER THEIR WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT. WHEN I PICKED THE VEHICLE UP FROM LEXUS OF ALBUQUERQUE I DIDN'T EVEN MAKE IT TWO MILES AWAY FROM THE DEALERSHIP BEFORE I STARTED GETTING ALL KINDS OF LIGHTS FLASHING ON MY DASH AND THE ONLY POWER I HAD TO MOVE THE VEHICLE WAS THE ELECTRIC HYBRID DRIVE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED BACK TO LEXUS WHICH INFORMED ME A FEW DAYS LATER THAT THE ENGINE HAD SEIZED. I OPENED A NEW CASE WITH LEXUS CORPORATE CONCERNING THE ENGINE ISSUES SINCE MY ENGINE FAILURE WAS A RESULT OF THE WARRANTIED PART FAILING. LEXUS'S ULTIMATE ANSWER WAS SORRY, BUT WE ARE UNWILLING TO HELP YOU AS WELL AS THE ANSWER FROM THE DEALERSHIP. IM THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF THE VEHICLE AND IT HAS ONLY EVER BEEN SERVICED AT LEXUS DEALERSHIPS, AND NOT ONCE DID A SERVICE ADVISOR/MANAGER INFORM ME THAT THIS PART WAS A POTENTIAL PROBLEM. FOR SUCH AN INTEGRAL PART THAT WAS POORLY MANUFACTURED AND CAN CAUSE SUCH EXPENSIVE AND CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE THE OIL COOLER PIPE NEEDS TO BE RECALLED.