FaultScore

Saturn ION vs Hyundai Elantra

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 Hyundai Elantra
Complaints on file 5,471 12,072
Model years covered 2003–2008 1992–2026
Worst model year 2006 2013
Best model year 2005 1993
Crashes reported 334 1,282
Fires reported 23 304
Injuries reported 175 748
Deaths reported 4 14
Most complained-about part Steering Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm 9.8% 19.4%

Saturn ION by year

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%
Lights 106 1.9%

Hyundai Elantra by year

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 1,958 16.2%
Airbags 1,362 11.3%
Steering 1,145 9.5%
Electrical System 1,090 9.0%
Brakes 1,079 8.9%
Suspension 618 5.1%