Mazda Protege vs RAM 3500

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 Protege	RAM 3500
Complaints on file	1,377	3,392
Model years covered	1989–2003	2007–2026
Worst model year	1995	2017
Best model year	1998	2007
Crashes reported	242	112
Fires reported	30	84
Injuries reported	197	51
Deaths reported	4	4
Most complained-about part	Seat Belts	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	34.4%	7.4%

Mazda Protege by year

2 45 60 72 56 89 232 91 103 53 102 126 68 133 145

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

Seat Belts 230 16.7%

Airbags 171 12.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 170 12.3%

Engine & Cooling 144 10.5%

Brakes 103 7.5%

Electrical System 74 5.4%

Tires 54 3.9%

Suspension 48 3.5%

RAM 3500 by year

11 8 4 182 305 205 183 429 1,155 178 161 91 245 23 67 94 51

07 08 09 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

Brakes 983 29.0%

Electrical System 372 11.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 335 9.9%

Engine & Cooling 278 8.2%

Steering 212 6.3%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 203 6.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 203 6.0%

Other & Unspecified 160 4.7%