What breaks

Which Cars Have the Most Stability and Traction Control Problems

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

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

Owners have filed 23,937 complaints with NHTSA about the stability control — 1.1% of every complaint in the file. This is where those complaints land.

The heaviest single model year is the 2009 Chevrolet Malibu, with 277 complaints about this part alone, 12% of everything reported about that car.

Where owners recorded an odometer reading, the typical stability control failure on this list happened at about 83,217 miles.

Worst model years

Vehicle	Complaints	Share of that year	Median failure	Crashes	Fires
B 2009 Chevrolet Malibu	277	12%	115,000 mi	5	1
C 2002 Toyota Sequoia	274	24%	122,396 mi	5	0
B 2010 Chevrolet Malibu	250	11%	84,910 mi	3	0
C 2003 Toyota Sequoia	216	25%	87,000 mi	3	0
B 2011 Chevrolet Malibu	189	12%	84,250 mi	3	0
C 2001 Toyota Sequoia	184	21%	128,000 mi	3	0
B 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500	161	7%	65,000 mi	7	1
A 2010 Ford Fusion	155	2%	87,300 mi	4	1
C 2009 Chevrolet Impala	154	11%	83,217 mi	8	1
C 2011 Chevrolet Impala	150	18%	68,994 mi	1	2
B 2012 Chevrolet Malibu	139	9%	93,000 mi	6	0
C 2004 Toyota Sequoia	132	23%	85,500 mi	1	1
C 2013 Chevrolet Impala	125	27%	55,000 mi	2	0
B 2011 Chevrolet Traverse	124	13%	75,392 mi	3	0
B 2014 Chevrolet Traverse	120	14%	75,000 mi	0	0
C 2005 Toyota Sequoia	118	21%	90,900 mi	0	0
B 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid	117	12%	110,050 mi	3	0
B 2012 Chevrolet Cruze	110	8%	60,500 mi	5	0
A 2015 Chrysler 200	109	3%	55,000 mi	4	0
C 2005 Chevrolet Corvette	108	15%	37,003 mi	6	1
A 2014 Chevrolet Impala	107	10%	69,000 mi	0	0
A 2011 Ford Fusion	103	3%	73,000 mi	4	0
B 2005 Honda Pilot	101	11%	109,440 mi	2	0
B 2010 Toyota Prius	98	3%	10,000 mi	8	0
B 2010 Chevrolet Impala	95	13%	77,000 mi	0	0

By brand

Across whole ranges rather than single years. On Chevrolet vehicles this part accounts for 2% of everything owners reported about the brand.

Chevrolet 5,656 27.4%

2% of all Chevrolet complaints, across 63 models

Toyota 2,850 13.8%

2% of all Toyota complaints, across 38 models

Ford 2,379 11.5%

1% of all Ford complaints, across 53 models

Jeep 1,417 6.9%

1% of all Jeep complaints, across 24 models

Dodge 1,334 6.5%

1% of all Dodge complaints, across 30 models

Hyundai 1,020 4.9%

1% of all Hyundai complaints, across 23 models

Honda 1,017 4.9%

1% of all Honda complaints, across 27 models

GMC 877 4.2%

1% of all GMC complaints, across 34 models

Nissan 820 4.0%

1% of all Nissan complaints, across 24 models

Chrysler 786 3.8%

1% of all Chrysler complaints, across 26 models

Volkswagen 559 2.7%

1% of all Volkswagen complaints, across 24 models

KIA 513 2.5%

1% of all KIA complaints, across 20 models

Mercedes Benz 498 2.4%

1% of all Mercedes Benz complaints, across 105 models

BMW 487 2.4%

1% of all BMW complaints, across 76 models

Pontiac 437 2.1%

1% of all Pontiac complaints, across 14 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.