AutoUtility currently tracks 14 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2015 Scion FR-S. Engine & Cooling issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 5 complaints (35.7% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 1 filing cites a crash, 1 cites a fire.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 14 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Engine & Cooling (5 reports • 35.7% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Steering System (2), Brakes & Traction Control (2)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 1 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 1 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 0 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
14
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
1
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
1
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
0
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2015 Scion FR-S

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 35.7% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

5 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#2 Problem Area 14.3% of complaints

Steering System

2 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#3 Problem Area 14.3% of complaints

Brakes & Traction Control

2 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report
#4 Problem Area 14.3% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

2 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#5 Problem Area 14.3% of complaints

Air Bags & Restraints

2 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2015 Scion FR-S

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

Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11667016
Filed: 06/15/2025

"The valve spring for my 2015 FRS completely broke and this was a known issue and recalls for my car and it is available for inspection"

Incident Date: 06/14/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Steering System NHTSA ODI ID: #11502375
Filed: 01/18/2023

"Steering wheel began clunking and locking up when turning. Had this issue on a previous FRS, Electronic Power Steering Motor Coupler had failed and needed replacement."

Incident Date: 04/01/2020 • Raw NHTSA Component: STEERING
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11490358
Filed: 10/21/2022

"Defective engine/motor failure spark plug popped out of engine along with coil. The service technician and service manager were shocked at the spark plug broken internally. I paid for spark plug replacement totaling approximately $1,200. Upon inspecting other parts of the motor it was determined..."

Incident Date: 09/25/2022 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11428249
Filed: 08/08/2021

"I was driving 80 mph in the inner lane of a multi lane highway. Out of no where with no warning lights or sounds the car just lost all power, the steering felt like it locked and the car fell on it's face. I was almost hit by two different cars trying to get over to the shoulder and there was white..."

Incident Date: 07/28/2021 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11205250
Filed: 05/02/2019

"WHILE DRIVING MY VEHICLE, IT STARTED MISFIRING, THROWING UP A FLASHING CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, AND IT WAS ROUGH TO KEEP IT RUNNING. UPON TOWING IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND HAVING IT INVESTIGATED FOR THE ROOT CAUSE, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE VALVE SPRINGS ON A CYLINDER ARE FAILING. THIS ISSUE IS IDENTICAL..."

Incident Date: 04/25/2019 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Scion FR-S

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2016)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Scion FR-S Current Page 14 1 3 Current
2016 Scion FR-S 3 0 3 View 2016 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2015 Scion FR-S

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 9 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 4 0 0 0 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 2 0 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 2 0 1 0 0
AIR BAGS,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS 1 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (14). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.
Official US Government Data Provenance

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

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