Chevrolet Avalanche vs Saturn ION

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	Chevrolet Avalanche	Saturn ION
Complaints on file	2,473	5,471
Model years covered	2000–2013	2003–2008
Worst model year	2002	2006
Best model year	2006	2005
Crashes reported	110	334
Fires reported	21	23
Injuries reported	79	175
Deaths reported	4	4
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Steering
Share of complaints involving harm	8.7%	9.8%

Chevrolet Avalanche by year

2 2 562 238 202 85 14 493 323 96 147 161 43 105

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13

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

What breaks

Airbags 593 24.0%

Brakes 373 15.1%

Other & Unspecified 312 12.6%

Body & Structure 275 11.1%

Electrical System 209 8.5%

Engine & Cooling 136 5.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 108 4.4%

Fuel & Propulsion 65 2.6%

Saturn ION by year

961 1,124 755 1,537 1,090 4

03 04 05 06 07 08

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

What breaks

Steering 1,724 31.5%

Electrical System 1,598 29.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 583 10.7%

Engine & Cooling 288 5.3%

Airbags 263 4.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 202 3.7%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 116 2.1%

Lights 106 1.9%