Volkswagen Beetle vs Hyundai Tucson

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	Volkswagen Beetle	Hyundai Tucson
Complaints on file	3,625	8,648
Model years covered	1965–2019	2005–2026
Worst model year	2000	2017
Best model year	2018	2014
Crashes reported	174	404
Fires reported	160	222
Injuries reported	101	228
Deaths reported	4	2
Most complained-about part	Transmission & Drivetrain	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	12.1%	9.9%

Volkswagen Beetle by year

5 1 1 1 4 289 280 373 291 231 405 469 330 161 79 109 39 42 88 126 71 108 64 19 23 16

65 69 70 73 74 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 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

Transmission & Drivetrain 616 17.0%

Airbags 548 15.1%

Electrical System 509 14.0%

Engine & Cooling 372 10.3%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 370 10.2%

Lights 205 5.7%

Body & Structure 167 4.6%

Brakes 134 3.7%

Hyundai Tucson by year

273 202 85 66 24 79 174 316 319 239 309 2,170 1,460 542 530 234 110 599 222 152 455 88

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 2,470 28.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 1,211 14.0%

Other & Unspecified 811 9.4%

Electrical System 725 8.4%

Brakes 724 8.4%

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 468 5.4%

Fuel & Propulsion 411 4.8%

Body & Structure 385 4.5%