GMC Sonoma vs Subaru Legacy

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	Subaru Legacy
Complaints on file	1,739	4,171
Model years covered	1984–2005	1987–2025
Worst model year	1995	2015
Best model year	2002	2024
Crashes reported	179	394
Fires reported	19	75
Injuries reported	69	206
Deaths reported	2	6
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	15.5%	16.3%

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%

Subaru Legacy by year

1 1 1 103 121 66 90 67 230 161 179 155 119 119 90 71 69 55 250 135 45 83 75 218 236 119 84 73 232 194 141 165 143 143 43 42 12 30 10

87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 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

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 473 11.3%

Electrical System 439 10.5%

Airbags 407 9.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 378 9.1%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 369 8.8%

Brakes 336 8.1%

Other & Unspecified 290 7.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 222 5.3%