Ford Contour vs GMC Sierra 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	Ford Contour	GMC Sierra 1500
Complaints on file	4,570	11,357
Model years covered	1993–2001	1994–2026
Worst model year	1995	2019
Best model year	1994	1994
Crashes reported	211	361
Fires reported	167	142
Injuries reported	174	186
Deaths reported	6	3
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	12.2%	6.1%

Ford Contour by year

5 13 1,323 858 314 1,189 616 248 4

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 704 15.4%

Electrical System 646 14.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 435 9.5%

Brakes 366 8.0%

Suspension 305 6.7%

Fuel & Propulsion 284 6.2%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 232 5.1%

Body & Structure 231 5.1%

GMC Sierra 1500 by year

15 3 7 100 68 182 215 171 192 210 253 218 182 313 440 280 216 364 149 147 1,031 928 445 473 420 892 661 741 729 582 461 151 118

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 2,108 18.6%

Brakes 1,775 15.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 1,274 11.2%

Electrical System 1,178 10.4%

Airbags 947 8.3%

Other & Unspecified 859 7.6%

Steering 605 5.3%

Body & Structure 561 4.9%