Honda Civic vs Ford Escape

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 Civic Ford Escape
Complaints on file 20,348 36,407
Model years covered 1979–2026 2000–2026
Worst model year 2001 2013
Best model year 1994 2025
Crashes reported 2,377 1,133
Fires reported 247 754
Injuries reported 1,478 752
Deaths reported 37 25
Most complained-about part Airbags Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm 20.3% 7.3%

Honda Civic by year

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

What breaks

Airbags 2,932 14.4%
Steering 2,559 12.6%
Engine & Cooling 1,886 9.3%
Electrical System 1,570 7.7%
Other & Unspecified 1,358 6.7%
Brakes 1,073 5.3%

Ford Escape by year

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 9,505 26.1%
Steering 3,955 10.9%
Fuel & Propulsion 2,570 7.1%
Electrical System 2,535 7.0%
Body & Structure 2,323 6.4%
Other & Unspecified 2,094 5.8%