Chevrolet Cavalier vs Dodge RAM 1500

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 Cavalier	Dodge RAM 1500
Complaints on file	6,452	16,087
Model years covered	1982–2005	1991–2014
Worst model year	1997	2005
Best model year	2005	1995
Crashes reported	554	1,173
Fires reported	167	356
Injuries reported	369	806
Deaths reported	21	30
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm	17.2%	14.7%

Chevrolet Cavalier by year

1 17 10 4 21 27 14 71 70 77 178 237 310 392 748 751 473 337 447 356 254 867 428 362

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

Electrical System 1,252 19.4%

Engine & Cooling 839 13.0%

Brakes 717 11.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 652 10.1%

Steering 415 6.4%

Airbags 346 5.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 332 5.1%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 322 5.0%

Dodge RAM 1500 by year

8 7 148 273 407 468 645 769 641 1,370 1,004 1,363 1,369 1,630 1,080 701 720 884 630 989 980 1

91 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 14

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

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 2,447 15.2%

Airbags 2,223 13.8%

Body & Structure 2,038 12.7%

Electrical System 1,426 8.9%

Engine & Cooling 1,388 8.6%

Suspension 916 5.7%

Steering 873 5.4%

Brakes 833 5.2%