Ford Tempo vs Chevrolet Lumina

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 Tempo	Chevrolet Lumina
Complaints on file	1,649	4,007
Model years covered	1981–2000	1987–2008
Worst model year	—	1995
Best model year	—	2001
Crashes reported	110	283
Fires reported	191	83
Injuries reported	86	159
Deaths reported	5	18
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	23.8%	13.6%

Ford Tempo by year

2 19 40 42 79 176 168 174 143 264 316 212 6 2 3 1 1 1

81 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00

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

What breaks

Electrical System 369 22.4%

Engine & Cooling 326 19.8%

Seat Belts 232 14.1%

Brakes 153 9.3%

Fuel & Propulsion 87 5.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 72 4.4%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 71 4.3%

Steering 66 4.0%

Chevrolet Lumina by year

2 615 483 483 344 190 670 312 438 276 132 36 25 1

87 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 08

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

What breaks

Brakes 1,252 31.2%

Engine & Cooling 423 10.6%

Electrical System 300 7.5%

Steering 287 7.2%

Body & Structure 226 5.6%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 199 5.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 196 4.9%

Seat Belts 182 4.5%