GMC Suburban vs Dodge RAM

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 Suburban	Dodge RAM
Complaints on file	2,323	5,489
Model years covered	1974–2004	1976–2010
Worst model year	1994	1995
Best model year	2000	2009
Crashes reported	246	605
Fires reported	39	196
Injuries reported	101	335
Deaths reported	7	18
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	16.9%	21%

GMC Suburban by year

1 2 5 6 4 8 8 24 28 33 105 254 490 294 220 268 137 393 20 5 9 8 1

74 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04

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

What breaks

Brakes 1,053 45.3%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 203 8.7%

Tires 136 5.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 129 5.6%

Electrical System 125 5.4%

Seats 105 4.5%

Engine & Cooling 100 4.3%

Steering 95 4.1%

Dodge RAM by year

2 2 4 2 1 2 14 20 21 27 35 23 63 75 66 623 852 905 513 644 496 212 417 152 65 71 47 36 20 33 13 33

76 77 79 81 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

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

What breaks

Brakes 995 18.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 730 13.3%

Steering 413 7.5%

Engine & Cooling 411 7.5%

Electrical System 399 7.3%

Suspension 380 6.9%

Airbags 354 6.4%

Fuel & Propulsion 268 4.9%