FaultScore report
Owners have filed 18 complaints about the 2023 Lexus NX with NHTSA between 2023 and 2026. The largest single group is the other & unspecified. Across this model's run it ranks 11 of 11 worst.
FaultScore 40/100
Higher is worse. Measured against the other years of the Lexus NX.
How this is worked out18
Complaints
1
Crashes reported
0
Fires reported
1
Injuries reported
The letter says how bad. This says what kind — whether this year drew an unusual number of complaints, unusually dangerous ones, or failures that arrived unusually early.
Click any bar to open that year's report.
Every complaint is filed against a part. Follow any row for the complaints about that part alone.
Median failure at 12,500 miles
Median failure at 14,000 miles
Median failure at 8,000 miles
1 crashes, 0 fires
A spike years after the car went on sale usually means a part wearing out on schedule across the whole fleet — the kind of pattern no single owner can see from inside their own car.
Reports where the owner recorded a crash, a fire, an injury or a death.
AIR BAGS
Airbags failed to deploy during a crash where lexus was hit on driver's side. We got an alert that they malfunctioned. During inspection, the wire for the airbags was pulled which would indicate deployment. Car was totaled.
NHTSA complaint #11566195 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
In the owners' own words, exactly as filed with NHTSA.
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
The contact owns a 2023 Lexus NX 250. The contact stated that while driving at various highway speeds, the vehicle suddenly decelerated. During the failure, there was no warning light illuminated or messages displayed. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 14,000.
NHTSA complaint #11755435 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2023 Lexus NX 250. The contact stated that while driving at various highway speeds, the vehicle suddenly decelerated. During the failure, there was no warning light illuminated or messages displayed. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 14,000.
NHTSA complaint #11755435 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Two year old 22500 miles. Driving down the highway doing around 75 and my sunroof blew up. Just exploded. Nothing hit it, temperature was around 70 degrees. Was about 10 miles into my morning commute. Nothing could have caused this. No impacts, no odd temperature fluctuations. Just a glass failure.
NHTSA complaint #11686223 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:12V/24V/48V BATTERY
On [XXX] my Lexus would not start properly and then I heard noises which were associated with the battery closing down. This included locking all the doors. I was trapped in the car for 50-60 minutes until a repair person unlocked the door. This is a safety issue because the temperature where I live (las Vegas) is over 100 degrees months of the year. According to other Lexus owners, mine was a somewhat common experience. Some people have had the battery fail while driving. A recall to fix the problem is needed. When I contacted both corporate Lexus and my dealer they played dumb and told me to drive the car more often, but no one could specify how much that would be. Purchased in February, 2023 the vehicle has over 25,000 miles. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11685144 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:DOORS:LATCH
On [XXX] my Lexus would not start properly and then I heard noises which were associated with the battery closing down. This included locking all the doors. I was trapped in the car for 50-60 minutes until a repair person unlocked the door. This is a safety issue because the temperature where I live (las Vegas) is over 100 degrees months of the year. According to other Lexus owners, mine was a somewhat common experience. Some people have had the battery fail while driving. A recall to fix the problem is needed. When I contacted both corporate Lexus and my dealer they played dumb and told me to drive the car more often, but no one could specify how much that would be. Purchased in February, 2023 the vehicle has over 25,000 miles. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11685144 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:DOORS:LATCH:EMERGENCY MECHANICAL RELEASE
On [XXX] my Lexus would not start properly and then I heard noises which were associated with the battery closing down. This included locking all the doors. I was trapped in the car for 50-60 minutes until a repair person unlocked the door. This is a safety issue because the temperature where I live (las Vegas) is over 100 degrees months of the year. According to other Lexus owners, mine was a somewhat common experience. Some people have had the battery fail while driving. A recall to fix the problem is needed. When I contacted both corporate Lexus and my dealer they played dumb and told me to drive the car more often, but no one could specify how much that would be. Purchased in February, 2023 the vehicle has over 25,000 miles. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11685144 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
The automatic headlights have a significant delay before turning on when entering a dimly lit parking garage. I have adjusted various car customization settings, but the delay persists. On February 25, 2025, a maintenance technician at Jim Hudson Lexus in Columbia, SC, inspected the issue and confirmed that the headlight sensor is set to the highest sensitivity. The headlights typically take about 15 seconds to activate. Count 15 seconds that is a long time.
NHTSA complaint #11646295 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
The driver's side front wiper blade is not securely attached and lifts off the glass during the drying stage of automatic car washes. Once lifted, it stays in the upright position and must be manually lowered. To prevent this from happening, the wiper blade needs to be taped down. On February 25, 2025, a maintenance technician at Jim Hudson Lexus in Columbia, SC, inspected the wiper and confirmed that the wiper spring is functioning as designed with no defects. The technician explained that the wiper can lift due to the strong wind force from the car wash blower dryer. However, the service advisor mentioned that this issue has been observed at the dealership's on-site car wash and noted that Lexus has not yet released a stronger spring to address the problem. He advised me to report this issue.
NHTSA complaint #11646293 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
There is an ongoing noise issue where I hear a vibration or buzzing sound coming from the headliner or sunroof area while driving at various speeds, especially on uneven pavement. I have reported this concern previously, but the technician was unable to find the cause. On February 25, 2025, a maintenance technician at Jim Hudson Lexus in Columbia, SC, inspected the issue and confirmed an excessive rattle coming from the headliner around the sunroof panel and buttons. The technician noted that part of the internal headliner near the front dome lights is not secured properly, unlike the rest of the padded headliner. Despite this inspection, the noise persists.
NHTSA complaint #11646297 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
I drive an NX250 and recently took it to a conveyor-style car wash, where you position your front tire in a groove, shift into Neutral, and let the system move the car through. Upon exiting, I experienced an issue where I couldn’t shift directly from Neutral to Drive. Instead, I had to first shift into Park before I could engage Drive. This was especially concerning because I was worried that the car behind me might not have enough time to stop, potentially leading to a rear-end collision. Difficulty shifting from Neutral to Drive after a car wash is a common complaint, especially with newer vehicles that have electronic shifters or safety mechanisms in place.
NHTSA complaint #11640526 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On July 19 2024 driving home from work the sunroof glass exploded, nothing hit the glass from inside or outside, one can see the glass bowing upwards. I drove to dealership the same day and contacted Lexus corporate. A week later they inform me it is not covered under warranty and I should submit an insurance claim.
NHTSA complaint #11605162 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
The contact owns a 2023 Lexus NX450H. The contact stated while pulling into a parking space, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated. The contact stated that the vehicle was several inches away from crashing into another vehicle before the contact was able to bring the vehicle to a complete stop. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 11,000.
NHTSA complaint #11580409 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
My concern is regarding the auto start-stop feature. It is a concern since the feature is tied to both the brakes and engine, and it could lead to other/bigger issues. When stepping on the brakes to come to a stop, sometimes the auto start-stop feature turns on. Upon releasing the brakes, there is a loud grinding noise. I brought it to the dealer twice for this issue. The first time a master technician got in the car with me, he drove it and he was able to reproduce the sound continuously, at least 10 times. I left my car with them for a week and was told they were never able to reproduce the noise again. I brought my car home and drove it for 5 days and then it started making the noise again. I took it back to the dealership and they kept it for another 5 days. I was told again they were not able to reproduce the noise. There have been no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem. As background, I purchased my car in April of 2023. The noise started in January of 2024, with less than 6800 miles on it. It happened off and on and it took a few weeks for me to realize the noise was tied to the start-stop feature. Once it became more prevalent, that is when I finally called the dealership to explain the issue and got an appointment to take my car in on 2/19/2024. I currently don't have videos to attach but can follow up with videos in the future if needed.
NHTSA complaint #11575807 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
AIR BAGS
Airbags failed to deploy during a crash where lexus was hit on driver's side. We got an alert that they malfunctioned. During inspection, the wire for the airbags was pulled which would indicate deployment. Car was totaled.
NHTSA complaint #11566195 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The contact owns a 2023 Lexus NX350. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed with the Adaptive Cruise Control feature activated, the vehicle came to an abrupt stop while driving by a road with vehicles parked next to the curb. The contact stated that there were no vehicles in front of the vehicle. The contact stated that the Forward Collision Avoidance message was illuminated when the vehicle came to a complete stop. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 8,000.
NHTSA complaint #11565996 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Vehicle is built so that water from hand-washing/rinsing gets under the hood and into a computer causing electrical issues and causing the car to not start. The dealership put a foam/rubber trim around the hood to prevent water from getting in but this won't last forever and, when they tested the other cars of the same model on the lot, they confirmed it happened with those cars also. The manufacturer's statement was that the owner's manual says you are not supposed to hand wash it. This is ridiculous. The owner's manual says you can't pressure wash the engine compartment - which noone did. This was caused during a routine wash at the car wash. It is unlikely anyone would buy a car if they were told they couldn't take it to a car wash. But the concern is that it happened twice and the fix will be temporary. Both times this occurred, the car was parked. The first time, there were electrical issues. The second time, the car refused to start after it was shut off.
NHTSA complaint #11545880 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
Vehicle is built so that water from hand-washing/rinsing gets under the hood and into a computer causing electrical issues and causing the car to not start. The dealership put a foam/rubber trim around the hood to prevent water from getting in but this won't last forever and, when they tested the other cars of the same model on the lot, they confirmed it happened with those cars also. The manufacturer's statement was that the owner's manual says you are not supposed to hand wash it. This is ridiculous. The owner's manual says you can't pressure wash the engine compartment - which noone did. This was caused during a routine wash at the car wash. It is unlikely anyone would buy a car if they were told they couldn't take it to a car wash. But the concern is that it happened twice and the fix will be temporary. Both times this occurred, the car was parked. The first time, there were electrical issues. The second time, the car refused to start after it was shut off.
NHTSA complaint #11545880 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Vehicle was remote started using Lexus app. Wife entered vehicle using rear door along with infant daughter. She sat in the back seat to feed her a bottle. When ready to leave, she placed and secured our daughter in her car seat. She then opened the rear passenger door to get into front driver seat to begin driving. On opening the door, the car alarm went off. She exited the vehicle through the rear passenger door. She shut the door and as she as waking to the driver door, the vehicle locked itself with the keys, phone and our daughter inside the car. The alarm startled her and she left the keys in the rear seat. The vehicle remained on. When remote started via the app, the car remains on for 10 mins. She got help and dialed 911.. vehicle shut off 3-4 mins prior to fire department arriving. They tired to open the door but were not successful. Ended up breaking the window to remove our daughter. Thankfully she was ok. I am unsure how the car locked itself with the keys still inside. The keys were in the rear seat by the child car seat. Took vehicle to Lexus dealer. They stated there were no faults with vehicle. Referenced page 63 of owners manual which states car may not detect keys if left on top of console or door pockets… which was not the case here. Have not attempted to re produce issue. Very concerned this may happen the someone else. There were no warning lamps on.
NHTSA complaint #11544858 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.