Oldsmobile Alero vs Pontiac Grand Prix

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	Oldsmobile Alero	Pontiac Grand Prix
Complaints on file	2,939	7,303
Model years covered	1998–2004	1974–2008
Worst model year	2000	1997
Best model year	2002	2008
Crashes reported	126	478
Fires reported	43	1,013
Injuries reported	90	344
Deaths reported	7	32
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	9.1%	25.6%

Oldsmobile Alero by year

2 702 810 549 407 294 175

98 99 00 01 02 03 04

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

What breaks

Electrical System 630 21.4%

Lights 427 14.5%

Brakes 412 14.0%

Engine & Cooling 335 11.4%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 181 6.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 148 5.0%

Suspension 112 3.8%

Airbags 103 3.5%

Pontiac Grand Prix by year

1 2 2 3 4 3 2 119 202 249 242 158 185 306 245 116 1,064 618 500 588 427 410 137 624 209 365 323 199

74 77 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 1,523 20.9%

Electrical System 943 12.9%

Brakes 930 12.7%

Steering 707 9.7%

Lights 683 9.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 422 5.8%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 384 5.3%

Airbags 282 3.9%