KIA Optima vs Chevrolet Silverado 1500

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	KIA Optima	Chevrolet Silverado 1500
Complaints on file	10,387	23,671
Model years covered	2001–2020	1994–2026
Worst model year	2013	2019
Best model year	2005	2012
Crashes reported	505	1,091
Fires reported	647	355
Injuries reported	315	547
Deaths reported	22	52
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	14.3%	8.6%

KIA Optima by year

231 168 190 306 180 214 218 188 166 99 781 1,263 1,889 791 1,403 1,079 355 334 321 211

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 3,400 32.7%

Electrical System 944 9.1%

Other & Unspecified 847 8.2%

Steering 756 7.3%

Airbags 573 5.5%

Body & Structure 565 5.4%

Brakes 534 5.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 506 4.9%

Chevrolet Silverado 1500 by year

10 6 10 693 452 711 732 627 620 960 951 643 464 1,056 1,094 553 453 698 279 392 2,201 1,431 1,054 957 756 1,568 1,075 1,102 875 538 429 151 130

94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

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

What breaks

Brakes 4,779 20.2%

Engine & Cooling 3,057 12.9%

Electrical System 2,683 11.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 2,479 10.5%

Airbags 2,407 10.2%

Other & Unspecified 1,560 6.6%

Steering 1,530 6.5%

Body & Structure 934 3.9%