Lexus LS vs Acura CL

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 LS	Acura CL
Complaints on file	293	731
Model years covered	1994–2025	1997–2004
Worst model year	2007	2001
Best model year	2009	1998
Crashes reported	21	49
Fires reported	3	4
Injuries reported	20	35
Deaths reported	0	7
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm	15%	13%

Lexus LS by year

6 2 3 1 2 3 1 3 10 1 11 6 26 58 59 23 9 12 6 8 3 3 7 20 1 5 1 3

94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 19 21 23 25

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

What breaks

Brakes 63 21.5%

Other & Unspecified 32 10.9%

Electrical System 28 9.6%

Engine & Cooling 27 9.2%

Body & Structure 19 6.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 18 6.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 14 4.8%

Airbags 13 4.4%

Acura CL by year

106 69 66 11 317 71 89 2

97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04

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

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 333 45.6%

Airbags 77 10.5%

Electrical System 63 8.6%

Engine & Cooling 42 5.7%

Brakes 30 4.1%

Suspension 27 3.7%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 26 3.6%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 25 3.4%