FaultScore

Honda Accord vs Chevrolet Malibu

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 Honda Accord Chevrolet Malibu
Complaints on file 32,025 29,413
Model years covered 1979–2026 1964–2025
Worst model year 2008 2010
Best model year 1993 2022
Crashes reported 2,780 1,224
Fires reported 316 234
Injuries reported 1,815 743
Deaths reported 59 38
Most complained-about part Electrical System Steering
Share of complaints involving harm 15.5% 7.6%

Honda Accord by year

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

What breaks

Electrical System 4,144 12.9%
Airbags 4,117 12.9%
Engine & Cooling 3,398 10.6%
Brakes 2,940 9.2%
Other & Unspecified 1,746 5.5%
Steering 1,643 5.1%

Chevrolet Malibu by year

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

What breaks

Steering 5,713 19.4%
Electrical System 4,816 16.4%
Engine & Cooling 3,161 10.7%
Brakes 2,824 9.6%
Lights 2,060 7.0%
Other & Unspecified 1,290 4.4%