Subaru Outback vs Ford Taurus

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 Taurus
Complaints on file	12,410	23,982
Model years covered	1995–2026	1977–2019
Worst model year	2017	2000
Best model year	1997	2019
Crashes reported	686	1,482
Fires reported	149	685
Injuries reported	308	926
Deaths reported	8	38
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	9.3%	13.1%

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 Taurus by year

2 2 1 4 2 150 355 462 762 542 946 1,009 2,206 1,284 1,597 1,132 1,003 680 1,100 1,497 1,264 1,759 1,524 482 1,005 415 196 240 77 280 251 100 755 297 358 104 53 67 19

77 81 83 84 85 86 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

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 3,718 15.5%

Suspension 3,366 14.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 3,035 12.7%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 2,128 8.9%

Electrical System 1,721 7.2%

Brakes 1,501 6.3%

Steering 1,445 6.0%

Body & Structure 1,088 4.5%