KIA Spectra vs Chevrolet Monte Carlo

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	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Complaints on file	1,211	2,964
Model years covered	2000–2009	1974–2010
Worst model year	2007	2001
Best model year	2000	2005
Crashes reported	259	203
Fires reported	23	207
Injuries reported	160	133
Deaths reported	7	16
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	37.1%	18.9%

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%

Chevrolet Monte Carlo by year

1 2 2 1 3 7 6 9 5 1 244 255 218 129 170 332 417 319 204 275 155 146 54 3 6

74 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 91 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 10

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

What breaks

Electrical System 626 21.1%

Engine & Cooling 518 17.5%

Brakes 395 13.3%

Steering 207 7.0%

Lights 170 5.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 166 5.6%

Airbags 137 4.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 136 4.6%