Owner reports filed with NHTSA about this vehicle, newest first and reproduced as filed. They are unverified accounts: one proves nothing, and a pattern across many is the thing worth reading. Back to the full 2002 record →
CAR WON'T GO INTO GEAR PROPERLY DURING STOP-AND-GO TRAFFIC OR PULL OUT INTO TRAFFIC WHILE TURNING A CORNER, RESULTING IN UNSAFE SITUATIONS AS NOTED BY OTHER CARS' HORNS HONKING AND BRAKES BEING APPLIED . DEALER SAYS IT PERFORMS AS DESIGNED BY FACTORY, AND THERE IS NO WAY TO FIX IT. *AK
WHILE DRIVING WHEN SUN IS SHINING CONSUMER IS UNABLE TO READ SPEED ODOMETER DUE TO POOR DESIGN, BLACK BACK ROUND WITH WHITE NUMBERS AND A BLACK NEEDLE. DEALER HAS BEEN CONTACTED. PLEASE PROVIDE FURTHER INFORMATION. *AK
GAS CAP IS VERY HARD TO TWIST OFF. CONSUMER DEVELOPED A SPRANG WRIST TRYING TO TWIST IS OFF. SPRING CLIP CAUSES IT TO LOCK UP.*AK
NHTSA publishes every complaint as the owner wrote it and investigates only a fraction. Spelling, capitalisation and judgement are the filer’s own. What carries weight is repetition: the same component failing the same way across many filings, and whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Full record for the 2002 Lexus ES300 → · Every ES300 year → · How the figures are calculated →