Ford Excursion vs Chrysler PT Cruiser

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 Excursion	Chrysler PT Cruiser
Complaints on file	1,385	3,420
Model years covered	1997–2010	2001–2010
Worst model year	2000	2002
Best model year	2005	2009
Crashes reported	97	268
Fires reported	102	155
Injuries reported	52	199
Deaths reported	6	9
Most complained-about part	Tires	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	18.6%	18.5%

Ford Excursion by year

1 10 635 240 150 139 125 84 1

97 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 10

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

What breaks

Tires 296 21.4%

Engine & Cooling 246 17.8%

Electrical System 157 11.3%

Brakes 129 9.3%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 78 5.6%

Suspension 77 5.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 63 4.5%

Fuel & Propulsion 52 3.8%

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%