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	7,124
Model years covered	1991–2002	1997–2026
Worst model year	1995	2019
Best model year	2001	2025
Crashes reported	433	701
Fires reported	50	86
Injuries reported	304	381
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 1 158 335 316 337 289 346 159 502 178 272 229 230 281 161 250 137 369 353 625 365 618 311 232 55 13 1

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 988 13.9%

Brakes 745 10.5%

Engine & Cooling 713 10.0%

Electrical System 623 8.7%

Other & Unspecified 608 8.5%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 529 7.4%

Body & Structure 449 6.3%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 447 6.3%