Volkswagen GTI vs Chevrolet HHR

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 GTI	Chevrolet HHR
Complaints on file	1,949	4,753
Model years covered	1985–2024	2006–2011
Worst model year	2002	2006
Best model year	1999	2010
Crashes reported	63	265
Fires reported	23	38
Injuries reported	76	164
Deaths reported	7	5
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Steering
Share of complaints involving harm	8.7%	9.9%

Volkswagen GTI by year

3 2 2 1 28 11 12 12 11 58 97 141 72 13 12 57 102 76 295 68 66 52 42 18 123 84 57 21 288 10 8 56 11 40

85 86 87 91 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

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 384 19.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 317 16.3%

Electrical System 223 11.4%

Brakes 160 8.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 147 7.5%

Other & Unspecified 126 6.5%

Airbags 124 6.4%

Stability & Traction Control 81 4.2%

Chevrolet HHR by year

1,367 943 784 689 682 288

06 07 08 09 10 11

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

What breaks

Steering 1,591 33.5%

Electrical System 763 16.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 375 7.9%

Airbags 332 7.0%

Body & Structure 264 5.6%

Brakes 245 5.2%

Engine & Cooling 210 4.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 193 4.1%