FaultScore

Honda Civic vs Ford Explorer

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 Explorer
Complaints on file 20,273 43,182
Model years covered 1979–2026 1977–2026
Worst model year 2001 1998
Best model year 1994 2008
Crashes reported 2,375 2,346
Fires reported 247 987
Injuries reported 1,473 1,945
Deaths reported 37 182
Most complained-about part Airbags Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm 20.4% 12.6%

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 2,926 14.4%
Steering 2,536 12.5%
Engine & Cooling 1,881 9.3%
Electrical System 1,562 7.7%
Other & Unspecified 1,343 6.6%
Brakes 1,072 5.3%

Ford Explorer by year

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

What breaks

Body & Structure 5,304 12.3%
Engine & Cooling 4,189 9.7%
Tires 4,187 9.7%
Steering 4,173 9.7%
Other & Unspecified 3,096 7.2%
Electrical System 2,300 5.3%
Brakes 2,221 5.1%