Subaru Forester vs Honda Civic

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 Honda Civic
Complaints on file 8,735 20,348
Model years covered 1998–2026 1979–2026
Worst model year 2016 2001
Best model year 2026 1994
Crashes reported 898 2,377
Fires reported 157 247
Injuries reported 380 1,478
Deaths reported 9 37
Most complained-about part Windows, Mirrors & Wipers Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm 16.5% 20.3%

Subaru Forester by year

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

What breaks

Honda Civic by year

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

What breaks

Airbags 2,932 14.4%
Steering 2,559 12.6%
Engine & Cooling 1,886 9.3%
Electrical System 1,570 7.7%
Other & Unspecified 1,358 6.7%
Brakes 1,073 5.3%