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Total NHTSA Complaints
35
Owner filings recorded
#1 Reported Problem
Air Bags & Restraints
26 reports (74.3%)
Crash Incident Reports
2
Filings citing a crash
Fire & Injury Reports
1
0 fire • 1 injury filings
Defect Investigation Analysis

Executive Problem Findings

AutoUtility currently tracks 35 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2021 Lexus ES. Air Bags & Restraints issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 26 complaints (74.3% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 2 filings cite a crash, 1 reports one or more injuries. The 2021 Lexus ES belongs to the 7th Generation (XZ10) platform.

Methodology Notice: Consumer complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Filings are not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and do not constitute an audited component failure rate.
Incident & Severity Profile
  • • Total Owner Reports: 35 complaints submitted under federal penalty.
  • • Primary Subsystem: Air Bags & Restraints accounts for 74.3% of submissions (26 reports).
  • • Secondary Systems: Steering System (2), Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (2).
  • • Crash Incidents: 2 filings cite an impact or collision.
  • • Thermal Incidents: 0 filings cite smoke or fire.
  • • Reported Casualties: 1 injury filings • 0 fatality filings.
Category Distribution

Reported Defect Categories for 2021 Lexus ES

Factual proportion of owner complaints categorized by automotive subsystem in NHTSA records

Air Bags & Restraints
26
74.3%
Steering System
2
5.7%
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech
2
5.7%
Wheels & Tires
2
5.7%
Brakes & Traction Control
1
2.9%
#1 74.3% SHARE

Air Bags & Restraints

26 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.

✓ 0 Incidents
⚠️ 1 Associated Recall Campaign
#2 5.7% SHARE

Steering System

2 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.

⚠️ 1 Crash
#3 5.7% SHARE

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

2 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.

✓ 0 Incidents
#4 5.7% SHARE

Wheels & Tires

2 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.

⚠️ 1 Crash
Federal Oversight

Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (1)

Formal engineering analyses and preliminary evaluations opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

ODI Action #DP22005 CLOSED Defect Petition (DP)
Opened: 2023-01-27 • Closed: 2023-08-07
Subject / Subsystem
Pedestrian alert sounds
Affected Component
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM
Recall Linkage
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021.On January 27, 2023, NHTSA opened Defect Petition (DP) 22-005 to evaluate the subject matter described in the petition. On June 24, 2023 and as supplemented on June 25, 2023, the petitioner notified NHTSA he was withdrawing his petition. The petitioner indicated that, based on his review of data, there is no justification for asserting potential benefits that could be derived from actions sought by my petition. Based on the petitioner's withdrawal, DP22-005 is closed. Closure of this DP does not represent a determination by NHTSA regarding the subject matter of the petition.
Consumer Filings

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2021 Lexus ES

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Other / Miscellaneous ODI #11753522
Filed: 07/29/2026
🩹 1 Injury

"On or July 28, 2026, I experienced a safety incident involving the driver’s side power window on my 2021 Lexus ES. The vehicle was running, and I reached through the driver’s side window to retrieve an item being handed to me. Without me pressing or activating the window switch, the driver’s window..."

Air Bags & Restraints ODI #11705688
Filed: 12/17/2025
Defect Report

"The contact owns a 2021 Lexus ES-300H. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time..."

Air Bags & Restraints ODI #11696345
Filed: 10/29/2025
Defect Report

"Still no parts for fix"

Air Bags & Restraints ODI #11690558
Filed: 09/30/2025
Defect Report

"The contact owns a 2021 Lexus ES 300H. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (Air Bags). The contact called the dealer for over a year for parts availability updates and was informed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had..."

Air Bags & Restraints ODI #11670339
Filed: 06/30/2025
Defect Report

"Recall on my vehicle has been out for 1.5 years. Dealer states no parts yet & that I should be fine. But I don’t feel safe if my passenger air bag won’t deploy in any emergency."

Multi-Year Trend

Complaint History for Lexus ES

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Lexus ES 5 2 0 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Lexus ES 9 2 0 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Lexus ES 2 0 0 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Lexus ES 5 1 0 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Lexus ES 34 6 1 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Lexus ES 24 6 1 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Lexus ES Current Page 35 2 1 Current
2022 Lexus ES 13 1 0 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Lexus ES 12 3 2 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Lexus ES 9 2 2 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Lexus ES 4 2 1 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Lexus ES 0 0 0 View 2026 Problems →
Exhaustive System Audit

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2021 Lexus ES

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 11 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Injury Entries Fatality Entries
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 25 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 1 0 0 0 0
Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS 1 0 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 1 0
Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS 1 1 0 0 0
WHEELS,TIRES 1 0 0 0 0
Search Intelligence

Quick Answers: Common Problems & Reliability Questions for the 2021 Lexus ES

Direct, deterministic answers synthesized from verified United States government databases for the 2021 Lexus ES

What are the most common reported problems with the 2021 Lexus ES?

In official NHTSA consumer records, the most frequently cited issue area for the 2021 Lexus ES is Air Bags & Restraints, appearing in 26 records (74.3% of submitted filings).

Secondary reported categories include Steering System (2) and Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (2).

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)

Is the 2021 Lexus ES a reliable vehicle?

AutoUtility does not issue subjective reliability scores or commercial ratings. In official United States government records, NHTSA tracks 35 consumer defect complaints and 1 safety recall campaign for the 2021 Lexus ES.

Reviewing documented component complaint distributions, recall remedy notices, and active federal investigations provides an objective, evidence-based view of the vehicle's historical safety and defect record.

Source: NHTSA ODI & Safety Recalls Databases

Are there crash, fire, or injury reports associated with the 2021 Lexus ES?

Among consumer complaint records on file with NHTSA for the 2021 Lexus ES, 2 filings cite a crash, 0 cite smoke or fire, and 1 report one or more injuries.

Incident entries represent consumer descriptions at the time of submission to federal authorities and do not establish mechanical causation or legal liability.

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Consumer Logs

Has NHTSA formally investigated defects on the 2021 Lexus ES?

NHTSA ODI records list 1 formal defect investigation involving the 2021 Lexus ES (all closed).

Federal defect investigations are formal engineering evaluations opened when safety defect trends emerge, and do not by themselves establish a confirmed defect or mandatory recall.

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Registry
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database under 49 CFR Part 576.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.