Ford Explorer Sport vs GMC Suburban

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	GMC Suburban
Complaints on file	939	2,323
Model years covered	1993–2005	1974–2004
Worst model year	2001	1994
Best model year	1997	2000
Crashes reported	66	246
Fires reported	63	39
Injuries reported	72	101
Deaths reported	7	7
Most complained-about part	Body & Structure	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	22.2%	16.9%

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%

GMC Suburban by year

1 2 5 6 4 8 8 24 28 33 105 254 490 294 220 268 137 393 20 5 9 8 1

74 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04

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

What breaks

Brakes 1,053 45.3%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 203 8.7%

Tires 136 5.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 129 5.6%

Electrical System 125 5.4%

Seats 105 4.5%

Engine & Cooling 100 4.3%

Steering 95 4.1%