GMC Sonoma vs Ford Fiesta

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 Sonoma	Ford Fiesta
Complaints on file	1,739	4,342
Model years covered	1984–2005	1988–2019
Worst model year	1995	2011
Best model year	2002	2018
Crashes reported	179	206
Fires reported	19	43
Injuries reported	69	131
Deaths reported	2	13
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm	15.5%	9.1%

GMC Sonoma by year

1 1 35 33 72 297 254 190 160 202 78 180 108 74 53 1

84 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 05

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

What breaks

Brakes 530 30.5%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 240 13.8%

Engine & Cooling 134 7.7%

Body & Structure 125 7.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 109 6.3%

Seats 79 4.5%

Electrical System 74 4.3%

Airbags 68 3.9%

Ford Fiesta by year

1 1 3 1 1 1,040 833 917 653 368 253 105 46 120

88 89 91 01 02 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

Transmission & Drivetrain 1,509 34.8%

Engine & Cooling 550 12.7%

Body & Structure 411 9.5%

Other & Unspecified 394 9.1%

Electrical System 339 7.8%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 198 4.6%

Doors, Latches & Locks 184 4.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 161 3.7%