FaultScore

Oldsmobile Ciera vs Mercedes Benz C230

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 Ciera Mercedes Benz C230
Complaints on file 354 883
Model years covered 1984–1996 1997–2007
Worst model year 1996 2007
Best model year 1995 1998
Crashes reported 42 53
Fires reported 4 29
Injuries reported 30 41
Deaths reported 0 0
Most complained-about part Brakes Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm 21.5% 13.9%

Oldsmobile Ciera by year

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

What breaks

Brakes 69 19.5%
Engine & Cooling 48 13.6%
Seat Belts 26 7.3%
Body & Structure 19 5.4%
Steering 17 4.8%

Mercedes Benz C230 by year

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

What breaks