Lexus ES300
The Lexus ES300 appears on NHTSA's register for model years 1992 to 2013: 5 recall campaigns (9 model-year entries) and 676 consumer complaints.
The component named most often in complaints is vehicle speed control (176.6 per 1,000 component mentions), followed by power train (142.7).
The 2002 model year has the most complaints (153). Recall campaigns peaked in 2001 with 2; complaints were received in the largest number in 2004 (114). Within Lexus, this line ranks 4 of 67 by total complaints.
Complaints are consumer reports and have not been verified by NHTSA.
Model years
| Model year | Recalls | Complaints | vs line average | Units in campaigns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 Lexus ES300 | 1 | 37 | 82% | 16,036 |
| 1993 Lexus ES300 | 0 | 43 | 95% | — |
| 1994 Lexus ES300 | 1 | 39 | 87% | 540,037 |
| 1995 Lexus ES300 | 1 | 38 | 84% | 540,037 |
| 1996 Lexus ES300 | 1 | 37 | 82% | 540,037 |
| 1997 Lexus ES300 | 2 | 45 | 100% | 558,783 |
| 1998 Lexus ES300 | 1 | 52 | 115% | 540,037 |
| 1999 Lexus ES300 | 0 | 27 | 60% | — |
| 2000 Lexus ES300 | 0 | 55 | 122% | — |
| 2001 Lexus ES300 | 0 | 29 | 64% | — |
| 2002 Lexus ES300 | 2 | 153 | 339% | 21,284 |
| 2003 Lexus ES300 | 0 | 112 | 249% | — |
| 2005 Lexus ES300 NHTSA record | 0 | 1 | 2% | — |
| 2006 Lexus ES300 NHTSA record | 0 | 3 | 7% | — |
| 2013 Lexus ES300 NHTSA record | 0 | 5 | 11% | — |
"vs line average" is the model year's complaints as a share of the line's average per model year (100% = average). A campaign covering several model years counts once per year. Model years with one campaign and fewer than 25 complaints are listed but have no page of their own; the NHTSA link opens the agency's record.
Components most reported
Per 1,000 component mentions across all Lexus ES300 complaints (855 mentions).
Campaigns by year reported
Complaints by year received
Other Lexus model lines
- ES350 34 recalls · 1,302 complaints
- RX300 2 recalls · 719 complaints
- IS 250 38 recalls · 681 complaints
- ES300 9 recalls · 676 complaints
- RX350 22 recalls · 660 complaints
- RX330 10 recalls · 517 complaints
- ES 8 recalls · 351 complaints
- LS400 4 recalls · 337 complaints
- GS300 12 recalls · 326 complaints
- IS 17 recalls · 311 complaints
- RX Hybrid 24 recalls · 294 complaints
- ES330 3 recalls · 225 complaints
- RX 20 recalls · 213 complaints
- IS 350 60 recalls · 197 complaints
- GX470 5 recalls · 172 complaints
- ES 330 1 recalls · 153 complaints
- LS460 11 recalls · 143 complaints
- GS 350 29 recalls · 132 complaints
- LS430 0 recalls · 132 complaints
- IS 300 3 recalls · 103 complaints
- SC430 9 recalls · 101 complaints
- GX460 28 recalls · 91 complaints
- LX470 18 recalls · 84 complaints
- ES 350 0 recalls · 81 complaints
- LS 16 recalls · 78 complaints
- HS 250 Hybrid 4 recalls · 66 complaints
- GS 13 recalls · 61 complaints
- SC400 3 recalls · 61 complaints
- GS400 1 recalls · 57 complaints
- GX 7 recalls · 38 complaints
- LS460L 8 recalls · 35 complaints
- HS 3 recalls · 35 complaints
- LS 460 0 recalls · 35 complaints
- GX 470 0 recalls · 32 complaints
- ES Hybrid 13 recalls · 26 complaints
- IS 350C 28 recalls · 23 complaints
- IS 250C 21 recalls · 22 complaints
- LS 430 2 recalls · 18 complaints
- IS F 25 recalls · 16 complaints
- LX 15 recalls · 16 complaints
- LX570 26 recalls · 13 complaints
- GS Hybrid 10 recalls · 13 complaints
- SC 22 recalls · 10 complaints
- RC 350 4 recalls · 8 complaints
- IS200T 2 recalls · 7 complaints
- GS460 5 recalls · 5 complaints
- LS600HL 5 recalls · 5 complaints
- NX Hybrid 10 recalls · 4 complaints
- LC500 7 recalls · 3 complaints
- RC 200T 2 recalls · 3 complaints
- NX 17 recalls · 2 complaints
- LS500 6 recalls · 2 complaints
- RC 300 3 recalls · 1 complaints
- LS600H 2 recalls · 1 complaints
- LS Hybrid 14 recalls · 0 complaints
- TX 13 recalls · 0 complaints
- LC Hybrid 8 recalls · 0 complaints
- RZ 7 recalls · 0 complaints
- TX Hybrid 7 recalls · 0 complaints
- RX350L 5 recalls · 0 complaints
Questions and answers
Which Lexus ES300 model years have the most recalls?
1997 (2), 2002 (2), 1992 (1). Across model years 1992–2013 there are 5 distinct campaigns.
Which Lexus ES300 model year has the most complaints?
2002, with 153 of the line's 676 complaints. Newer model years have had less time to accumulate reports.
What do owners of the Lexus ES300 complain about?
vehicle speed control (176.6 per 1,000 mentions), power train (142.7 per 1,000 mentions), engine and engine cooling (91.2 per 1,000 mentions). Complaints are consumer reports and have not been verified by NHTSA.
Where does this data come from?
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation recall and complaint flat files, public domain, dated 24 Sep 2026 and 15 May 2019.
Provenance
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation recall, complaint and investigation flat files, public domain, dated 24 Sep 2026 and 15 May 2019. Model names are as NHTSA records them; variants such as "Accord" and "Accord Hybrid" are separate lines. See the methodology.