Pontiac Trans AM vs Toyota Corolla 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	Pontiac Trans AM	Toyota Corolla Matrix
Complaints on file	196	477
Model years covered	1969–2002	2003–2013
Worst model year	2002	2005
Best model year	1998	2004
Crashes reported	18	44
Fires reported	6	12
Injuries reported	9	31
Deaths reported	2	0
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	17.9%	18.2%

Pontiac Trans AM by year

1 2 1 1 2 10 10 3 1 1 2 10 1 13 5 8 14 22 23 13 10 43

69 77 79 80 82 84 86 87 88 89 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02

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

What breaks

Brakes 24 12.2%

Engine & Cooling 23 11.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 18 9.2%

Body & Structure 17 8.7%

Electrical System 13 6.6%

Steering 13 6.6%

Lights 13 6.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 13 6.6%

Toyota Corolla Matrix by year

39 42 107 75 57 38 88 24 6 1

03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 13

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

What breaks

Airbags 275 57.7%

Engine & Cooling 41 8.6%

Electrical System 30 6.3%

Brakes 22 4.6%

Other & Unspecified 19 4.0%

Body & Structure 18 3.8%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 17 3.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 11 2.3%