Saturn SC vs Ford Explorer Sport

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 SC	Ford Explorer Sport
Complaints on file	379	939
Model years covered	1991–2002	1993–2005
Worst model year	1994	2001
Best model year	1998	1997
Crashes reported	58	66
Fires reported	8	63
Injuries reported	31	72
Deaths reported	2	7
Most complained-about part	Seats	Body & Structure
Share of complaints involving harm	26.1%	22.2%

Saturn SC by year

6 24 29 59 50 41 44 17 27 8 29 45

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

Seats 54 14.2%

Engine & Cooling 52 13.7%

Electrical System 47 12.4%

Seat Belts 39 10.3%

Airbags 30 7.9%

Brakes 29 7.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 20 5.3%

Body & Structure 15 4.0%

Ford Explorer Sport by year

5 44 145 127 102 243 160 85 23 5

93 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

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

What breaks

Body & Structure 116 12.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 102 10.9%

Engine & Cooling 77 8.2%

Electrical System 68 7.2%

Suspension 68 7.2%

Seats 68 7.2%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 67 7.1%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 59 6.3%