2003 Lexus ES problems
The 2003 Lexus ES has 37 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (16%) concerns cruise control. Next are brakes (11%) and air bags (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 37 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Cruise control 16% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 17 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 12 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 125,000 miles 27 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 1 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 3 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 5 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 1 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 2 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 1 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 7 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 7 |
What the data shows
Of the 27 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 125,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 17 complaints mention a crash; 12 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 99% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2003 ranks 10th most-complained-about out of 12 model years of the Lexus ES with enough data (10 complaints in that window).
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
A disabled vehicle in front of mine was hovering over narrow express lane shoulder and right lane. I slowed and put my signal on preparing to merge into the left lane, but the vehicle behind me did not react similarly and consequently rear-ended me at full speed (+). The force of this impact pushed my car into the disabled car in front of me. No airbags deployed on either impact, and the seat belt failed to protect me from a serious spinal fracture.
Tl* the contact owned a 2003 lexus es. While driving at speeds of 45 MPH in the rain, the vehicle abnormally accelerated. The contact was unable to maintain control of the steering wheel and proceeded to crash into the median. The vehicle surged forward and proceeded to crash into the driver's side door of another vehicle. The vehicle was destroyed. The contact suffered major injuries as a result of the crash. A police report was filed. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 32,000.
I was driving in residential doing speed limit 30. The car started to exhilarate right before my turn on the my street. The brakes wouldn't work because the car just kept going faster the stearing wheel locked up. I couldn't stop and ran start into a tree and spun out, resulting in serious injuries
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 lexus es300. The contact's wife was involved in a two vehicle crash. While driving 10 MPH, another vehicle struck the contact's vehicle on the passenger side. A police report was filed. The other vehicle was traveling approximately 25 MPH. The contact's vehicle was destroyed and none of the air bags deployed. The failure and current mileages were 20,000. Updated 11/14/07.