Mercury Topaz vs Toyota Matrix

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	Toyota Matrix
Complaints on file	581	1,422
Model years covered	1983–1998	2002–2012
Worst model year	1994	2009
Best model year	1995	2011
Crashes reported	27	170
Fires reported	59	14
Injuries reported	12	86
Deaths reported	2	2
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	17.2%	19.1%

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%

Toyota Matrix by year

2 314 175 260 212 109 56 224 55 10 5

02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12

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

What breaks

Airbags 409 28.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 181 12.7%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 145 10.2%

Engine & Cooling 136 9.6%

Electrical System 99 7.0%

Brakes 73 5.1%

Tires 70 4.9%

Steering 55 3.9%