Ford Escort vs Subaru Outback

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 Escort	Subaru Outback
Complaints on file	5,050	12,381
Model years covered	1981–2003	1995–2026
Worst model year	1997	2017
Best model year	2002	1997
Crashes reported	629	686
Fires reported	610	149
Injuries reported	456	307
Deaths reported	24	8
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	34%	9.3%

Ford Escort by year

2 5 7 27 31 53 65 206 199 128 413 222 480 351 725 257 729 470 413 128 85 41 13

81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03

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

What breaks

Electrical System 872 17.3%

Seat Belts 660 13.1%

Engine & Cooling 557 11.0%

Airbags 493 9.8%

Fuel & Propulsion 433 8.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 324 6.4%

Suspension 310 6.1%

Brakes 291 5.8%

Subaru Outback by year

3 57 94 165 150 247 207 172 116 108 354 404 182 281 143 469 857 369 408 276 650 775 1,106 991 1,288 1,135 415 556 126 138 120 19

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

Electrical System 2,289 18.5%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 2,092 16.9%

Other & Unspecified 1,322 10.7%

Engine & Cooling 1,023 8.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 990 8.0%

Airbags 701 5.7%

Brakes 613 5.0%

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 538 4.3%