Saturn SW vs Volvo S40

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 SW	Volvo S40
Complaints on file	274	677
Model years covered	1992–2001	2000–2011
Worst model year	1994	2001
Best model year	2000	2010
Crashes reported	41	65
Fires reported	12	18
Injuries reported	30	34
Deaths reported	2	0
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	31%	17.3%

Saturn SW by year

2 35 41 52 31 35 31 23 18 6

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

Brakes 47 17.2%

Engine & Cooling 36 13.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 27 9.9%

Electrical System 24 8.8%

Seats 21 7.7%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 17 6.2%

Seat Belts 17 6.2%

Airbags 15 5.5%

Volvo S40 by year

166 112 34 23 75 91 81 36 27 14 11 7

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

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

What breaks

Brakes 119 17.6%

Electrical System 103 15.2%

Engine & Cooling 79 11.7%

Fuel & Propulsion 51 7.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 42 6.2%

Airbags 39 5.8%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 37 5.5%

Lights 27 4.0%