Chevrolet Malibu Classic vs Mitsubishi Montero

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 Malibu Classic	Mitsubishi Montero
Complaints on file	406	989
Model years covered	1997–2008	1986–2006
Worst model year	2004	2001
Best model year	2007	1993
Crashes reported	33	83
Fires reported	6	18
Injuries reported	25	59
Deaths reported	4	8
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	16.7%	17%

Chevrolet Malibu Classic by year

3 10 5 13 17 21 18 144 123 16 36

97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 07 08

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

What breaks

Electrical System 169 41.6%

Steering 60 14.8%

Engine & Cooling 28 6.9%

Lights 27 6.7%

Fuel & Propulsion 22 5.4%

Airbags 15 3.7%

Other & Unspecified 14 3.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 11 2.7%

Mitsubishi Montero by year

8 4 1 10 25 22 18 17 35 106 40 85 91 47 68 213 132 53 7 1 6

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

Brakes 240 24.3%

Engine & Cooling 170 17.2%

Suspension 70 7.1%

Electrical System 68 6.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 63 6.4%

Steering 56 5.7%

Airbags 51 5.2%

Body & Structure 37 3.7%