Ford Flex vs Saturn ION

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 Flex	Saturn ION
Complaints on file	2,511	5,471
Model years covered	2009–2019	2003–2008
Worst model year	2009	2006
Best model year	2017	2005
Crashes reported	105	334
Fires reported	18	23
Injuries reported	74	175
Deaths reported	3	4
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Steering
Share of complaints involving harm	8%	9.8%

Ford Flex by year

272 181 178 89 777 325 122 131 56 81 299

09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

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

What breaks

Electrical System 393 15.7%

Steering 381 15.2%

Other & Unspecified 242 9.6%

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 235 9.4%

Engine & Cooling 227 9.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 193 7.7%

Body & Structure 185 7.4%

Suspension 106 4.2%

Saturn ION by year

961 1,124 755 1,537 1,090 4

03 04 05 06 07 08

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

What breaks

Steering 1,724 31.5%

Electrical System 1,598 29.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 583 10.7%

Engine & Cooling 288 5.3%

Airbags 263 4.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 202 3.7%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 116 2.1%

Lights 106 1.9%