Toyota RAV4 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	Toyota RAV4	Chevrolet Malibu
Complaints on file	12,220	29,455
Model years covered	1994–2025	1964–2025
Worst model year	2021	2010
Best model year	1997	2022
Crashes reported	1,195	1,225
Fires reported	441	234
Injuries reported	602	743
Deaths reported	14	38
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Steering
Share of complaints involving harm	18.4%	7.6%

Toyota RAV4 by year

4 1 54 61 92 75 34 418 682 392 183 168 880 1,241 708 397 498 403 357 333 279 400 299 419 444 1,183 806 526 226 263 269 125

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 1,644 13.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 1,404 11.5%

Electrical System 1,379 11.3%

Other & Unspecified 1,083 8.9%

Steering 949 7.8%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 904 7.4%

Airbags 853 7.0%

Brakes 677 5.5%

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%