FaultScore

Mercury Montego vs Suzuki Grand Vitara

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 Mercury Montego Suzuki Grand Vitara
Complaints on file 360 880
Model years covered 1975–2007 1999–2013
Worst model year 2005 1999
Best model year 2007 2009
Crashes reported 24 86
Fires reported 4 14
Injuries reported 11 32
Deaths reported 0 0
Most complained-about part Transmission & Drivetrain Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm 10.8% 15%

Mercury Montego by year

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 45 12.5%
Brakes 30 8.3%
Body & Structure 16 4.4%
Airbags 10 2.8%

Suzuki Grand Vitara by year

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

What breaks