Subaru Outback vs Chevrolet Malibu

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 Outback	Chevrolet Malibu
Complaints on file	12,410	29,455
Model years covered	1995–2026	1964–2025
Worst model year	2017	2010
Best model year	1997	2022
Crashes reported	686	1,225
Fires reported	149	234
Injuries reported	308	743
Deaths reported	8	38
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Steering
Share of complaints involving harm	9.3%	7.6%

Subaru Outback by year

3 57 94 165 150 247 207 172 116 108 354 404 182 281 143 469 857 369 408 276 650 775 1,106 995 1,290 1,135 416 559 127 149 124 22

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 26

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

What breaks

Electrical System 2,292 18.5%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 2,092 16.9%

Other & Unspecified 1,326 10.7%

Engine & Cooling 1,024 8.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 991 8.0%

Airbags 701 5.6%

Brakes 614 4.9%

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 551 4.4%

Chevrolet Malibu by year

1 1 2 2 4 6 3 3 1 1 3 693 1,480 1,227 1,379 1,005 755 773 1,639 1,386 1,475 1,253 1,489 2,356 2,205 1,529 1,473 1,383 564 402 1,446 1,179 1,217 309 336 134 157 106 62 16

64 74 75 78 79 80 81 82 83 86 89 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

Steering 5,717 19.4%

Electrical System 4,822 16.4%

Engine & Cooling 3,167 10.8%

Brakes 2,828 9.6%

Lights 2,060 7.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 1,687 5.7%

Stability & Traction Control 1,330 4.5%

Other & Unspecified 1,297 4.4%