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2012 Lexus ES

Too few owners filed complaints about the 2012 ES in its first three years to say whether it is a better or a worse year than the others. Among the 2 ES years with enough complaints to compare, owners filed the fewest about the 2009 (0.62 per 1,000 sold) and the most about the 2008 (0.81).

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

0.08 per 1,000

too few complaints to rank against its other years

Counted from 4 complaints filed in the first three years, of 120 ever. 95% lower bound 0.00.

Every ES model yearComplaints per 1,000 sold, first three years
This yearOther yearsToo few complaints to rankTypical year, 0.26

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters. The bar is how many complaints each rate rests on.

Model yearPer 1,000Complaints
20080.8152
20090.6235
20100.3718
20110.209
20120.084
20130.3623
20140.2216
20150.1913
20160.2113
20170.2614
20190.4020
20210.167

Issues owners of the 2012 ES report

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Air Bags 96 complaints

recall8791%
takata7174%
takata recall7073%
recall notification3739%
parts repair1920%
january1314%

When it breaks

29% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 55,000 miles, from 28 complaints that recorded one).

Failures arrive late and spread out, which looks like wear. Service history matters more than model year here.

What NHTSA did

1 investigation covering this model year, 0 of which list a recall campaign.

Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture

Questions buyers ask about the 2012 Lexus ES

Is 2012 a good year or a bad year for the ES?

Too few owners filed complaints about the 2012 ES in its first three years to say whether it is a better or a worse year than the others. Among the 2 ES years with enough complaints to compare, owners filed the fewest about the 2009 (0.62 per 1,000 sold) and the most about the 2008 (0.81). The typical year is the median across its model years.

What problems does the 2012 ES have?

The parts owners named most often in complaints filed to date: Air Bags (96), Electrical System (7), Structure (6). The phrases they used are listed above.

Is the 2012 ES reliable?

Complaint records cannot settle that on their own. They count safety problems owners chose to report to the federal government, not every repair. What they do show is how this year compares with the other ES years: too few owners filed complaints about the 2012 ES in its first three years to say whether it is a better or a worse year than the others.

Which ES year has the fewest complaints?

Among years with enough complaints to compare, the 2009, at 0.62 per 1,000 sold. Every ES year, ranked.

What the used-car guides say

No guide we read covers the ES.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page, each on NHTSA’s own site:

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is automated checks only, not verified against an external source.