Saturn SC1 vs Mazda Protege

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 SC1	Mazda Protege
Complaints on file	554	1,377
Model years covered	1991–2001	1989–2003
Worst model year	1994	1995
Best model year	2000	1998
Crashes reported	93	242
Fires reported	5	30
Injuries reported	63	197
Deaths reported	2	4
Most complained-about part	Seats	Seat Belts
Share of complaints involving harm	29.4%	34.4%

Saturn SC1 by year

8 18 85 102 73 43 98 58 30 10 29

91 92 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

Seats 81 14.6%

Engine & Cooling 75 13.5%

Electrical System 59 10.6%

Seat Belts 59 10.6%

Brakes 58 10.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 39 7.0%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 31 5.6%

Airbags 29 5.2%

Mazda Protege by year

2 45 60 72 56 89 232 91 103 53 102 126 68 133 145

89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03

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

What breaks

Seat Belts 230 16.7%

Airbags 171 12.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 170 12.3%

Engine & Cooling 144 10.5%

Brakes 103 7.5%

Electrical System 74 5.4%

Tires 54 3.9%

Suspension 48 3.5%