Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 deaths.
What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?
A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim — NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.
The database below contains over 2,215,138 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports — when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.
How to interpret what you read
A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:
- One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report — that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
- Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
- Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
- Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.
If you've experienced a defect
File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints — specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened — feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.
Read more from our blog
Showing 15,126 complaints for LEXUS
Incident date: Nov 19, 2021
On November 19, 2021, I purchased a vehicle from cars Lane on Hanover Road in Annapolis Maryland. Upon driving back to my residence in Gaithersburg I noticed that there was significant shaking when the vehicle was driven over 60 miles an hour. I notified the dealership and seemed helpful at first. I took the car to a good year facility and pay to have an alignment. That seem to fix one of the issu... Read more
Incident date: Mar 27, 2022
The contact owns a 2008 Lexus GS 450 Hybrid. The contact stated that after his vehicle was rear-ended by another vehicle, the check engine light was illuminated and the vehicle was not able to start. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the failure was not related to the collision but that the hybrid transmission cooling pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not re... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 27, 2022
The contact owns a 2008 Lexus GS 450 Hybrid. The contact stated that after his vehicle was rear-ended by another vehicle, the check engine light was illuminated and the vehicle was not able to start. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the failure was not related to the collision but that the hybrid transmission cooling pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not re... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 30, 2022
The Power steering had started to feel hard and squeaking some time ago. I was driving day before yesterday and I noticed a few times that the steering was very difficult to turn which could have been dangerous. While doing some research I found that this has happened to some RX models. I went to the dealer and they told me that there is no recall for this issue and any fix would be out of pocket.
Incident date: Mar 30, 2022
2013 Lexus GS 350 Stuck Wiper blades; DANGER LEVEL EXTREMELY HIGH - MAY AFFECT 2013-2015 AND 2016-2020 GS MODELS When using the wipes in either automatic mode or manual speed selection they can become stuck in the rain in the up position blocking the windshield's view. This is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. Deemed a MAJOR FLAW, the wiper blades can get stuck in any position while wiping. This occurs when ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2020
The dashboard in my car has been sticky and cracked for years. This became a safety issue and liability by posing a real risk in relation to airbags. One area of concern is the cracks will interfere with the deployment of the airbag. Either by triggering the airbag warning light or snagging the airbag on its way out. That puts my safety and safety of others at risk. This problem - cracked and ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2020
The dashboard in my car has been sticky and cracked for years. This became a safety issue and liability by posing a real risk in relation to airbags. One area of concern is the cracks will interfere with the deployment of the airbag. Either by triggering the airbag warning light or snagging the airbag on its way out. That puts my safety and safety of others at risk. This problem - cracked and ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2020
The dashboard in my car has been sticky and cracked for years. This became a safety issue and liability by posing a real risk in relation to airbags. One area of concern is the cracks will interfere with the deployment of the airbag. Either by triggering the airbag warning light or snagging the airbag on its way out. That puts my safety and safety of others at risk. This problem - cracked and ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 28, 2022
Camshaft problem. Loud rattle at start up bad ticking. Transmission fluid needs to be changed and serviced at a schedule time. Bad performance all together with only 119,000 miles. I have now rebuilt the motor paying $3000 to fix the cams and now have to repair the transmission
Incident date: Mar 28, 2022
Camshaft problem. Loud rattle at start up bad ticking. Transmission fluid needs to be changed and serviced at a schedule time. Bad performance all together with only 119,000 miles. I have now rebuilt the motor paying $3000 to fix the cams and now have to repair the transmission
Incident date: Mar 22, 2022
Fuel leak in fuel pump caused my car to completely stop on the highway. No warning lights came on. Lexus company denies that my car was not part of the recall for the fuel pumps on the Lexus HS250 even though multiple issues reported for the fuel pump for this make an model,
Incident date: Feb 15, 2022
Bluetooth 50% of the time does not connect. Phone will not connect to the car.
Incident date: Mar 21, 2022
The contact owns a 1999 Lexus RX300. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the brakes failed and could not be depressed to stop the vehicle. The contact was able to drive the vehicle to the side of the road and stopped by shifting into neutral. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated intermittently. The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mec... Read more
Incident date: Mar 20, 2022
middle seat belt in rear seat jammed and would not retract. dealer had to fix
Incident date: Mar 18, 2022
After driving normally we smelled gas in the car and noticed fuel going low fast . I pulled from the freeway and tried to fill gas and noticed the gas was leaking from a hole in the exposed area of a Corner on the tank. My family were able to safely jump out of the car and 911 was called. There were no warning sign on dashboard. I don’t drive off road or over any objects that I am aware as there... Read more
Incident date: Feb 24, 2022
The contact owns a 2008 Lexus LS460. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed but failed to stop the vehicle. The contact drove the vehicle off the roadway onto a grassy shoulder to slow the vehicle to prevent a crash. The contact then called the dealer and was advised to enter a code in the vehicle and drive slowly to the dealer. After arriving at ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 25, 2018
i drive my lexus every day for work and home, round trip, 150 miles per day, at 130,000 miles my car started burning 1 quart of oil per month, at 150 miles, now using 2 quarts per month, i now have 195 miles, and using 1 quart of oil per week, this is not normal. after reading forums, many other lexus ct200 owners are having the same issues. this has been reported to lexus dealers and the warranty... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2007 Lexus LS460. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 MPH, the Traction Control, brakes, ABS, and vehicle stability control warning lights were illuminated. A message also informed the driver to “Pull Over Immediately and Contact the Dealer”. The contact was informed that the brake actuator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer w... Read more
Incident date: Oct 20, 2021
We bought used 2019 Lexus NX 300 with 11573 miles Lexus dealer salesman said the car was still under warranty Before delivery to customer Lexus dealer did performed 161points of service such as : electrical same as mechanical components on entirely of the car and it s/ b working properly without any problems In the past over two years I’ve continued to bring the car back for service Last year ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 20, 2021
We bought used 2019 Lexus NX 300 with 11573 miles Lexus dealer salesman said the car was still under warranty Before delivery to customer Lexus dealer did performed 161points of service such as : electrical same as mechanical components on entirely of the car and it s/ b working properly without any problems In the past over two years I’ve continued to bring the car back for service Last year ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 9, 2018
The contact owns a 2006 Lexus IS350. The contact stated that while driving during hot weather, the dashboard would get very hot and sticky. The contact stated that the glare from the melting dashboard reflects off the windshield causing a visibility hazard. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer and manufacturer were made aware of the failure but offered no assistance. The approximate failure mi... Read more
Incident date: Feb 28, 2022
The contact owns a 2008 Lexus RX400H. The contact stated while driving approximately 75 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and the check engine and the Hybrid system maintenance warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to continue driving to her destination. The contact took the vehi... Read more
Incident date: Feb 28, 2022
The contact owns a 2008 Lexus RX400H. The contact stated while driving approximately 75 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and the check engine and the Hybrid system maintenance warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to continue driving to her destination. The contact took the vehi... Read more
Incident date: Mar 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2003 Lexus RX300. The contact stated that the HVAC system was inoperable. Additionally, the VSC and check engine warning lights were illuminated while starting the vehicle. The vehicle was diagnosed at an AutoZone with a catalytic converter failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 106,000.
Incident date: Mar 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2003 Lexus RX300. The contact stated that the HVAC system was inoperable. Additionally, the VSC and check engine warning lights were illuminated while starting the vehicle. The vehicle was diagnosed at an AutoZone with a catalytic converter failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 106,000.
Incident date: Mar 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2003 Lexus RX300. The contact stated that the HVAC system was inoperable. Additionally, the VSC and check engine warning lights were illuminated while starting the vehicle. The vehicle was diagnosed at an AutoZone with a catalytic converter failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 106,000.
Incident date: Feb 15, 2020
Dashboard and door panel are melting. The melting on the dashboard cause a shinny reflection that prevent visibility.
Incident date: Oct 23, 2019
When I bought this car in 2019, I bought it in the summer time so I didn't hear anything so I bought the car. When winter came along and as it got colder out I notice that when I get up in the morning and cold start the car and when I put it on drive and pressed on my brakes there will be a squeeking noise coming from the brake...I told Madison of Lexus about this and they say it's just the brake ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 12, 2022
Front suspension does not have adjustable Camber. The wheels have a negative Camber that is outside of Lexus specification. This causes a very large uneven wear inside of tire, which is not noticeable from the exterior of car. Owners will be unaware, when checking the tires, that the inside of tire is worn to a point that can cause the tire to burst. Car was sent to the dealer, and they confir... Read more
Incident date: Feb 24, 2022
I am writing about my 2022 Lexus ES300h. This pertains to the Auto Radar Cruise Control system and also the Lane Keeping Assistance function. First, about the Auto Cruise. On several occasions I have found that while approaching stopped vehicles at a stop light and I am about 300 yards away, driving 35 to 40 mph, the car maintains speed and approaches the stopped vehicles in a dangerous manner. It... Read more
Incident date: Feb 24, 2022
I am writing about my 2022 Lexus ES300h. This pertains to the Auto Radar Cruise Control system and also the Lane Keeping Assistance function. First, about the Auto Cruise. On several occasions I have found that while approaching stopped vehicles at a stop light and I am about 300 yards away, driving 35 to 40 mph, the car maintains speed and approaches the stopped vehicles in a dangerous manner. It... Read more
Incident date: Feb 25, 2022
I own a Lexus 2012 IS250 and currently active duty member stationed at Aviano Air Base, Italy. I was not notified that my vehicle is overdue on a safety recall until today when I am trying to ship the vehicle back to the US. What further actions can I do to get the recall done? Can I get the vehicle waivered to get the recall accomplished when it reaches the US?
Incident date: Jun 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2018 Lexus LS500. The contact stated that while depressing the brake pedal, there was an abnormally loud knocking under the vehicle near the suspension. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer however, the mechanic was unable to identify the cause of the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2022
The contact owned a 2014 Lexus RX350. The contact stated that while the wife was driving approximately 35 mph a dump truck collided with the passenger side of the vehicle. During the crash, the side curtain air bags did not deploy. The front passenger sustained injuries to the head, neck, shoulder, and torso and the front driver sustained injuries to the right foot and chest area. Medical treatmen... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Jan 20, 2022
Airbag sign on .. lexus service is asking for recalibration to fix the issue
Incident date: Jun 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2009 Lexus RX350. The contact stated she notice a crack across the dashboard near the airbag on the passenger’s side that had started to expand. The contact notified the dealer and was informed that there was nothing they could do to assist because the recall had already expired. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failur... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2022
UNKNOWN suspect brake actuator failure. Brake noise when stepping on pedal at a stop.
Incident date: Feb 14, 2022
12-VOLT BATTERY IN TRUNK AREA SHORTED/FAILED. THIS RESULTED IN THE FOLLOWING DANGEROUS CONDITIONS: 1. INABILITY TO OPEN THE TRUNK FROM INSIDE OR OUTSIDE THE VEHICLE (THERE IS NO EMERGENCY TRUNK RELEASE IN THIS VEHICLE, POWER ASSISTED TRUNK RELEASE DISABLES MECHANICAL DOOR OPENING AFTER BATTERY FAILURE). 2. ENGAGED CHILD LOCKS DID NOT RELEASE WITH BATTERY FAILURE, SO PASSENGER DOORS WERE ALSO NON... Read more
Incident date: Nov 22, 2021
Severe vibration from 30-70mph when acceleration, outboard boot split/slinging grease on left/right sides. CV axle has alot of movement. Right and Left axle shaft needs removed and replaced.
Incident date: Nov 22, 2021
Severe vibration from 30-70mph when acceleration, outboard boot split/slinging grease on left/right sides. CV axle has alot of movement. Right and Left axle shaft needs removed and replaced.
Incident date: Nov 22, 2021
Severe vibration from 30-70mph when acceleration, outboard boot split/slinging grease on left/right sides. CV axle has alot of movement. Right and Left axle shaft needs removed and replaced.
Incident date: Feb 13, 2022
Initially, the ABS, BRAKE, and Anti-skid lights illuminated on the instrument panel and braking began to be spongier than normal. This condition continued for approximately 4 years. The brake system now has failed and braking is extremely slow. The car began beeping constantly while on with or without the engine running. This latest error took place while driving at approximately 55mph, soon afte... Read more
Incident date: Feb 4, 2022
Brake shake violently when applied makes loud noises does this most times car has new brakes and rotors mechanic thinks it’s the brake actuator makes car unsafe to drive
Incident date: Feb 10, 2022
Hello ,I am in Seattle Washington. I’m emailing about my Lexus IS250 2006. A few months ago I took my car to the dealership to get the passenger airbag recall done. Immediately after getting that recall fixed. My airbag light on my vehicle came on. We did not think anything of it, we thought it would come off over time. Time has gone by the light has not gone off. So today we took our vehicle to... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2022
My Lexus GS430 has a fuel rail leak that is leaking into the engine bay and has a strong smell of fuel into the cabin of the car. It is especially strong in the cabin when the heat or air conditioning is utilized. It is extremely dangerous and after researching I have found that it a problem with several of the Lexus lines of cars built around the 2006-2008 models.
Incident date: Feb 6, 2022
The car is consumed alot of oil. I've been using 5w30 motor oil. 2/6/2022 had my oil changed, 2/8/2022 oil light came on saying low oil level.
LEXUS
HS 250 HYBRID
(2010) — SERVICE BRAKES
Feb 10, 2022
Incident date: Jan 15, 2022
The contact owns a 2010 Lexus HS 250 Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving and depressing the brake pedal, the pedal extended to the floor causing the braking distance to be extended. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that ABS booster was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified of the f... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2020
I leased a 2019 Lexus ES300H in March of 2019. About 1 year later, the vehicle started having serious mechanical issues related to the power of the vehicle and put my life in danger on 3 different occasions. The vehicle has a serious problem with losing power. The very first time that this problem occurred, I was in the left only lane attempting to make a left turn. When it was safe to do so and t... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2020
I leased a 2019 Lexus ES300H in March of 2019. About 1 year later, the vehicle started having serious mechanical issues related to the power of the vehicle and put my life in danger on 3 different occasions. The vehicle has a serious problem with losing power. The very first time that this problem occurred, I was in the left only lane attempting to make a left turn. When it was safe to do so and t... Read more