There are 6 stored owner reports matching the fuel system leading-label group for the 2002 Lexus ES in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 6 of 6 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)WHEN I STOP AND TRY TO ACCELERATE THE CAR HESITATE AND THEN STARTS TO JERK. IF I GIVE IT HEAVY GAS IT DRIVES NORMAL
CAR BEGAN TO LURCH, STOPPED, SMOKE AND FLAMES BEGAN COMING OUT OF FRONT OF CAR. FIRE ENLARGED, SEVERAL SMALL EXPLOSIONS. FIREMEN PUT OUT FIRE, BUT FRONT HALF OF CAR TOTALLY BURNT. *TR
I WAS DRIVING MY 2002 LEXUS E300 ON RTE95 IN PROVIDENCE R.I. I WAS IN THE MIDDLE LANE TRAVELING AT THE SPEED OF THE TRAFFIC--65MPH. SUDDENLY T CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT CAME ON AND WITHOUT WARNING WHEN I STEPPED ON THE GAS PEDAL THERE WAS NO RESPONSE. I WAS IN THE MIDST OF HEAVY TRAFFIC LOSING SPEED RAPIDLY. FORTUNATELY I WAS ABLE TO COAST TO THE EDGE OF THE ROAD . THE CHIP WHICH FEEDS GAS TO THE ENGINE FAILED. *TR
ON JUNE 15, 2009 WE WERE DRIVING HOME AND MY HUSBAND FELT THE CAR ALMOST STALLED. THEN WE SMELLED GASOLINE AND SAW SMOKE COMING FROM THE BOTTOM RIGHT UNDER THE ENGINE. WE EXITED THE CAR AND IT WAS ALREADY ON FIRE. THE CAR BURST INTO FLAMES AND WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED. IT WAS A 2002 LEXUS 300ES WITH ONLY 44,000 MILES. TOYOTA HAS BEEN EXTREMELY RUDE TO US AND TOOK ALMOST A MONTH TO INSPECT THE CAR. THEY SAY THEY CANNOT DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE. HOW CAN A CAR START ON FIRE WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING IT OVER STRAIGHT ROADS.? WE NEVER HAD AN ACCIDENT OR ANY OTHER PROBLEM. I READ OF A COUPLE OF OTHER LEXUSES THAT CAUGHT FIRE. SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE TO MAKE TOYOTA FULLY EXAMINE THIS PROBLEM. *TR
GAS CAP IS VERY HARD TO TWIST OFF. CONSUMER DEVELOPED A SPRANG WRIST TRYING TO TWIST IS OFF. SPRING CLIP CAUSES IT TO LOCK UP.*AK
UPON PURCHASING VEHICLE THERE WAS A DESIGN DEFECT IN FUEL TANK. CANNOT GET GAS CAP OFF VEHICLE TO PUT GASOLINE IN IT. CONTACTED THE DEALER. *AK CONSUMER STATES THE FILLER CAP WAS REPLACED WITH A NEW VERSION BUT IT REQUIRED A TOOL TO REMOVE IT AND DID NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. *YH
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Aug 30, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.