Lexus RX350 vs Mercury Cougar

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 RX350	Mercury Cougar
Complaints on file	1,065	2,646
Model years covered	2007–2023	1962–2002
Worst model year	2010	1999
Best model year	2019	1997
Crashes reported	203	173
Fires reported	31	94
Injuries reported	85	129
Deaths reported	3	6
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	30.2%	15.2%

Lexus RX350 by year

210 160 114 123 49 46 39 22 58 78 69 30 41 9 2 11 4

07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 137 12.9%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 128 12.0%

Other & Unspecified 100 9.4%

Body & Structure 96 9.0%

Steering 84 7.9%

Airbags 82 7.7%

Brakes 82 7.7%

Electrical System 76 7.1%

Mercury Cougar by year

1 3 2 3 2 2 25 22 20 49 72 104 104 98 122 236 178 160 77 112 1 740 283 103 127

62 73 78 80 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 450 17.0%

Electrical System 342 12.9%

Brakes 299 11.3%

Fuel & Propulsion 238 9.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 177 6.7%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 164 6.2%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 141 5.3%

Lights 136 5.1%