Buick Lesabre vs Toyota RAV4

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 Lesabre	Toyota RAV4
Complaints on file	4,865	12,161
Model years covered	1971–2006	1994–2025
Worst model year	2000	2021
Best model year	1996	1997
Crashes reported	278	1,192
Fires reported	320	437
Injuries reported	213	602
Deaths reported	6	14
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	16.8%	18.5%

Buick Lesabre by year

1 1 2 1 1 7 6 20 53 22 35 75 46 245 264 220 235 121 514 518 268 849 460 381 209 212 95 4

71 77 79 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 848 17.4%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 590 12.1%

Electrical System 562 11.6%

Brakes 476 9.8%

Fuel & Propulsion 319 6.6%

Airbags 293 6.0%

Body & Structure 293 6.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 267 5.5%

Toyota RAV4 by year

4 1 54 61 92 75 34 418 682 392 183 168 880 1,240 708 397 498 403 357 332 279 400 295 413 443 1,181 800 519 219 255 264 114

94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 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

Engine & Cooling 1,636 13.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 1,400 11.5%

Electrical System 1,369 11.3%

Other & Unspecified 1,077 8.9%

Steering 945 7.8%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 902 7.4%

Airbags 852 7.0%

Brakes 674 5.5%