Pontiac Grand AM vs Ford Windstar

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	Pontiac Grand AM	Ford Windstar
Complaints on file	8,105	19,460
Model years covered	1973–2005	1985–2005
Worst model year	1999	1995
Best model year	1993	2004
Crashes reported	635	712
Fires reported	222	561
Injuries reported	488	457
Deaths reported	37	12
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	17.1%	9%

Pontiac Grand AM by year

1 1 8 13 47 34 88 61 102 304 290 515 587 672 600 236 1,318 939 759 549 436 402 143

73 83 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

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

What breaks

Electrical System 1,687 20.8%

Engine & Cooling 1,119 13.8%

Brakes 1,091 13.5%

Lights 747 9.2%

Airbags 446 5.5%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 429 5.3%

Steering 376 4.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 327 4.0%

Ford Windstar by year

7 11 3 3 12 25 4,799 1,855 249 1,949 2,040 2,191 2,297 1,928 2,057 33 1

85 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

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

What breaks

Brakes 3,678 18.9%

Engine & Cooling 3,104 16.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 2,729 14.0%

Suspension 2,092 10.8%

Electrical System 1,630 8.4%

Body & Structure 1,278 6.6%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 907 4.7%

Steering 742 3.8%