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	10,355	23,432
Model years covered	2001–2020	1994–2026
Worst model year	2013	2019
Best model year	2005	2012
Crashes reported	499	1,086
Fires reported	641	354
Injuries reported	312	547
Deaths reported	22	52
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	14.2%	8.7%

KIA Optima by year

231 168 190 306 180 214 217 188 166 99 778 1,263 1,885 786 1,400 1,076 354 333 318 203

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 3,390 32.7%

Electrical System 938 9.1%

Other & Unspecified 842 8.1%

Steering 756 7.3%

Airbags 571 5.5%

Body & Structure 565 5.5%

Brakes 534 5.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 503 4.9%

Chevrolet Silverado 1500 by year

10 6 10 693 452 711 731 627 620 960 951 643 462 1,056 1,094 553 451 698 278 392 2,200 1,426 1,050 957 752 1,545 1,038 1,068 845 522 396 135 100

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 4,765 20.3%

Engine & Cooling 2,949 12.6%

Electrical System 2,656 11.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 2,437 10.4%

Airbags 2,406 10.3%

Other & Unspecified 1,550 6.6%

Steering 1,524 6.5%

Body & Structure 929 4.0%