Total Complaints
7 filings
LEXUS GS · model year
1998 LEXUS GS
7 NHTSA complaints for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 1998LEXUSGS carries 7 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 1998 GS is service brakes with 3 filings, followed by suspension:front:control arm:lower ball joint (1) and suspension (1). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability.
NHTSA currently has 3 investigation files overlapping the 1998 GS. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
7
Complaints
0
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0
Deaths
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
Complaints vs. fleet median (215)
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
Complaints by Component
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES | 3 |
| SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT | 1 |
| SUSPENSION | 1 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 1 |
| POWER TRAIN | 1 |
Recent Complaints
20220729SERVICE BRAKES
On July 29th at approximately 8:30pm, I got into my car after exiting the Meijer store and noticed the car making strange noises and was hard to get in gear. I park so I donât have to back up, so I put the car in drive and it went fast in reverse, when it went forward, it went crazy and I ran into a tree island and busted 2 tires and finally stopped. Fortunately this happened in a mostly vacant parking lot. This car has a lot of horsepower and those horses went crazy. I answered a question on how fast I was going? I answered 50mph, I went from 0 to 50 in a parking lot with my foot on the brake!
20220729VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
On July 29th at approximately 8:30pm, I got into my car after exiting the Meijer store and noticed the car making strange noises and was hard to get in gear. I park so I donât have to back up, so I put the car in drive and it went fast in reverse, when it went forward, it went crazy and I ran into a tree island and busted 2 tires and finally stopped. Fortunately this happened in a mostly vacant parking lot. This car has a lot of horsepower and those horses went crazy. I answered a question on how fast I was going? I answered 50mph, I went from 0 to 50 in a parking lot with my foot on the brake!
20220729POWER TRAIN
On July 29th at approximately 8:30pm, I got into my car after exiting the Meijer store and noticed the car making strange noises and was hard to get in gear. I park so I donât have to back up, so I put the car in drive and it went fast in reverse, when it went forward, it went crazy and I ran into a tree island and busted 2 tires and finally stopped. Fortunately this happened in a mostly vacant parking lot. This car has a lot of horsepower and those horses went crazy. I answered a question on how fast I was going? I answered 50mph, I went from 0 to 50 in a parking lot with my foot on the brake!
20201021SERVICE BRAKES
FAILED BRAKE ACTUATOR
Mileage: 200,000
20201021SUSPENSION
FAILED BRAKE ACTUATOR
Mileage: 200,000
20191014SERVICE BRAKES
WHILE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION, MULTIPLE WARNING LIGHTS AND MESSAGES ILLUMINATED, AND AUDIBLE CHIMES SOUNDED. BRAKE BOOSTER FAILED. NO BRAKES, NO ADVANCE WARNING. THIS OCCURRED ON LOCKWOOD ROAD, ELGIN TX ON OCTOBER 4, 2019 AROUND 8 PM. LEXUS PUT OUT A SAFETY RECALL ON THEIR 2019/2020 VEHICLES WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. FMVSS NO.126 BACK IN JULY 24, 2019
Mileage: 249,000
20071230SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT
ANOTHER LEXUS GS-300 OWNER FILED THIS REPORT ON MARCH 6, 2007: "WE OWN A 1998 LEXUS, MODEL GS 300. THIS SATURDAY MY WIFE WAS DRIVING THE LEXUS AND THE ENTIRE WHEEL ASSEMBLY CAME OFF THE VEHICLE DUE THE FAILURE OF THE LOWER BALL JOINT. IN REVIEWING RECALL INFORMATION FOR LEXUS\TOYOTA, IT IS VERY APPARENT THERE IS AN ONGOING ISSUE OF QUALITY CONTROL RELATED TO THEIR LOWER BALL JOINTS. FOR OUR SPECIFIC MODEL, THERE WAS A RECALL IN 93, 94, 95, 96 AND 97 SPECIFIC TO THIS PART. GIVEN WE HAVE A 98 AND A RECALL HAS NOT BEEN ISSUED (YET), THE LEXUS DEALERSHIP REFUSED TO PROVIDE US WITH ANY ACCOMMODATION TOWARDS FIXING THE FAILED PART, OR THE RESULTING BODY DAMAGE RELATED TO THE VEHICLE TRAVELING DOWN THE ROAD ON ONLY THREE WHEEL. FORTUNATELY, WE WERE NOT TRAVELING ON THE HIGHWAY, BUT A SIDE STREET WHEN THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED. BUT MOREOVER, REGARDLESS OF OUR FINANCIAL LOSS, IN MY OPINION, THIS IS A PUBLIC SAFETY CONCERN..." WE EXPERIENCED A SIMILAR FAILURE WHEREIN THE LOWER DRIVER'S SIDE BALL
Mileage: 192,640
Compare 1998LEXUSGS to Similar Vehicles
NHTSA Investigations
Frequently Asked Questions
How many complaints does the 1998 LEXUS GS have?▼
The 1998 LEXUS GS has 7 NHTSA complaints, 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 deaths reported.
What are the most common problems with the 1998 LEXUS GS?▼
The most-complained component for the 1998 LEXUS GS is SERVICE BRAKES with 3 complaints. Other frequently reported areas include SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT and SUSPENSION.
Is the 1998 LEXUS GS safe to buy?▼
Review the complaint history, crash and fire reports, safety ratings, and recall status on this page to make an informed decision. No NHTSA crash test rating is available for this model year. Compare with other model years using the links above.
Where does this data come from?▼
All complaint, recall, and safety rating data is sourced from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaints are filed by vehicle owners through NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation.
Vehicle Safety Guides
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.