Saturn SL vs Toyota Highlander

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 SL	Toyota Highlander
Complaints on file	2,891	7,196
Model years covered	1991–2002	1997–2026
Worst model year	1995	2021
Best model year	2001	2025
Crashes reported	433	704
Fires reported	50	88
Injuries reported	304	384
Deaths reported	11	10
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm	27.6%	16.5%

Saturn SL by year

31 173 228 376 481 369 286 222 232 202 137 154

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

Engine & Cooling 463 16.0%

Brakes 377 13.0%

Electrical System 322 11.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 317 11.0%

Seats 231 8.0%

Seat Belts 181 6.3%

Airbags 164 5.7%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 140 4.8%

Toyota Highlander by year

1 1 158 335 316 337 289 348 159 502 178 272 229 230 282 162 254 138 371 357 633 372 638 320 238 59 13 4

97 98 01 02 03 04 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

Transmission & Drivetrain 1,021 14.2%

Brakes 753 10.5%

Engine & Cooling 718 10.0%

Electrical System 627 8.7%

Other & Unspecified 615 8.5%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 531 7.4%

Body & Structure 453 6.3%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 447 6.2%