Chrysler PT Cruiser vs Nissan Sentra

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	Chrysler PT Cruiser	Nissan Sentra
Complaints on file	3,420	8,318
Model years covered	2001–2010	1982–2026
Worst model year	2002	2015
Best model year	2009	2023
Crashes reported	268	867
Fires reported	155	170
Injuries reported	199	550
Deaths reported	9	16
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	18.5%	19.3%

Chrysler PT Cruiser by year

799 658 354 291 244 512 203 171 158 30

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

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

What breaks

Electrical System 578 16.9%

Engine & Cooling 461 13.5%

Lights 238 7.0%

Suspension 234 6.8%

Airbags 230 6.7%

Steering 229 6.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 221 6.5%

Body & Structure 178 5.2%

Nissan Sentra by year

1 1 4 6 9 46 40 49 45 77 81 89 130 158 177 138 76 74 236 309 372 240 235 224 155 215 233 81 212 201 260 871 526 501 407 341 287 360 320 216 142 34 64 49 26

82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 1,362 16.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 1,296 15.6%

Electrical System 850 10.2%

Airbags 796 9.6%

Brakes 622 7.5%

Other & Unspecified 598 7.2%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 426 5.1%

Steering 343 4.1%