Ford Explorer Sport vs Cadillac Escalade

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 Explorer Sport	Cadillac Escalade
Complaints on file	939	2,305
Model years covered	1993–2005	1999–2026
Worst model year	2001	2007
Best model year	1997	2026
Crashes reported	66	134
Fires reported	63	78
Injuries reported	72	109
Deaths reported	7	3
Most complained-about part	Body & Structure	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	22.2%	14.1%

Ford Explorer Sport by year

5 44 145 127 102 243 160 85 23 5

93 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

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

What breaks

Body & Structure 116 12.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 102 10.9%

Engine & Cooling 77 8.2%

Electrical System 68 7.2%

Suspension 68 7.2%

Seats 68 7.2%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 67 7.1%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 59 6.3%

Cadillac Escalade by year

46 96 3 164 111 99 64 26 320 180 89 47 53 32 23 30 144 123 77 29 29 15 91 106 190 63 25 30

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 513 22.3%

Airbags 328 14.2%

Electrical System 273 11.8%

Brakes 183 7.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 175 7.6%

Other & Unspecified 111 4.8%

Fuel & Propulsion 100 4.3%

Suspension 73 3.2%