2002 Lexus IS: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2002 Lexus IS
On the 2002 Lexus IS, the failure owners report most often is other body or interior problem, with 5 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 90,000 miles. Overall it scores 63 out of 100, high risk for a 2002.
High risk for a 2002 — 259th riskiest of the 329 2002 vehicles we can rate. 17 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
What owners report breaking
Owners have reported 8 named failure modes on the 2002 Lexus IS, and the three most-reported carry 59% of everything filed.
Other body or interior problem leads with 5 reports and about 167 per 1,000 vehicles.
Tire blowout or tread separation follows with 3 reports, median 60,000 miles.
Tail light, brake light or signal failure follows with 2 reports, median 205,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into body (5), wheels (4) and lighting (3).
At what mileage it happens
8 of the reports on the 2002 Lexus IS came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 90,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 13% by 50,000 miles, 50% by 100,000 miles and 75% by 150,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed, with 2 filed above the top of the chart.
The busiest stretch is between 60,000 and 70,000 miles, which alone holds 25% of the dated reports.
0% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles, so this is mostly a story about older, higher-mileage cars.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A further 2 reports came in above that, which is why the line stops short of the top. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the median reported mileage
How bad it is when it goes
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 3.82, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: other body or interior problem at $200–$2,000, tire blowout or tread separation at $200–$1,500, tail light, brake light or signal failure at $100–$900 and other engine problem at $300–$4,000. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
6% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other body or interior problem | body | 5 | 2 | — | 80k | — | 166.7 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Tire blowout or tread separation | wheels | 3 | 2 | — | 60k | — | 100.0 | $200–$1,500 | Critical |
| Tail light, brake light or signal failure | lighting | 2 | 2 | — | 203k | — | 66.7 | $100–$900 | Moderate |
| Other engine problem | engine | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 33.3 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 1 | 1 | — | 116k | — | 33.3 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other wheel or tire problem | wheels | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 33.3 | $200–$1,500 | High |
| Other lighting problem | lighting | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 33.3 | $120–$1,200 | Moderate |
| Other visibility problem | glass | 1 | 1 | — | 51k | — | 33.3 | $150–$1,400 | Moderate |
| Unclassified problem | other | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 66.7 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2002 Lexus IS draws about 567 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 99th percentile of complaint rates among 2002 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 30 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2002 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Tire blowout or tread separation
I would like to report a problem with my lexus is300 models 2002. There is some type of defect in the frame or front arm bushings that cause excessive wear on the front inner tires. Despite the car being regularly aligned, uneven and excessive tire wear continues to occur on the inner portion of the tires. Tires will sometimes last less than 5,000 miles and have worn down to the steel in the inner sides of the front tires! This is a common occurrence and complaint among is 300 owners. As far as I know, there has been no fix from lexus and will lead to potential blowouts on the freeway due to tire failures. This condition is unacceptable. Therefore I am requesting an investigation and recall to fix the problem before a fatality occurs due to the resulting tire failure because of the front suspension defect. *js
I would like to report a problem with my lexus is300 models 2002. There is some type of defect in the frame or front arm bushings that cause excessive wear on the front inner tires. Despite the car being regularly aligned, uneven and excessive tire wear continues to occur on the inner portion of the tires. Tires will sometimes last less than 5,000 miles and have worn down to the steel in the inner sides of the front tires! This is a common occurrence and complaint among is 300 owners. As far as I know, there has been no fix from lexus and will lead to potential blowouts on the freeway due to tire failures. This condition is unacceptable. Therefore I am requesting an investigation and recall to fix the problem before a fatality occurs due to the resulting tire failure because of the front suspension defect. *js
Tail light, brake light or signal failure
Car runs great until check engine light comes on followed by vsc and then brake light. When those lights come on it runs rough and brakes make gear noise under driver's side hood area. Brake is very sluggish and almost non existent when it fails. Let it set, clear fault and runs fine until warm again. Have had all brakes checked and in good condition by mechanic today and problem persists. Appears to be an ecu or other electrical and not mechanical problem. Is extremely dangerous and should be addressed by manufacturer.
Car runs great until check engine light comes on followed by vsc and then brake light. When those lights come on it runs rough and brakes make gear noise under driver's side hood area. Brake is very sluggish and almost non existent when it fails. Let it set, clear fault and runs fine until warm again. Have had all brakes checked and in good condition by mechanic today and problem persists. Appears to be an ecu or other electrical and not mechanical problem. Is extremely dangerous and should be addressed by manufacturer.
Recalls on the 2002 model year
NHTSA has issued 1 recall campaign covering the 2002 Lexus IS, affecting an estimated 30 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover exterior lighting. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
Recalls also distort complaint counts. Publicity about a campaign reminds owners that complaining is possible, so reports for a recalled component often spike after the recall rather than before it.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
16,270 vehicles 2009-04-07- Defect
- Sabersport is recalling 16,270 combination corner and bumper lamp assemblies of various part numbers sold for use as aftermarket equipment for various passenger vehicles. These headlamps fail to conform to the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, "lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment." these lamps do not contain the required amber side reflectors.
- Consequence
- Decreased lighting visibility may result in a vehicle crash.
- Remedy
- Sabersport will notify owners and offer a full refund for the noncompliant combination lamps. The safety recall began on may 11, 2009. Owners may contact sabersport at 1-909-598-7589.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 2002 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
How 2002 compares with the other years
High risk for a 2002 — 259th riskiest of the 329 2002 vehicles we can rate. Every score on this site is a rank inside its own model year, which is what makes a 2004 and a 2019 comparable at all.
Across the 11 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2007 comes out best at 55 and 2012 worst at 79, with 2002 itself at 63.
If the model year is negotiable, 2007, 2008 and 2006 score lower than 2002 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 2002–2005 generation specifically, 2002 is the strongest year at 63 and 2003 the weakest at 77.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 2002-2005 generation, 2002 Lexus IS scores best at 63 and 2003 Lexus IS worst at 77.
Where these figures stop being useful
17 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 17 reports, 8 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 47% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
Named failure modes come from matching phrases in the complaint text, so a badly worded complaint can land in the wrong bucket. The effect washes out across hundreds of reports and does not wash out across five.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2002 Lexus IS?
The most-reported failures are other body or interior problem (5 reports, median 80,000 miles), tire blowout or tread separation (3 reports, median 60,000 miles) and tail light, brake light or signal failure (2 reports, median 205,000 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 2002 Lexus IS reliable?
It scores 63 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 259th riskiest of the 329 2002 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2002 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Lexus IS is best?
Within the 2002–2005 generation, 2002 scores best at 63 out of 100 and 2003 worst at 77. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed