FaultScore

Chevrolet Silverado 1500 vs Ford Focus

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 Silverado 1500 Ford Focus
Complaints on file 23,432 29,786
Model years covered 1994–2026 1999–2018
Worst model year 2019 2000
Best model year 2012 1999
Crashes reported 1,086 1,631
Fires reported 354 424
Injuries reported 547 979
Deaths reported 52 54
Most complained-about part Brakes Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm 8.7% 10.4%

Chevrolet Silverado 1500 by year

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

What breaks

Brakes 4,765 20.3%
Engine & Cooling 2,949 12.6%
Electrical System 2,656 11.3%
Airbags 2,406 10.3%
Other & Unspecified 1,550 6.6%
Steering 1,524 6.5%
Body & Structure 929 4.0%

Ford Focus 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 4,474 15.0%
Engine & Cooling 3,622 12.2%
Fuel & Propulsion 2,723 9.1%
Steering 2,111 7.1%
Other & Unspecified 1,536 5.2%
Brakes 1,204 4.0%