Saturn LS vs Ford Contour

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 LS	Ford Contour
Complaints on file	1,885	4,570
Model years covered	2000–2004	1993–2001
Worst model year	2001	1995
Best model year	2000	1994
Crashes reported	49	211
Fires reported	49	167
Injuries reported	38	174
Deaths reported	5	6
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	7.5%	12.2%

Saturn LS by year

544 708 631 2

00 01 02 04

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 745 39.5%

Electrical System 258 13.7%

Lights 213 11.3%

Steering 86 4.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 83 4.4%

Fuel & Propulsion 80 4.2%

Suspension 78 4.1%

Brakes 70 3.7%

Ford Contour by year

5 13 1,323 858 314 1,189 616 248 4

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 704 15.4%

Electrical System 646 14.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 435 9.5%

Brakes 366 8.0%

Suspension 305 6.7%

Fuel & Propulsion 284 6.2%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 232 5.1%

Body & Structure 231 5.1%