KIA Spectra vs Buick Lacrosse

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 Spectra	Buick Lacrosse
Complaints on file	1,211	2,921
Model years covered	2000–2009	2005–2019
Worst model year	2007	2006
Best model year	2000	2018
Crashes reported	259	153
Fires reported	23	88
Injuries reported	160	80
Deaths reported	7	1
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	37.1%	11%

KIA Spectra by year

30 56 121 132 92 130 129 206 163 152

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09

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

What breaks

Airbags 366 30.2%

Electrical System 91 7.5%

Brakes 88 7.3%

Engine & Cooling 86 7.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 84 6.9%

Fuel & Propulsion 75 6.2%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 72 5.9%

Seat Belts 54 4.5%

Buick Lacrosse by year

415 383 327 343 146 278 244 308 200 90 54 64 42 19 8

05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

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

What breaks

Electrical System 595 20.4%

Lights 502 17.2%

Engine & Cooling 257 8.8%

Airbags 253 8.7%

Steering 229 7.8%

Brakes 144 4.9%

Suspension 142 4.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 139 4.8%