Lexus ES vs Pontiac Vibe

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure	Lexus ES	Pontiac Vibe
Complaints on file	862	2,133
Model years covered	1996–2025	2000–2014
Worst model year	2005	2009
Best model year	2006	2008
Crashes reported	155	138
Fires reported	26	8
Injuries reported	87	114
Deaths reported	0	1
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	31.1%	12.2%

Lexus ES by year

2 2 3 8 9 3 48 37 21 75 12 164 78 29 47 60 36 49 4 7 13 2 8 55 22 29 9 12 9 9

96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Airbags 228 26.5%

Other & Unspecified 90 10.4%

Body & Structure 74 8.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 58 6.7%

Electrical System 58 6.7%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 55 6.4%

Engine & Cooling 54 6.3%

Brakes 49 5.7%

Pontiac Vibe by year

1 1 2 340 315 337 199 202 68 600 67 1

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 14

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Airbags 1,011 47.4%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 206 9.7%

Engine & Cooling 168 7.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 137 6.4%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 118 5.5%

Electrical System 96 4.5%

Body & Structure 63 3.0%

Steering 58 2.7%