GMC Sierra 2500 vs Tesla Model S

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	GMC Sierra 2500	Tesla Model S
Complaints on file	2,297	5,291
Model years covered	1994–2026	2012–2026
Worst model year	2001	2016
Best model year	1998	2024
Crashes reported	112	660
Fires reported	64	94
Injuries reported	59	207
Deaths reported	4	35
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	10.4%	18.8%

GMC Sierra 2500 by year

2 14 19 42 63 171 164 193 175 159 78 98 78 37 11 81 40 57 39 100 77 51 46 40 108 65 54 41 141 38 15

94 97 98 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

Brakes 523 22.8%

Electrical System 291 12.7%

Engine & Cooling 208 9.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 203 8.8%

Airbags 167 7.3%

Fuel & Propulsion 145 6.3%

Other & Unspecified 140 6.1%

Steering 133 5.8%

Tesla Model S by year

89 677 546 1,057 1,029 674 288 73 123 279 199 166 78 7 6

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

Electrical System 1,001 18.9%

Other & Unspecified 864 16.3%

Suspension 731 13.8%

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 673 12.7%

Steering 345 6.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 273 5.2%

Brakes 209 4.0%

Lights 195 3.7%