Home · 2012 Lexus IS 250 · Complaints

What 36 owners told NHTSA about the 2012 Lexus IS 250

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (36)Crash / fire / injury (7)Airbags (21)Body & structure (5)Brakes (5)Electrical system (5)Speed control (5)Engine (3)Fuel system (2)Visibility & wipers (2)Electronic Stability Control (esc) (1)Lights (1)

3 of 36 complaints match · Engine · clear filters

Jan 8, 2022Engine

While stopped at a stop light vehicle RPM went very high. It reached the red zone. Vehicle started moving forward (while still on Drive and the brake pedal fully pressed). I immediately put the vehicle in Park. RPM continued to remain high. I removed my foot off the brake when the vehicle was in park. I turned the engine off, waited couple of seconds and turned it back on. At that point everything worked normally. Outside temperature was about 38 deg F. Car was not fully warmed up at the time. Floor mat had nothing to do with this incident. After restarting the engine it is working fine without any adjustment to the floor mat. Incident could have resulted in major crash or injury. Luckily it happened when the vehicle was stopped at at red light. Putting the car in PARK and turning off the engine resolved the issue. This is a serious issue on 2012 IS250. Check engine light is not on. Vehicle will be taken to the Lexus dealer for checking. If the car was in drive, this kind of revving up of the engine would have caused serious accident. Also, if I had not put the car in Park, it would have overcome the braking power and pushed the car to the intersection at red light. Engine RPM went way too high (in the red zone). This is the first incident. This 2012 Lexus IS250 has 69364 miles.

NHTSA ODI 11446748

Jul 23, 2019AirbagsBody & structureEngineCrash1 injury

TAKATABRANTAKATA RECALL MY VEHICLE WAS REAR ENDED AT 34 TO 50 MILES AN HOUR. THE VEHICLE BEHIND ME IMPACTED ME SO HARD THAT IT PUSHED ME INTO THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME AND IN TURN SHE HIT THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF HER. THERE WAS DAMAGED TO THE FRONT AND SIDE PANELS OF MY CAR AS WELL. THE AIR BAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY. I SUSTAINED AND SUFFERED INJURIES. THIS OCCURRED ON A BUSY CITY STREET WHILE AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT.

NHTSA ODI 11234294

Aug 27, 2018Electrical systemBrakesEngineCrash

UNINTENDED ACCELERATION WHILE INCHING INTO PARKING SPACE AT VERY SLOW RATE OF SPEED. ENGINE RACED UNEXPECTEDLY AND CAR JUMPED CURB WITH ALL 4 TIRES, ACROSS A SMALL MEDIAN, AND DOWN ANOTHER CURB WITH 3 TIRES, STRIKING A PARKED CAR, WHICH STOPPED FORWARD MOTION.

NHTSA ODI 11122773

Working with the data? Download all 36 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 26, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2012 Lexus IS 250 verdict →