Audi A3 vs Ford Escape Hybrid

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	Audi A3	Ford Escape Hybrid
Complaints on file	945	2,267
Model years covered	2001–2025	2005–2025
Worst model year	2016	2020
Best model year	2023	2010
Crashes reported	33	69
Fires reported	9	18
Injuries reported	22	27
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	6.8%	5%

Audi A3 by year

1 2 7 140 63 46 66 60 51 48 25 134 115 75 47 15 19 12 10 1 8

01 03 04 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 24 25

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

What breaks

Airbags 339 35.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 126 13.3%

Fuel & Propulsion 115 12.2%

Electrical System 86 9.1%

Engine & Cooling 75 7.9%

Other & Unspecified 39 4.1%

Lights 30 3.2%

Seat Belts 20 2.1%

Ford Escape Hybrid by year

237 305 156 584 194 73 47 20 10 367 150 87 32 4 1

05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 20 21 22 23 24 25

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

What breaks

Brakes 434 19.1%

Engine & Cooling 417 18.4%

Steering 278 12.3%

Electrical System 238 10.5%

Body & Structure 187 8.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 157 6.9%

Other & Unspecified 132 5.8%

Fuel & Propulsion 120 5.3%