Ford Thunderbird vs Chevrolet S10

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 Thunderbird	Chevrolet S10
Complaints on file	3,081	7,335
Model years covered	1960–2005	1981–2018
Worst model year	1994	1995
Best model year	2005	2004
Crashes reported	175	923
Fires reported	172	135
Injuries reported	128	494
Deaths reported	11	16
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	15.8%	21.4%

Ford Thunderbird by year

1 1 1 1 1 1 3 4 33 16 32 73 116 147 179 130 234 559 426 353 295 228 4 2 116 50 40 35

60 65 70 77 78 79 80 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 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

Engine & Cooling 609 19.8%

Brakes 499 16.2%

Electrical System 329 10.7%

Lights 277 9.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 252 8.2%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 180 5.8%

Seat Belts 175 5.7%

Fuel & Propulsion 139 4.5%

Chevrolet S10 by year

1 2 7 9 15 32 44 43 55 34 253 221 276 1,225 1,151 875 574 742 298 559 405 246 230 30 1 1 1 5

81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 06 16 17 18

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

What breaks

Brakes 2,126 29.0%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 973 13.3%

Engine & Cooling 541 7.4%

Body & Structure 465 6.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 448 6.1%

Airbags 385 5.2%

Electrical System 345 4.7%

Fuel & Propulsion 343 4.7%