Volkswagen Cabrio vs Buick Skylark

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 Cabrio	Buick Skylark
Complaints on file	302	753
Model years covered	1989–2002	1981–2000
Worst model year	2001	1997
Best model year	1995	1998
Crashes reported	34	62
Fires reported	22	25
Injuries reported	27	44
Deaths reported	0	2
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	27.5%	17.7%

Volkswagen Cabrio by year

1 7 12 18 19 7 20 37 66 18 58 39

89 91 92 93 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02

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

What breaks

Electrical System 51 16.9%

Engine & Cooling 36 11.9%

Brakes 29 9.6%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 26 8.6%

Airbags 22 7.3%

Body & Structure 20 6.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 19 6.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 18 6.0%

Buick Skylark by year

5 3 1 27 11 10 17 18 37 46 48 54 95 119 116 111 34 1

81 82 83 84 85 86 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 00

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

What breaks

Brakes 123 16.3%

Electrical System 121 16.1%

Engine & Cooling 114 15.1%

Airbags 53 7.0%

Steering 43 5.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 41 5.4%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 41 5.4%

Seat Belts 32 4.2%