Subaru Outback vs Ford Fusion

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	Ford Fusion
Complaints on file	12,410	28,788
Model years covered	1995–2026	2006–2020
Worst model year	2017	2010
Best model year	1997	2018
Crashes reported	686	1,138
Fires reported	149	255
Injuries reported	308	563
Deaths reported	8	14
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Steering
Share of complaints involving harm	9.3%	6.8%

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%

Ford Fusion by year

920 1,277 1,533 1,169 7,026 3,656 3,058 2,375 1,766 1,281 2,085 1,392 578 410 262

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

Steering 5,788 20.1%

Engine & Cooling 4,053 14.1%

Airbags 3,537 12.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 3,145 10.9%

Brakes 2,724 9.5%

Electrical System 1,660 5.8%

Fuel & Propulsion 1,542 5.4%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 1,416 4.9%