GMC Sonoma vs Nissan Xterra

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	Nissan Xterra
Complaints on file	1,739	4,194
Model years covered	1984–2005	2000–2015
Worst model year	1995	2006
Best model year	2002	2009
Crashes reported	179	173
Fires reported	19	60
Injuries reported	69	111
Deaths reported	2	8
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Fuel & Propulsion
Share of complaints involving harm	15.5%	8.4%

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%

Nissan Xterra by year

258 197 214 97 110 1,175 1,034 770 174 26 58 27 17 7 15 15

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15

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

What breaks

Fuel & Propulsion 1,106 26.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 1,045 24.9%

Engine & Cooling 823 19.6%

Electrical System 209 5.0%

Airbags 179 4.3%

Other & Unspecified 121 2.9%

Brakes 114 2.7%

Steering 110 2.6%