Mercury Topaz vs Pontiac Montana

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 Topaz	Pontiac Montana
Complaints on file	581	1,451
Model years covered	1983–1998	1997–2008
Worst model year	1994	2000
Best model year	1995	2006
Crashes reported	27	98
Fires reported	59	18
Injuries reported	12	117
Deaths reported	2	6
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	17.2%	16.5%

Mercury Topaz by year

1 13 5 13 28 28 57 67 59 92 98 106 13 1

83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 98

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

What breaks

Electrical System 113 19.4%

Engine & Cooling 99 17.0%

Seat Belts 77 13.3%

Brakes 59 10.2%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 34 5.9%

Fuel & Propulsion 32 5.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 28 4.8%

Steering 20 3.4%

Pontiac Montana by year

25 62 329 310 208 161 117 46 130 61 2

97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 08

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 300 20.7%

Body & Structure 122 8.4%

Electrical System 120 8.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 102 7.0%

Airbags 99 6.8%

Fuel & Propulsion 99 6.8%

Brakes 93 6.4%

Doors, Latches & Locks 77 5.3%