Saab 9-5 vs Ford Tempo

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	Saab 9-5	Ford Tempo
Complaints on file	662	1,649
Model years covered	1998–2011	1981–2000
Worst model year	2001	—
Best model year	2011	—
Crashes reported	13	110
Fires reported	23	191
Injuries reported	10	86
Deaths reported	0	5
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	6.9%	23.8%

Saab 9-5 by year

1 157 121 113 74 69 30 15 29 17 21 2 2 11

98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

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

What breaks

Electrical System 306 46.2%

Engine & Cooling 76 11.5%

Airbags 61 9.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 52 7.9%

Brakes 36 5.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 16 2.4%

Lights 13 2.0%

Tires 13 2.0%

Ford Tempo by year

2 19 40 42 79 176 168 174 143 264 316 212 6 2 3 1 1 1

81 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00

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

What breaks

Electrical System 369 22.4%

Engine & Cooling 326 19.8%

Seat Belts 232 14.1%

Brakes 153 9.3%

Fuel & Propulsion 87 5.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 72 4.4%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 71 4.3%

Steering 66 4.0%