Oldsmobile Cutlass vs Tesla Model S

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 Cutlass	Tesla Model S
Complaints on file	2,251	5,283
Model years covered	1976–1999	2012–2026
Worst model year	1993	2016
Best model year	1999	2024
Crashes reported	142	659
Fires reported	59	94
Injuries reported	95	207
Deaths reported	7	35
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	13.5%	18.8%

Oldsmobile Cutlass by year

3 4 2 3 8 1 8 24 22 31 22 107 164 151 266 182 193 200 199 160 161 223 117

76 77 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

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

What breaks

Brakes 600 26.7%

Engine & Cooling 239 10.6%

Electrical System 239 10.6%

Seat Belts 119 5.3%

Steering 118 5.2%

Suspension 109 4.8%

Body & Structure 108 4.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 106 4.7%

Tesla Model S by year

89 677 546 1,057 1,027 673 288 73 123 279 198 162 78 7 6

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

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

What breaks

Electrical System 1,001 18.9%

Other & Unspecified 863 16.3%

Suspension 730 13.8%

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 672 12.7%

Steering 344 6.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 273 5.2%

Brakes 208 3.9%

Lights 195 3.7%