FaultScore

Acura RL vs Ford E-150

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure Acura RL Ford E-150
Complaints on file 525 1,311
Model years covered 1996–2015 1989–2021
Worst model year 2000 1999
Best model year 1998 2007
Crashes reported 26 81
Fires reported 8 70
Injuries reported 13 54
Deaths reported 0 2
Most complained-about part Airbags Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm 9% 15.8%

Acura RL by year

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Airbags 141 26.9%
Lights 63 12.0%
Brakes 34 6.5%
Engine & Cooling 24 4.6%
Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 19 3.6%
Other & Unspecified 17 3.2%

Ford E-150 by year

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks