FaultScore

Volkswagen Jetta vs Honda Accord

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 Jetta Honda Accord
Complaints on file 13,865 32,025
Model years covered 1984–2026 1979–2026
Worst model year 2002 2008
Best model year 1993 1993
Crashes reported 696 2,780
Fires reported 390 316
Injuries reported 583 1,815
Deaths reported 9 59
Most complained-about part Electrical System Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm 12.1% 15.5%

Volkswagen Jetta by year

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

What breaks

Electrical System 2,189 15.8%
Engine & Cooling 2,032 14.7%
Fuel & Propulsion 1,408 10.2%
Brakes 981 7.1%
Airbags 871 6.3%

Honda Accord by year

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

What breaks

Electrical System 4,144 12.9%
Airbags 4,117 12.9%
Engine & Cooling 3,398 10.6%
Brakes 2,940 9.2%
Other & Unspecified 1,746 5.5%
Steering 1,643 5.1%