Volkswagen GTI vs Dodge Avenger

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	Dodge Avenger
Complaints on file	1,949	4,737
Model years covered	1985–2024	1995–2015
Worst model year	2002	2012
Best model year	1999	2000
Crashes reported	63	359
Fires reported	23	101
Injuries reported	76	231
Deaths reported	7	2
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	8.7%	14.6%

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%

Dodge Avenger by year

254 235 109 72 96 33 2 1,238 99 248 311 837 872 330 1

95 96 97 98 99 00 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15

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

What breaks

Electrical System 602 12.7%

Engine & Cooling 585 12.3%

Airbags 570 12.0%

Other & Unspecified 432 9.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 422 8.9%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 277 5.8%

Brakes 271 5.7%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 269 5.7%