Cadillac ATS vs Mazda Protege

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	Cadillac ATS	Mazda Protege
Complaints on file	556	1,377
Model years covered	2013–2019	1989–2003
Worst model year	2013	1995
Best model year	2017	1998
Crashes reported	36	242
Fires reported	2	30
Injuries reported	32	197
Deaths reported	0	4
Most complained-about part	Transmission & Drivetrain	Seat Belts
Share of complaints involving harm	12.6%	34.4%

Cadillac ATS by year

255 142 42 45 42 26 4

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

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

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 101 18.2%

Electrical System 76 13.7%

Engine & Cooling 74 13.3%

Steering 61 11.0%

Other & Unspecified 54 9.7%

Airbags 29 5.2%

Brakes 27 4.9%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 16 2.9%

Mazda Protege by year

2 45 60 72 56 89 232 91 103 53 102 126 68 133 145

89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03

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

What breaks

Seat Belts 230 16.7%

Airbags 171 12.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 170 12.3%

Engine & Cooling 144 10.5%

Brakes 103 7.5%

Electrical System 74 5.4%

Tires 54 3.9%

Suspension 48 3.5%