Saturn VUE vs Pontiac Grand AM

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 VUE	Pontiac Grand AM
Complaints on file	3,274	8,105
Model years covered	2002–2010	1973–2005
Worst model year	2003	1999
Best model year	2002	1993
Crashes reported	193	635
Fires reported	84	222
Injuries reported	118	488
Deaths reported	1	37
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	12.1%	17.1%

Saturn VUE by year

220 873 360 216 433 417 575 171 9

02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

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

What breaks

Electrical System 705 21.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 659 20.1%

Airbags 310 9.5%

Engine & Cooling 296 9.0%

Steering 293 8.9%

Other & Unspecified 135 4.1%

Suspension 133 4.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 99 3.0%

Pontiac Grand AM by year

1 1 8 13 47 34 88 61 102 304 290 515 587 672 600 236 1,318 939 759 549 436 402 143

73 83 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 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

Electrical System 1,687 20.8%

Engine & Cooling 1,119 13.8%

Brakes 1,091 13.5%

Lights 747 9.2%

Airbags 446 5.5%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 429 5.3%

Steering 376 4.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 327 4.0%