Most complained-about vehicle problems
Car complaints by make, model, and year — the problems owners report most, and the specific cars and brands behind them, ranked across the entire NHTSA complaint record. One honest caveat up front: these are volume rankings, and volume partly tracks how many sold.
"Most complained-about" is a real, useful number — and an easy one to misread. A car that sold a million units will out-complain a car that sold ten thousand, even if it’s the better vehicle per owner. So read these as where the noise is loudest, not a verdict on which car is worst. For the fairness-adjusted call — each model judged against its own peer years — use the worst model years to avoid ranking.
The most-complained-about problems
Component categories ranked by total NHTSA complaints across the fleet.
The most-complained-about vehicles
Specific model years by raw complaint volume. Popular nameplates dominate by design — that’s the volume effect, not a reliability verdict.
| # | Vehicle | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2010 Ford Fusion | 5,124 | 3 |
| 2 | 2012 Ford Focus | 3,789 | 1 |
| 3 | 2007 Toyota Camry | 3,613 | 1 |
| 4 | 2011 Hyundai Sonata | 3,369 | 6 |
| 5 | 2010 Toyota Prius | 2,819 | 2 |
| 6 | 2013 Ford F-150 | 2,796 | 2 |
| 7 | 2011 Ford Fusion | 2,782 | 4 |
| 8 | 2013 Ford Escape | 2,744 | 5 |
| 9 | 2014 Ford Focus | 2,644 | 3 |
| 10 | 2014 Jeep Cherokee | 2,636 | 3 |
| 11 | 2017 Ford Escape | 2,629 | 2 |
| 12 | 2012 Ford Fusion | 2,605 | 2 |
Want the fair version? See worst model years to avoid, which ranks each model against its own years instead of by popularity.
The most-complained-about brands
Total complaints by manufacturer — again, heavily a sales-volume effect.
How this is ranked
All figures are summed from the US NHTSA owner-complaint record. Problems are grouped by NHTSA component category; vehicle and brand rankings are raw complaint totals. Because raw totals scale with how many of a vehicle were sold, none of these rankings should be read as "least reliable." For per-car reliability we publish a reliability-adjusted view; for the underlying numbers, see the data center. NHTSA complaints are unverified consumer reports.
Go deeper
Common questions
What is the most complained-about vehicle problem?
Across the NHTSA owner-complaint record, electrical problems draw the most complaints, followed closely by powertrain and engine issues. These are the categories where the most owners report a failure — see the full ranking above, each linking to the specific vehicles with the worst record in that category.
Does "most complained-about" mean least reliable?
Not by itself. Raw complaint counts partly reflect how many of a vehicle were sold — a popular model will rack up more complaints than a rare one even if it’s no worse per car. For a fairness-adjusted view that compares each model only against its own peer years, use the "worst model years to avoid" ranking, which is built to remove that volume bias.
Which car brand has the most complaints?
By raw volume, the highest-selling mainstream brands top the list — which is largely a sales-volume effect, not proof they’re the least reliable. The brand ranking here is honest about that. Drill into a specific year and model for the signal that actually matters to a buyer.
Where does this data come from?
Every figure is computed from the US NHTSA owner-complaint and recall record. Complaints are unverified consumer reports filed with NHTSA — powerful as aggregate patterns, but individual reports are allegations, not confirmed defects.