FaultScore

Buick Lucerne vs Ford Freestar

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 Lucerne Ford Freestar
Complaints on file 1,332 3,223
Model years covered 2006–2011 2004–2007
Worst model year 2006 2004
Best model year 2010 2007
Crashes reported 119 43
Fires reported 79 28
Injuries reported 77 46
Deaths reported 3 1
Most complained-about part Electrical System Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm 20.9% 3.7%

Buick Lucerne by year

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

What breaks

Electrical System 405 30.4%
Fuel & Propulsion 137 10.3%
Engine & Cooling 106 8.0%
Body & Structure 103 7.7%
Steering 84 6.3%
Airbags 79 5.9%
Brakes 56 4.2%

Ford Freestar by year

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 254 7.9%
Body & Structure 138 4.3%
Seats 122 3.8%
Brakes 116 3.6%
Steering 53 1.6%