Lexus GX470 vs Mercury Topaz

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	Lexus GX470	Mercury Topaz
Complaints on file	239	581
Model years covered	2003–2009	1983–1998
Worst model year	2003	1994
Best model year	2006	1995
Crashes reported	33	27
Fires reported	1	59
Injuries reported	14	12
Deaths reported	0	2
Most complained-about part	Body & Structure	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	20.1%	17.2%

Lexus GX470 by year

64 48 38 38 34 16 1

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

Body & Structure 37 15.5%

Airbags 36 15.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 24 10.0%

Brakes 23 9.6%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 21 8.8%

Other & Unspecified 19 7.9%

Suspension 15 6.3%

Engine & Cooling 14 5.9%

Mercury Topaz by year

1 13 5 13 28 28 57 67 59 92 98 106 13 1

83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 98

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

What breaks

Electrical System 113 19.4%

Engine & Cooling 99 17.0%

Seat Belts 77 13.3%

Brakes 59 10.2%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 34 5.9%

Fuel & Propulsion 32 5.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 28 4.8%

Steering 20 3.4%