Subaru Forester vs Ford Windstar

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	Subaru Forester	Ford Windstar
Complaints on file	8,703	19,460
Model years covered	1998–2026	1985–2005
Worst model year	2016	1995
Best model year	2026	2004
Crashes reported	891	712
Fires reported	157	561
Injuries reported	376	457
Deaths reported	9	12
Most complained-about part	Windows, Mirrors & Wipers	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	16.5%	9%

Subaru Forester by year

138 156 95 169 109 238 270 105 121 89 67 228 307 195 140 94 576 897 617 796 678 1,084 807 285 140 111 41 126 24

98 99 00 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

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 1,265 14.5%

Engine & Cooling 1,014 11.7%

Airbags 908 10.4%

Other & Unspecified 814 9.4%

Electrical System 793 9.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 564 6.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 531 6.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 511 5.9%

Ford Windstar by year

7 11 3 3 12 25 4,799 1,855 249 1,949 2,040 2,191 2,297 1,928 2,057 33 1

85 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

Brakes 3,678 18.9%

Engine & Cooling 3,104 16.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 2,729 14.0%

Suspension 2,092 10.8%

Electrical System 1,630 8.4%

Body & Structure 1,278 6.6%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 907 4.7%

Steering 742 3.8%