What breaks

Which Cars Have the Most Electrical Problems

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

4 min read · 296 figures, all from the federal record · rebuilt 3 hours ago

Owners have filed 246,872 complaints with NHTSA about the electrical system — 11.5% of every complaint in the file. This is where those complaints land.

The heaviest single model year is the 2000 Ford Focus, with 1,406 complaints about this part alone, 27% of everything reported about that car.

Where owners recorded an odometer reading, the typical electrical system failure on this list happened at about 70,008 miles.

Worst model years

Vehicle	Complaints	Share of that year	Median failure	Crashes	Fires
D 2000 Ford Focus	1,406	27%	62,000 mi	21	72
F 2008 Chrysler Town AND Country	1,250	43%	84,000 mi	9	8
F 2010 Chrysler Town AND Country	986	41%	78,131 mi	6	18
D 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee	938	34%	90,800 mi	16	5
C 2013 Ford Edge	853	26%	45,000 mi	1	1
F 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee	837	36%	70,008 mi	5	97
F 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan	822	42%	85,000 mi	7	6
F 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee	781	32%	62,500 mi	8	51
F 2009 Dodge Journey	771	37%	80,000 mi	12	16
F 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee	755	43%	90,000 mi	15	3
D 2015 Chrysler 200	750	22%	50,000 mi	27	11
D 2006 Jeep Commander	696	30%	85,000 mi	24	8
F 2004 Chevrolet Impala	693	50%	68,328 mi	8	8
C 2011 Ford Edge	686	27%	55,000 mi	1	4
F 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee	662	45%	78,020 mi	12	5
F 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer	641	49%	65,000 mi	4	14
D 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer	621	33%	70,000 mi	4	10
F 2010 Dodge Journey	616	42%	78,890 mi	4	7
C 2016 Honda Pilot	581	25%	49,000 mi	3	5
F 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan	558	43%	85,000 mi	2	11
F 2003 Ford Focus	536	44%	60,000 mi	4	6
F 2011 Chrysler Town AND Country	525	47%	73,996 mi	2	6
D 2001 Ford Focus	521	22%	64,819 mi	5	31
F 2011 Dodge Durango	518	44%	68,585 mi	6	54
F 2008 Chrysler 300	505	53%	81,500 mi	9	8

By brand

Across whole ranges rather than single years. On Ford vehicles this part accounts for 9% of everything owners reported about the brand.

Ford 34,939 17.8%

9% of all Ford complaints, across 143 models

Chevrolet 33,500 17.1%

13% of all Chevrolet complaints, across 170 models

Dodge 20,517 10.5%

13% of all Dodge complaints, across 82 models

Jeep 19,086 9.7%

15% of all Jeep complaints, across 33 models

Honda 14,536 7.4%

12% of all Honda complaints, across 86 models

Chrysler 12,080 6.2%

18% of all Chrysler complaints, across 44 models

Toyota 9,649 4.9%

7% of all Toyota complaints, across 73 models

Nissan 8,577 4.4%

9% of all Nissan complaints, across 51 models

Hyundai 8,236 4.2%

11% of all Hyundai complaints, across 48 models

Volkswagen 7,197 3.7%

15% of all Volkswagen complaints, across 42 models

GMC 6,634 3.4%

10% of all GMC complaints, across 96 models

KIA 6,595 3.4%

11% of all KIA complaints, across 40 models

Pontiac 5,225 2.7%

13% of all Pontiac complaints, across 24 models

BMW 4,934 2.5%

12% of all BMW complaints, across 229 models

Mercedes Benz 4,599 2.3%

14% of all Mercedes Benz complaints, across 298 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.