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Lexus GS

Every model year 2016–2020: recalls, owner complaints, NHTSA crash ratings and EPA efficiency side by side, each value traced to the file it came from.

5 Model years 2016–2020
13 Recalls NHTSA campaigns, all years
21 Complaints owner reports, all years
A Newest grade 2020 Safety Signal
2020 Best on record cleanest filed year
Lexus GS — photograph via Wikimedia Commons
Lexus GS · Photo: Navigator84 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Every Lexus GS model year

Source: NHTSA · EPA · one row per year
YearPowertrainsSafetyRecallsComplaintsCrashBest efficiency
2020GasA10—23 mpg
2019GasC31—26 mpg
2018Hybrid GasD44—31 mpg
2017Hybrid GasC36—31 mpg
2016Hybrid GasC210—31 mpg

Which model year the record favours

Source: recalls and complaints per year on the road
Years to avoid, with the reasons →Best on the record 2020

On the filed record so far, the 2020 is the cleanest GS year we hold, and the 2018 the one to check hardest.

Both figures are divided by the number of years the car has been on sale, because otherwise the oldest year on the page loses every time simply for having been around longer. The current model year and any year under three on the road are left out: their records are not finished.

YearSafety SignalRecalls /yrComplaints /yr
2020A0.20
2019C0.40
2016C0.211 critical
2017C0.311 critical
2018D0.501 critical
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What changed year to year

Source: computed from the filed record
  • 2020: best combined mpg 26 → 23; 6 → 4 EPA configurations
  • 2019: dropped hybrid; best combined mpg 31 → 26; 7 → 6 EPA configurations

Common questions about the Lexus GS

Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kits

Which Lexus GS year is the best used buy?

On the recall record, the 2020 GS comes out top of the years before the current one: Safety Signal grade A (92/100), 1 recall and 0 owner complaints on file. That ranks paperwork, not condition — a specific car's history and service record still decide it.

What Lexus GS years should I avoid?

2018 has the weakest recall record in this range. The year pages list every campaign, its severity and whether a repair exists yet. Every GS model year ranked, with the reasons.

How many recalls does the Lexus GS have?

Across model years 2016–2020, NHTSA has posted 13 recall campaigns for the Lexus GS. They are counted per model year in the table above, because a campaign almost never covers the whole run — it covers a build range.