Mazda RX-8 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	Mazda RX-8	Buick Century
Complaints on file	1,004	2,393
Model years covered	2004–2011	1981–2005
Worst model year	2004	1999
Best model year	2008	2005
Crashes reported	35	184
Fires reported	17	48
Injuries reported	30	128
Deaths reported	0	4
Most complained-about part	Transmission & Drivetrain	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	8.2%	15.2%

Mazda RX-8 by year

625 212 74 51 23 9 5 5

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

Transmission & Drivetrain 238 23.7%

Engine & Cooling 194 19.3%

Airbags 116 11.6%

Steering 112 11.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 72 7.2%

Electrical System 47 4.7%

Other & Unspecified 36 3.6%

Body & Structure 34 3.4%

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%