1998 Lexus GS

Routine

Owners filed 4 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the service brakes. It has been recalled 1 time.

What fails
ComponentReportsCrashesFiresInjuries
Service Brakes3
000
Suspension › Front › Control Arm › Lower Ball Joint1
000

1 safety recall

Part 573 reports
Exterior Lighting09E012000
Filed Apr 7, 200916,270 vehiclesSabersport

Defect. SABERSPORT IS RECALLING 16,270 COMBINATION CORNER AND BUMPER LAMP ASSEMBLIES OF VARIOUS PART NUMBERS SOLD FOR USE AS AFTERMARKET EQUIPMENT FOR VARIOUS PASSENGER VEHICLES. THESE HEADLAMPS FAIL TO CONFORM TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 108, "LAMPS, REFLECTIVE DEVICES, AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT." THESE LAMPS DO NOT CONTAIN THE REQUIRED AMBER SIDE REFLECTORS.

Risk. DECREASED LIGHTING VISIBILITY MAY RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH.

Remedy. SABERSPORT WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND OFFER A FULL REFUND FOR THE NONCOMPLIANT COMBINATION LAMPS. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON MAY 11, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT SABERSPORT AT 1-909-598-7589.

What owners reported

Newest filings
Service Brakes
Filed Jul 29, 2022KY

On July 29th at approximately 8:30pm, I got into my car after exiting the Meijer store and noticed the car making strange noises and was hard to get in gear. I park so I don’t have to back up, so I put the car in drive and it went fast in reverse, when it went forward, it went crazy and I ran into a tree island and busted 2 tires and finally stopped. Fortunately this happened in a mostly vacant parking lot. This car has a lot of horsepower and those horses went crazy. I answered a question on how fast I was going? I answered 50mph, I went from 0 to 50 in a parking lot with my foot on the brake!

Service Brakes
Filed Oct 21, 2020200,000 milesTX

FAILED BRAKE ACTUATOR

Service Brakes
Filed Oct 14, 2019249,000 milesTX

WHILE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION, MULTIPLE WARNING LIGHTS AND MESSAGES ILLUMINATED, AND AUDIBLE CHIMES SOUNDED. BRAKE BOOSTER FAILED. NO BRAKES, NO ADVANCE WARNING. THIS OCCURRED ON LOCKWOOD ROAD, ELGIN TX ON OCTOBER 4, 2019 AROUND 8 PM. LEXUS PUT OUT A SAFETY RECALL ON THEIR 2019/2020 VEHICLES WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. FMVSS NO.126 BACK IN JULY 24, 2019

Suspension › Front › Control Arm › Lower Ball Joint
Filed Dec 30, 2007192,640 milesCA

ANOTHER LEXUS GS-300 OWNER FILED THIS REPORT ON MARCH 6, 2007: "WE OWN A 1998 LEXUS, MODEL GS 300. THIS SATURDAY MY WIFE WAS DRIVING THE LEXUS AND THE ENTIRE WHEEL ASSEMBLY CAME OFF THE VEHICLE DUE THE FAILURE OF THE LOWER BALL JOINT. IN REVIEWING RECALL INFORMATION FOR LEXUS\TOYOTA, IT IS VERY APPARENT THERE IS AN ONGOING ISSUE OF QUALITY CONTROL RELATED TO THEIR LOWER BALL JOINTS. FOR OUR SPECIFIC MODEL, THERE WAS A RECALL IN 93, 94, 95, 96 AND 97 SPECIFIC TO THIS PART. GIVEN WE HAVE A 98 AND A RECALL HAS NOT BEEN ISSUED (YET), THE LEXUS DEALERSHIP REFUSED TO PROVIDE US WITH ANY ACCOMMODATION TOWARDS FIXING THE FAILED PART, OR THE RESULTING BODY DAMAGE RELATED TO THE VEHICLE TRAVELING DOWN THE ROAD ON ONLY THREE WHEEL. FORTUNATELY, WE WERE NOT TRAVELING ON THE HIGHWAY, BUT A SIDE STREET WHEN THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED. BUT MOREOVER, REGARDLESS OF OUR FINANCIAL LOSS, IN MY OPINION, THIS IS A PUBLIC SAFETY CONCERN..." WE EXPERIENCED A SIMILAR FAILURE WHEREIN THE LOWER DRIVER'S SIDE BALL JOINT FAILED WHILE BACKING OUT OF OUR DRIVEWAY. PRIOR TO THIS EVENT THE WHOLE FRONT SUSPENSION HAS BEEN MAKING A "CREAKING" NOISE DURING SLOW DRIVING WHILE TURNING. *TR

4 of 4 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 2006
YearComplaintsRecallsFiresDeathsAssessment
20200100Routine
20191100Routine
20182100Routine
20171100Routine
20165100Routine
20153000Routine
20143000Routine
201319010Routine
20121000Routine
20113000Routine
201010000Routine
20092000Routine
200815000Routine
200725200Routine
200644601Fatalities reported
20051100Routine
20042100Routine
20034100Routine
20021100Routine
20013100Routine
20000100Routine
19994100Routine
1998 — this page4100Routine
19961000Routine
19952000Routine

Compare every GS year →

Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Recall repairs are free for as long as the recall stands. Check whether a specific car still has open work at NHTSA's VIN lookup.

Most recent recall on file: Apr 7, 2009. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.