Safety and harm
The Cars That Break Inside the Warranty
Failures reported under 36,000 miles, where a part wearing out is not an explanation.
2 min read · 205 figures, all from the federal record · rebuilt 3 hours ago
About half of all complaints record the odometer reading when the failure happened. Across the whole file, 29.3% of those failures happened under 36,000 miles — inside a typical bumper-to-bumper warranty, and early enough that wear is not an explanation.
On the 2009 BMW K1300 S, that figure is 100.0%: 62 of the 62 complaints with a mileage on record.
Highest share of failures under 36,000 miles
| Vehicle | Under 36k | Mileage on record | Share | Median failure | Most reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 BMW K1300 S | 62 | 62 | 100.0% | 1,200 mi | Engine & Cooling |
| 2009 Buell 1125CR | 63 | 63 | 100.0% | 4,705 mi | Electrical System |
| 2013 Kawasaki Ninja 300 | 68 | 68 | 100.0% | 250 mi | Engine & Cooling |
| 2007 Ducati Sport Classic | 63 | 63 | 100.0% | 3,200 mi | Fuel & Propulsion |
| 2013 Husqvarna TR650 | 75 | 75 | 100.0% | 500 mi | Fuel & Propulsion |
| 2006 Ducati Sport Classic | 74 | 74 | 100.0% | 4,000 mi | Fuel & Propulsion |
| 2007 Yamaha YZFR1 | 80 | 80 | 100.0% | 98 mi | Acceleration & Cruise Control |
| D 2008 Kawasaki KLR650 | 121 | 121 | 100.0% | 2,000 mi | Lights |
| C 2019 Chevrolet Corvette | 109 | 109 | 100.0% | 7,200 mi | Wheels |
| F 2013 Can-Am Spyder RT | 156 | 156 | 100.0% | 1,225 mi | Fuel & Propulsion |
| D 2019 Volkswagen GTI | 271 | 272 | 99.6% | 440 mi | Engine & Cooling |
| D 2007 Suzuki VZR1800 | 92 | 93 | 98.9% | 4,550 mi | Transmission & Drivetrain |
| 2014 Yamaha Bolt | 81 | 82 | 98.8% | 97 mi | Electrical System |
| D 2020 Audi Q3 | 65 | 66 | 98.5% | 1,818 mi | Electrical System |
| D 2004 Honda VTX1300 | 61 | 62 | 98.4% | 4,860 mi | Steering |
| 2015 Harley-Davidson XG750 | 108 | 110 | 98.2% | 300 mi | Fuel & Propulsion |
| C 2021 Subaru Outback | 67 | 70 | 95.7% | 3,425 mi | Windows, Mirrors & Wipers |
| 2023 Fisker Ocean | 110 | 115 | 95.7% | 5,133 mi | Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance |
| F 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid | 92 | 97 | 94.8% | 2,525 mi | Fuel & Propulsion |
| C 2006 Pontiac GTO | 214 | 226 | 94.7% | 1,200 mi | Suspension |
| D 2014 Ford Focus Electric | 86 | 91 | 94.5% | 5,972 mi | Electrical System |
| D 2017 Chevrolet Corvette | 183 | 194 | 94.3% | 13,178 mi | Wheels |
| D 2020 Subaru Ascent | 154 | 164 | 93.9% | 6,300 mi | Electrical System |
| F 2019 Subaru Forester | 517 | 552 | 93.7% | 8,743 mi | Windows, Mirrors & Wipers |
| C 2019 Toyota Tacoma | 138 | 148 | 93.2% | 5,500 mi | Fuel & Propulsion |
Model years with at least sixty complaints carrying a mileage.
Source — Odometer readings as supplied by complainants to NHTSA.
How this was made. Nobody wrote this article and left it to age. It is generated by a query against the complaint database, and rebuilt every time the data is — so the numbers in the sentences above are the numbers as they stand today, not as they stood when somebody last had time to update them. How the grading works.