What breaks

Which Cars Have the Most Brake Problems

Every complaint filed about this part since 1995, by model, by model year, and by the mileage it failed at.

3 min read · 301 figures, all from the federal record · rebuilt 3 hours ago

Owners have filed 196,407 complaints with NHTSA about the braking system — 9.1% of every complaint in the file. This is where those complaints land.

The heaviest single model year is the 2018 RAM 2500, with 2,314 complaints about this part alone, 61% of everything reported about that car.

Where owners recorded an odometer reading, the typical braking system failure on this list happened at about 61,500 miles.

Worst model years

Vehicle	Complaints	Share of that year	Median failure	Crashes	Fires
F 2018 RAM 2500	2,314	61%	57,103 mi	28	1
F 2010 Toyota Prius	2,020	58%	5,000 mi	125	0
F 1999 Chevrolet Silverado	1,073	51%	61,500 mi	60	3
D 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee	734	32%	36,678 mi	15	1
D 2003 Ford Windstar	687	33%	89,028 mi	7	5
F 2002 Ford Windstar	668	35%	94,860 mi	8	24
F 2000 Chevrolet Silverado	662	41%	55,000 mi	76	0
F 2018 RAM 3500	657	57%	55,000 mi	9	1
F 1994 Chevrolet Suburban	649	63%	180,140 mi	144	3
C 2013 Ford Edge	634	20%	86,000 mi	12	0
F 1995 Chevrolet Blazer	614	36%	111,000 mi	100	2
C 1995 Ford Windstar	599	12%	102,472 mi	48	5
F 1994 Chevrolet S10	596	49%	30,000 mi	115	1
D 2008 Honda Accord	583	31%	22,000 mi	7	1
D 2001 Ford Windstar	564	25%	100,000 mi	13	16
F 2008 Ford Fusion	557	36%	108,950 mi	29	0
B 2010 Ford Fusion	550	8%	110,000 mi	34	2
F 2009 Ford Fusion	537	46%	100,700 mi	42	1
F 1996 Chevrolet Blazer	508	32%	81,500 mi	108	3
F 2017 RAM 2500	506	50%	60,000 mi	7	1
C 2000 Ford Focus	487	9%	28,000 mi	33	5
D 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee	484	26%	30,000 mi	12	1
F 1994 Chevrolet Blazer	469	61%	134,000 mi	95	4
D 1998 Chevrolet Malibu	469	32%	58,000 mi	11	0
F 2001 Chevrolet Silverado	452	43%	50,400 mi	43	0

By brand

Across whole ranges rather than single years. On Chevrolet vehicles this part accounts for 14% of everything owners reported about the brand.

Chevrolet 36,065 22.6%

14% of all Chevrolet complaints, across 210 models

Ford 29,584 18.5%

8% of all Ford complaints, across 138 models

Toyota 15,839 9.9%

11% of all Toyota complaints, across 73 models

Dodge 13,087 8.2%

9% of all Dodge complaints, across 85 models

GMC 10,512 6.6%

17% of all GMC complaints, across 129 models

Jeep 9,632 6.0%

8% of all Jeep complaints, across 34 models

Honda 8,076 5.1%

6% of all Honda complaints, across 74 models

Nissan 6,495 4.1%

7% of all Nissan complaints, across 43 models

Hyundai 5,939 3.7%

8% of all Hyundai complaints, across 47 models

RAM 5,345 3.3%

19% of all RAM complaints, across 10 models

KIA 4,320 2.7%

7% of all KIA complaints, across 39 models

Chrysler 4,294 2.7%

6% of all Chrysler complaints, across 43 models

Pontiac 3,973 2.5%

10% of all Pontiac complaints, across 26 models

Volkswagen 3,622 2.3%

7% of all Volkswagen complaints, across 36 models

Buick 2,941 1.8%

10% of all Buick complaints, across 25 models

Complaints about this part, by make.

Where this sits in the whole record

Engine & Cooling 288,020 13.4%

Electrical System 246,872 11.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 216,960 10.1%

Brakes 196,407 9.1%

Airbags 155,546 7.2%

Steering 143,306 6.7%

Fuel & Propulsion 127,175 5.9%

Other & Unspecified 115,162 5.4%

Body & Structure 103,108 4.8%

Suspension 88,852 4.1%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 84,656 3.9%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 76,576 3.6%

Every complaint in the file, by part.

Source — NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation complaint file.

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.