Buick Century vs Tesla Model S

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	Buick Century	Tesla Model S
Complaints on file	2,393	5,283
Model years covered	1981–2005	2012–2026
Worst model year	1999	2016
Best model year	2005	2024
Crashes reported	184	659
Fires reported	48	94
Injuries reported	128	207
Deaths reported	4	35
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	15.2%	18.8%

Buick Century by year

1 4 10 11 9 43 32 26 46 49 50 64 71 144 127 110 132 278 287 249 190 204 170 51 35

81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 304 12.7%

Brakes 289 12.1%

Electrical System 231 9.7%

Lights 193 8.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 172 7.2%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 170 7.1%

Steering 168 7.0%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 120 5.0%

Tesla Model S by year

89 677 546 1,057 1,027 673 288 73 123 279 198 162 78 7 6

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

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

What breaks

Electrical System 1,001 18.9%

Other & Unspecified 863 16.3%

Suspension 730 13.8%

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 672 12.7%

Steering 344 6.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 273 5.2%

Brakes 208 3.9%

Lights 195 3.7%