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What 6 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Lexus Is300

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (6)Crash / fire / injury (2)Fuel system (3)Body & structure (2)Engine (1)Speed control (1)Transmission & drivetrain (1)

1 of 6 complaints match · Engine · clear filters

Nov 5, 2018Speed controlEngineFuel system

WHEN I ACCELERATE FROM A STOP OR WHILE MOVING ON A ROADWAY, THE ENGINE SEEMS TO STALL. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE NORMAL TURBO SPOOLING STALL. IT LASTS FOR ABOUT 3 TO 5 FULL SECONDS. WHEN YOU NEED POWER TO PREVENT AN ACCIDENT, YOU CAN'T AFFORD THAT TIME LAG, AS IT COULD CAUSE YOUR DEATH. THE DEALER TOLD ME THAT LEXUS SAYS IT'S NORMAL, THEY ALL DO IT. I DON'T FEEL ANY MANUFACTURER WOULD DELIBERATELY BUILD AND SELL A VEHICLE THAT WOULD PUT THE OCCUPANTS IN DANGER OF POSSIBLE DEATH. THE DEALER PICKED UP THE CAR AND AFTER FIVE DAYS CALLED ME TO SAY NOTHING IS WRONG AND THEY CAN'T FIX THE PROBLEM BECAUSE LEXUS COMPANY SAYS IT'S NORMAL. AT THIS POINT I'M REFUSING TO DRIVE THE CAR, IT'S EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. I HAVE ONLY DRIVEN IT ABOUT 188 MILES SINCE BUYING IT ALMOST 1 MONTH AGO. I CALLED THE DEALER ABOUT MY CONCERN AFTER HAVING THE CAR ONLY 20 DAYS.

NHTSA ODI 11149541

Working with the data? Download all 6 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 22, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2018 Lexus Is300 verdict →