Toyota Avalon vs Hyundai Santa FE

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	Toyota Avalon	Hyundai Santa FE
Complaints on file	4,249	10,463
Model years covered	1995–2022	2001–2026
Worst model year	2006	2013
Best model year	2021	2026
Crashes reported	672	543
Fires reported	34	317
Injuries reported	350	352
Deaths reported	26	10
Most complained-about part	Acceleration & Cruise Control	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	25.5%	11.7%

Toyota Avalon by year

92 121 155 205 113 220 168 148 353 252 303 449 313 417 110 53 130 35 187 123 64 33 17 31 102 13 29 13

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

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

What breaks

Acceleration & Cruise Control 604 14.2%

Airbags 594 14.0%

Steering 369 8.7%

Lights 302 7.1%

Electrical System 297 7.0%

Engine & Cooling 296 7.0%

Brakes 293 6.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 216 5.1%

Hyundai Santa FE by year

293 219 390 386 300 143 983 718 507 333 268 475 807 680 332 290 1,281 143 283 297 242 310 321 214 195 53

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

Engine & Cooling 2,633 25.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 963 9.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 924 8.8%

Electrical System 856 8.2%

Brakes 730 7.0%

Other & Unspecified 721 6.9%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 587 5.6%

Airbags 512 4.9%