Mazda 626 vs Dodge Dakota

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	Mazda 626	Dodge Dakota
Complaints on file	3,877	9,236
Model years covered	1983–2003	1985–2011
Worst model year	1995	2002
Best model year	2002	2009
Crashes reported	244	691
Fires reported	65	178
Injuries reported	201	356
Deaths reported	5	24
Most complained-about part	Transmission & Drivetrain	Suspension
Share of complaints involving harm	13.3%	13.5%

Mazda 626 by year

2 4 7 20 40 58 48 62 99 24 202 353 587 426 451 499 372 280 235 99 9

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

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

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 2,056 53.0%

Engine & Cooling 392 10.1%

Airbags 235 6.1%

Electrical System 197 5.1%

Brakes 167 4.3%

Seat Belts 154 4.0%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 81 2.1%

Other & Unspecified 76 2.0%

Dodge Dakota by year

3 1 21 65 88 88 161 314 159 240 294 250 650 793 1,011 1,096 945 946 419 287 598 385 167 131 23 48 53

85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

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

What breaks

Suspension 2,348 25.4%

Brakes 1,449 15.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 1,060 11.5%

Steering 723 7.8%

Airbags 691 7.5%

Engine & Cooling 597 6.5%

Electrical System 465 5.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 238 2.6%