Lexus ES300 vs Plymouth Neon

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 ES300	Plymouth Neon
Complaints on file	862	2,016
Model years covered	1992–2013	1994–2001
Worst model year	2002	1995
Best model year	1999	1999
Crashes reported	212	230
Fires reported	28	66
Injuries reported	99	161
Deaths reported	7	11
Most complained-about part	Acceleration & Cruise Control	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	40.1%	23.2%

Lexus ES300 by year

46 53 50 55 44 50 61 35 78 36 194 147 1 4 8

92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 05 06 13

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

What breaks

Acceleration & Cruise Control 151 17.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 122 14.2%

Engine & Cooling 92 10.7%

Airbags 73 8.5%

Electrical System 72 8.4%

Brakes 65 7.5%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 35 4.1%

Seat Belts 35 4.1%

Plymouth Neon by year

3 711 476 234 237 82 199 74

94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 625 31.0%

Brakes 233 11.6%

Electrical System 170 8.4%

Airbags 169 8.4%

Steering 119 5.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 114 5.7%

Other & Unspecified 81 4.0%

Body & Structure 75 3.7%