Hyundai Sonata 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 Hyundai Sonata Ford Escape
Complaints on file 22,302 36,407
Model years covered 1987–2026 2000–2026
Worst model year 2013 2013
Best model year 2025 2025
Crashes reported 1,151 1,133
Fires reported 851 754
Injuries reported 740 752
Deaths reported 21 25
Most complained-about part Engine & Cooling Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm 12.4% 7.3%

Hyundai Sonata 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 5,119 23.0%
Steering 2,378 10.7%
Airbags 2,068 9.3%
Electrical System 2,008 9.0%
Other & Unspecified 1,329 6.0%
Brakes 1,259 5.6%
Fuel & Propulsion 1,092 4.9%
Body & Structure 1,087 4.9%

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%