Audi Quattro vs Oldsmobile Ciera

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 Quattro	Oldsmobile Ciera
Complaints on file	143	354
Model years covered	1987–2009	1984–1996
Worst model year	1999	1996
Best model year	1998	1995
Crashes reported	11	42
Fires reported	4	4
Injuries reported	2	30
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	11.9%	21.5%

Audi Quattro by year

1 5 8 3 1 1 10 15 10 34 7 26 17 4 1

87 90 91 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 09

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

What breaks

Brakes 21 14.7%

Engine & Cooling 17 11.9%

Electrical System 15 10.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 13 9.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 11 7.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 9 6.3%

Steering 9 6.3%

Tires 9 6.3%

Oldsmobile Ciera by year

3 9 15 27 32 37 24 55 45 107

84 85 86 87 88 89 90 94 95 96

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

What breaks

Brakes 69 19.5%

Engine & Cooling 48 13.6%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 33 9.3%

Electrical System 31 8.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 27 7.6%

Seat Belts 26 7.3%

Body & Structure 19 5.4%

Steering 17 4.8%