Toyota Tercel vs Chevrolet C1500

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 Tercel	Chevrolet C1500
Complaints on file	389	969
Model years covered	1982–2000	1988–1996
Worst model year	1993	1996
Best model year	1997	1994
Crashes reported	105	41
Fires reported	18	25
Injuries reported	75	26
Deaths reported	4	0
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Windows, Mirrors & Wipers
Share of complaints involving harm	51.9%	9.5%

Toyota Tercel by year

2 9 12 5 8 15 9 32 23 18 27 50 45 58 45 25 4 1 1

82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00

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

What breaks

Airbags 82 21.1%

Seat Belts 53 13.6%

Engine & Cooling 52 13.4%

Brakes 31 8.0%

Electrical System 24 6.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 24 6.2%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 19 4.9%

Tires 18 4.6%

Chevrolet C1500 by year

37 39 25 43 48 84 177 238 278

88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96

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

What breaks

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 293 30.2%

Brakes 185 19.1%

Seats 94 9.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 69 7.1%

Engine & Cooling 53 5.5%

Seat Belts 36 3.7%

Electrical System 34 3.5%

Fuel & Propulsion 30 3.1%