Subaru Legacy vs KIA Optima

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 Legacy	KIA Optima
Complaints on file	4,165	10,355
Model years covered	1987–2025	2001–2020
Worst model year	2015	2013
Best model year	2024	2005
Crashes reported	393	499
Fires reported	75	641
Injuries reported	206	312
Deaths reported	6	22
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	16.3%	14.2%

Subaru Legacy by year

1 1 1 103 121 66 90 67 230 161 179 155 119 119 90 71 69 55 250 135 45 83 75 218 236 119 84 73 232 193 140 162 143 143 43 42 12 29 10

87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 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

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 473 11.4%

Electrical System 438 10.5%

Airbags 407 9.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 377 9.1%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 368 8.8%

Brakes 336 8.1%

Other & Unspecified 290 7.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 222 5.3%

KIA Optima by year

231 168 190 306 180 214 217 188 166 99 778 1,263 1,885 786 1,400 1,076 354 333 318 203

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 3,390 32.7%

Electrical System 938 9.1%

Other & Unspecified 842 8.1%

Steering 756 7.3%

Airbags 571 5.5%

Body & Structure 565 5.5%

Brakes 534 5.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 503 4.9%