Lexus IS 300 vs Toyota Tercel

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 IS 300	Toyota Tercel
Complaints on file	156	389
Model years covered	2001–2022	1982–2000
Worst model year	2002	1993
Best model year	2004	1997
Crashes reported	32	105
Fires reported	7	18
Injuries reported	18	75
Deaths reported	0	4
Most complained-about part	Body & Structure	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	36.5%	51.9%

Lexus IS 300 by year

29 37 25 23 6 1 3 2 9 13 4 2 2

01 02 03 04 05 06 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

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

What breaks

Body & Structure 22 14.1%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 18 11.5%

Other & Unspecified 18 11.5%

Suspension 14 9.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 12 7.7%

Engine & Cooling 11 7.1%

Brakes 11 7.1%

Tires 11 7.1%

Toyota Tercel by year

2 9 12 5 8 15 9 32 23 18 27 50 45 58 45 25 4 1 1

82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00

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

What breaks

Airbags 82 21.1%

Seat Belts 53 13.6%

Engine & Cooling 52 13.4%

Brakes 31 8.0%

Electrical System 24 6.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 24 6.2%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 19 4.9%

Tires 18 4.6%