Saturn ION vs Chevrolet Equinox

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	Saturn ION	Chevrolet Equinox
Complaints on file	5,471	12,688
Model years covered	2003–2008	2005–2026
Worst model year	2006	2005
Best model year	2005	2009
Crashes reported	334	573
Fires reported	23	141
Injuries reported	175	360
Deaths reported	4	6
Most complained-about part	Steering	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	9.8%	8.5%

Saturn ION by year

961 1,124 755 1,537 1,090 4

03 04 05 06 07 08

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

What breaks

Steering 1,724 31.5%

Electrical System 1,598 29.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 583 10.7%

Engine & Cooling 288 5.3%

Airbags 263 4.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 202 3.7%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 116 2.1%

Lights 106 1.9%

Chevrolet Equinox by year

950 950 950 535 151 1,118 1,139 943 988 699 845 493 370 583 418 488 128 220 140 126 346 108

05 06 07 08 09 10 11 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

Engine & Cooling 3,179 25.1%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 1,564 12.3%

Electrical System 1,223 9.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 1,085 8.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 1,053 8.3%

Other & Unspecified 783 6.2%

Brakes 753 5.9%

Airbags 632 5.0%