Mercury Mystique vs Dodge Stratus

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 Mystique	Dodge Stratus
Complaints on file	1,510	3,617
Model years covered	1994–2002	1992–2007
Worst model year	1995	1996
Best model year	1997	2003
Crashes reported	76	294
Fires reported	61	272
Injuries reported	69	172
Deaths reported	1	3
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	13.7%	20.5%

Mercury Mystique by year

2 524 303 100 326 169 81 2 3

94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 250 16.6%

Electrical System 204 13.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 151 10.0%

Suspension 128 8.5%

Brakes 125 8.3%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 92 6.1%

Body & Structure 76 5.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 76 5.0%

Dodge Stratus by year

1 462 776 451 334 344 270 269 193 110 196 99 110 2

92 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 1,051 29.1%

Brakes 425 11.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 310 8.6%

Steering 308 8.5%

Suspension 300 8.3%

Electrical System 262 7.2%

Airbags 199 5.5%

Fuel & Propulsion 115 3.2%