Lexus ES300 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 ES300	Pontiac Vibe
Complaints on file	862	2,133
Model years covered	1992–2013	2000–2014
Worst model year	2002	2009
Best model year	1999	2008
Crashes reported	212	138
Fires reported	28	8
Injuries reported	99	114
Deaths reported	7	1
Most complained-about part	Acceleration & Cruise Control	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	40.1%	12.2%

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%

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%