Mazda 626 vs Subaru Forester

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	Subaru Forester
Complaints on file	3,877	8,703
Model years covered	1983–2003	1998–2026
Worst model year	1995	2016
Best model year	2002	2026
Crashes reported	244	891
Fires reported	65	157
Injuries reported	201	376
Deaths reported	5	9
Most complained-about part	Transmission & Drivetrain	Windows, Mirrors & Wipers
Share of complaints involving harm	13.3%	16.5%

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%

Subaru Forester by year

138 156 95 169 109 238 270 105 121 89 67 228 307 195 140 94 576 897 617 796 678 1,084 807 285 140 111 41 126 24

98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

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

What breaks

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 1,265 14.5%

Engine & Cooling 1,014 11.7%

Airbags 908 10.4%

Other & Unspecified 814 9.4%

Electrical System 793 9.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 564 6.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 531 6.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 511 5.9%