Owner complaints
5NHTSA recordsUSED VEHICLE RESEARCH
2018 Lexus ES
Is This A Good Car? organizes available NHTSA-derived research for the 2018 Lexus ES. This page includes owner complaint records, safety recall campaigns, manufacturer communications, defect investigations, and information about the completeness of the available evidence.
DATA CONFIDENCE: LimitedLexus ES2018 · VERIFIED IMAGE PENDING
Recall campaigns
UnavailableYear, make and model lookupManufacturer communications
0Matched NHTSA recordsInvestigations
0Matched NHTSA recordsEVIDENCE AVAILABILITY — NOT VEHICLE RELIABILITY
DATA CONFIDENCE
LimitedData Confidence measures how much usable evidence CarIQ has for this vehicle. It does not measure how reliable the vehicle is.
Why this rating?
- Owner complaint data
- Available
- Manufacturer communications
- Available
- Recall data
- Unavailable
- Investigation data
- Available
- Production denominator
- Unavailable
- Complaint component completeness
- 100%
- Mileage completeness
- 0%
- Incident-date completeness
- 100%
DESCRIPTIVE ANALYTICS
DATA INSIGHTS
Derived from official NHTSA source records. These statistics are descriptive and are not a reliability score.
- Complaint records analyzed
- 5 NHTSA complaints
- Most reported component
- Air Bags 20% of categorized complaint records
- Top-three component concentration
- 60% Records mentioning at least one top-three component
- Median reported incident mileage
- Not available from current source 0 valid mileage observations
- Recall campaigns
- Unavailable NHTSA recalls
- Most recent recall report
- Not available NHTSA recalls
- Manufacturer communications
- 0 NHTSA manufacturer communications
- Most documented component
- Not available NHTSA manufacturer communications
- Top-three communication concentration
- Not available Share of categorized manufacturer communications
SOURCE COMPLETENESS
DATA QUALITY
- Complaint records analyzed
- 5
- Component classification available
- 100%
- Incident date available
- 100%
- Mileage available
- 0%
- Structured outcome fields available
- 100%
Completeness describes fields present in the retrieved complaint records. It is not a data-quality grade or a vehicle assessment.
Learn about CarIQ methodologyPRODUCTION-ADJUSTED DESCRIPTIVE METRIC
NORMALIZED COMPLAINT CONTEXT
Production-normalized complaint data is not currently available for this vehicle.
This metric compares the number of NHTSA owner complaint records retrieved by CarIQ with NHTSA-reported production volume for the corresponding vehicle population.
It is not a vehicle failure rate. Complaint reporting behavior, vehicle age, time on the road, production definitions, and other factors can affect the result.
Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Early Warning Reporting, Light Vehicle Production Data. Read the methodology.
OFFICIAL NHTSA OWNER COMPLAINT DATA
OWNER-REPORTED COMPLAINTS
COMPONENT CATEGORIES
A complaint may list more than one component and therefore contribute to multiple categories. Percentages show the share of categorized complaint records that mention each component—not the percentage of vehicles affected. Category percentages may overlap.
INCIDENT REPORTS BY YEAR
Grouped from complaint records with a valid incident date.
RECENT OWNER COMPLAINTS
Power Train
Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11702496Read complaint narrative
The contact owns a 2018 Lexus ES 350. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle jerked abnormally. The driver was able to drive to the residence. Upon test-driving the vehicle, the contact noticed that the vehicle was hesitating and jerking. The contact stated that the vehicle made an abnormal clicking sound while driving the following day, and the vehicle later became undrivable. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an unknown dealer, where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 200.
Air Bags · Seat Belts
Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11676540Read complaint narrative
On 7/25/25, I was rear-ended while driving my 2018 Lexus ES 300h with my child in the front seat. Despite the force of impact and resulting injuries, none of the airbags deployed. Moments after the crash, a “SRS Airbag System Malfunction” message appeared on my dashboard. That message is now gone, but airbag and seatbelt lights remain active. I suffered knee injuries from contact with the dashboard, and my child sustained a busted lip and head pain. I’m concerned that a malfunction in the airbag or supplemental restraint system contributed to these injuries. I have video evidence of the incident and in-cabin alerts. I was later advised by Toyota not to drive the vehicle until an inspection is completed, which raises additional concerns about the vehicle’s safety system. I’m reporting this because I believe this malfunction may pose a risk to others, and it should be investigated as a potential defect.
Tires
Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11649758Read complaint narrative
27 r
Fuel/propulsion System
Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11545990Read complaint narrative
This has occurred since I purchased the vehicle new. Might happen a couple of times per month. If I slightly back off from acceleration just for a split second and then decide that I can proceed, when I go back to accelerating, the engine will have no power for 2-3 seconds and then will finally return to normal function. At the same time for seconds only, a message will appear on the dash stating that the brake and accelerator have been depressed at the same time. This all happens in a matter of seconds. And the brake has never been touched! Dealer repeating tells me that can NOT happen unless i hit the brakes, and that I must get confused with the pedals...REALLY !!! Well it has happened maybe 25-30 times At the same time I have near heart failure wondering if the merging or head on traffic is going to smash into me because my acceleration has failed !!! THIS SURE SOUNDS VERY SIMILAR TO THE EXITING FUEL PUMP RECALL FOR MY VEHICLE MODEL, HOWEVER MY VIN # IS NOT LISTED. If it isn't that, then I guess it would be electronically related. This a serious danger that one doesn't know when it is going to strike next and the dealer understandably can't REPLICATE the acceleration failure. Me and my family needs some safety protection !!! HELP
Structure · Unknown or Other · Engine and Engine Cooling
Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11536846Read complaint narrative
The Heat Shield on Exhaust becomes loose, rattles and comes off while driving. Danger to to other drives behind me. See the number of complaints over here - https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-3rd-gen-2010-2015/863952-exhaust-heat-shield-loose-and-rattling.html
NHTSA complaints are reports submitted by vehicle owners and other consumers. Complaint counts do not represent the percentage of vehicles affected and do not by themselves establish that a safety defect exists.
A higher complaint count can partly reflect how many vehicles were sold, vehicle age, and other factors. CarIQ does not yet normalize complaint counts by vehicles sold.
Data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This site is not endorsed by NHTSA.
OFFICIAL NHTSA MANUFACTURER COMMUNICATION DATA
MANUFACTURER COMMUNICATIONS
No NHTSA manufacturer communication records were returned for this year, make, and model.
Manufacturer communications include service bulletins and other technical information submitted by manufacturers to NHTSA. The existence or number of communications does not establish how often a condition occurs or whether an individual vehicle will experience it.
Some manufacturers may issue more detailed service documentation than others, so communication counts should not be used alone to compare vehicle reliability.
Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration manufacturer communicationsNATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
NHTSA DEFECT INVESTIGATIONS
No applicable NHTSA defect investigation records were returned for this year, make, and model.
NHTSA investigations evaluate potential motor-vehicle safety defects. The existence of an investigation does not by itself establish that a safety defect exists, and the absence of an investigation does not establish that a vehicle is problem-free.
Open and closed describe NHTSA's process status, not a CarIQ reliability judgment.
View official NHTSA investigation data ↗DESCRIPTIVE SOURCE OVERLAP
CROSS-SOURCE VEHICLE DATA
CarIQ compares categories appearing across independent NHTSA datasets. Overlap can help identify areas with more available documentation, but it does not establish defect frequency or prove that an individual vehicle will experience a problem.
| Component | Owner complaints | Manufacturer communications | Recall campaigns | NHTSA investigations | Official sources containing records |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Bags | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
| Fuel/propulsion System | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
| Power Train | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
| Seat Belts | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
| Structure | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
| Tires | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
| Unknown or Other | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
Displayed first by the number of source categories containing the component, then by owner complaint count, then alphabetically. This is a presentation rule, not a vehicle ranking. Complaint reports, manufacturer communications, recalls, and investigations describe different events and are never added into a combined total.
- complaint
- Available
- communication
- Available
- recall
- Unavailable
- investigation
- Available
- production
- Unavailable
OFFICIAL NHTSA SAFETY RECALL DATA
SAFETY RECALLS
Recall data is temporarily unavailable. Please check again later or verify directly with NHTSA.
Recall results shown here are based on year, make, and model. A specific vehicle may or may not be affected. Check the vehicle's VIN with NHTSA to confirm open recalls before purchasing. Data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
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