Volvo VNL vs Lexus LS400

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	Volvo VNL	Lexus LS400
Complaints on file	176	424
Model years covered	1998–2023	1990–2001
Worst model year	2007	1993
Best model year	2006	2000
Crashes reported	17	58
Fires reported	17	8
Injuries reported	10	33
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Suspension	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	25%	23.3%

Volvo VNL by year

8 16 12 1 1 3 5 7 11 25 3 11 4 7 7 11 6 15 12 6 4 1

98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 19 22 23

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

What breaks

Suspension 38 21.6%

Steering 27 15.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 16 9.1%

Engine & Cooling 15 8.5%

Electrical System 12 6.8%

Brakes 12 6.8%

Body & Structure 10 5.7%

Lights 9 5.1%

Lexus LS400 by year

36 27 10 83 76 48 24 23 52 27 16 2

90 91 92 93 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

Electrical System 131 30.9%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 48 11.3%

Brakes 26 6.1%

Lights 26 6.1%

Seat Belts 25 5.9%

Airbags 20 4.7%

Tires 20 4.7%

Engine & Cooling 18 4.2%