KIA Sephia vs Tesla Model 3

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 Sephia	Tesla Model 3
Complaints on file	3,080	7,584
Model years covered	1986–2003	2017–2026
Worst model year	1999	2018
Best model year	1994	2017
Crashes reported	299	859
Fires reported	118	40
Injuries reported	171	331
Deaths reported	6	25
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance
Share of complaints involving harm	19.3%	16.5%

KIA Sephia by year

3 25 104 203 375 994 749 461 158 6 2

86 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03

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

What breaks

Brakes 806 26.2%

Engine & Cooling 395 12.8%

Electrical System 348 11.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 293 9.5%

Airbags 174 5.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 164 5.3%

Body & Structure 127 4.1%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 125 4.1%

Tesla Model 3 by year

56 1,693 1,050 767 1,225 1,497 726 330 209 31

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

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 2,922 38.5%

Other & Unspecified 681 9.0%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 629 8.3%

Brakes 564 7.4%

Electrical System 555 7.3%

Steering 387 5.1%

Suspension 359 4.7%

Airbags 310 4.1%