Lincoln Mark Viii vs Buick Century

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	Lincoln Mark Viii	Buick Century
Complaints on file	984	2,393
Model years covered	1989–2000	1981–2005
Worst model year	1993	1999
Best model year	1997	2005
Crashes reported	49	184
Fires reported	21	48
Injuries reported	18	128
Deaths reported	6	4
Most complained-about part	Lights	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	9.6%	15.2%

Lincoln Mark Viii by year

1 1 286 190 172 120 103 108 2 1

89 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00

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

What breaks

Lights 576 58.5%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 72 7.3%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 51 5.2%

Brakes 45 4.6%

Electrical System 43 4.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 36 3.7%

Suspension 28 2.8%

Steering 22 2.2%

Buick Century by year

1 4 10 11 9 43 32 26 46 49 50 64 71 144 127 110 132 278 287 249 190 204 170 51 35

81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 304 12.7%

Brakes 289 12.1%

Electrical System 231 9.7%

Lights 193 8.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 172 7.2%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 170 7.1%

Steering 168 7.0%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 120 5.0%