2026 Lexus Is Safety Rating

Midsize luxury cars Β· Current IIHS listing Β· IIHS data updated 2026-09-04

Provisional record

The 2026 Lexus Is is not yet ranked. IIHS has published 3 of 4 primary tests and 3 of 4 selected occupant-protection details. Missing results are shown as missing, never assumed.

Reported so far: Moderate overlap front (updated test) Marginal; Side (updated test) Acceptable; Headlights (varies by trim/option) Good; Seat belt reminders Good; Latch ease of use Good.

β€”
Safety score / 100
Awaiting 2 results
No award
IIHS award
No current award
Not rated
NHTSA overall
Reference only, not scored
23
Class driver death rate
per million vehicle-years; all vehicles 38

IIHS crash-test results

Front Crash Prevention: PedestrianGood
Front Crash Prevention: Vehicle-to-VehicleAcceptable
Moderate Overlap Front: Updated Test Marginal
Side: Updated Test Acceptable
Headlights (Varies By Trim/option) Good
Seat Belt Reminders Good
Latch Ease Of Use Good
Detailed results by test (35 entries)

IIHS publishes these under the test they belong to, so the same label can appear more than once. Rear restraints and kinematics, rear head protection, structure and safety cage, and front restraints are the four that count toward the score (25%).

Moderate overlap front: updated test

Overall evaluation Marginal
Structure and safety cage Good
Driver injury measures
Head/neck Good
Chest Good
Thigh/hip Good
Leg/foot Good
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics Good
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck Acceptable
Chest Marginal
Thigh Good
Rear passenger restraints and dummy kinematics Acceptable

Side: updated test

Overall evaluation Acceptable
Structure and safety cage Marginal
Driver injury measures
Head/neck Good
Torso Acceptable
Pelvis Marginal
Driver head protection Good
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck Good
Torso Good
Pelvis Good
Rear passenger head protection Good

Headlights

Overall rating Good
Distance at which headlights provide at least 5 lux illumination:
Overall ratingApplies to 2021-26 models Good
Overall rating Acceptable
Distance at which headlights provide at least 5 lux illumination:
Overall ratingApplies to 2021-26 models Acceptable

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle 2.0

Overall evaluation Good

Front crash prevention: pedestrian

Overall evaluation Good

Seat belt reminders

Overall evaluation Good

Child seat anchors

Overall evaluation Good
View the IIHS report

Opens on iihs.org in a new tab

How the score is built

Primary IIHS tests (55%)
52.0
3/4 reported Β· small overlap, updated moderate overlap, updated side, headlights
Occupant-protection details (25%)
64.6
3/4 reported Β· rear restraints, rear head, safety cage, front restraints
Pedestrian front crash prevention (10%)
100.0
IIHS pedestrian AEB result: Good Β· vehicle-to-vehicle: Acceptable (shown, not scored)
Class context (10%)
71.9
Damped class-level driver death-rate term; award status is shown above but carries no weight
Injury-measure average (tiebreak only)
80.95
Mean of 21 published injury measures across the three crash tests. Orders vehicles with equal scores; carries no weight in the score.

Full formula, weights, and missing-data rules β†’

NHTSA 5-star rating

2026 LEXUS IS 350 4 DR N/A RWD

OverallNot rated
Frontal crashNot rated
Side crashβ˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…
Rolloverβ˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 9.5% risk

NHTSA stars are shown for reference and carry no weight in the score. NHTSA source. Why the two programs disagree β†’

Real-world context

MeasureResultWhat it covers
Class driver death rate23 per million registered vehicle-yearsMidsize luxury cars as a class, adjusted for driver age and sex (Farmer, 2023); all vehicles average 38. Class context only.

Compared with other midsize luxury cars

Closest-scoring current midsize luxury cars with complete IIHS records, plus the class leader. See every midsize luxury car ranked β†’

VehicleClass rankIIHS awardRear restraintsStarts atScore
2026 Audi A5 #1 of 5 TSP+ Acceptable $50,200 94.7
2026 Tesla Model 3 #3 of 5 β€” Good $36,990 91.7
2026 Audi A3 #4 of 5 β€” Good $40,100 79.7
2026 BMW 3 Series #5 of 5 β€” Marginal $47,500 76.7

Other model years of the Lexus Is

Model yearStatusIIHS awardPrimary tests reportedScore
2025 Lexus Is Archived β€” 2/4 Not ranked

Each model year keeps its own record. Ratings from one year are never copied to another unless IIHS states the test applies.

Our analysis

The 2026 Lexus Is belongs to the Midsize luxury cars class. This class has a below-average driver death rate compared with the national average of 38 deaths per million registered vehicle-years. The class figure is adjusted for driver age and sex, which removes a large part of the selection effect in raw death rates. It is still a class average, not a measurement of this model.

The Lexus Is has no IIHS Top Safety Pick award for 2026. That can mean a result below the award threshold in one test, or tests IIHS has not completed. Absence of an award is not evidence that the vehicle is unsafe.

Across the 5 IIHS rating categories reported, the Lexus Is earned 3 Good ratings. Results below Good deserve attention, especially the updated frontal and side tests that IIHS toughened in 2022 and 2023. Our updated crash test analysis explains what changed.

This analysis is produced independently; we have no affiliation with Lexus or any manufacturer. Read the full methodology or learn more about us.

Safety recalls for the 2026 Lexus Is

NHTSA does not yet list this model year in its recall database. That usually means the vehicle is too new to appear, not that it has been cleared.

Questions about the 2026 Lexus Is