Volkswagen Routan vs Ford Aerostar

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 Routan	Ford Aerostar
Complaints on file	1,249	3,109
Model years covered	2008–2014	1986–2000
Worst model year	2009	1993
Best model year	2012	1999
Crashes reported	23	268
Fires reported	16	516
Injuries reported	35	180
Deaths reported	0	11
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	5.9%	31.4%

Volkswagen Routan by year

3 460 359 302 115 8 2

08 09 10 11 12 13 14

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

What breaks

Electrical System 456 36.5%

Engine & Cooling 207 16.6%

Brakes 106 8.5%

Steering 76 6.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 70 5.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 61 4.9%

Other & Unspecified 57 4.6%

Stability & Traction Control 36 2.9%

Ford Aerostar by year

72 140 230 328 254 282 439 541 384 204 124 83 4 13 11

86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00

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

What breaks

Electrical System 685 22.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 433 13.9%

Brakes 351 11.3%

Engine & Cooling 233 7.5%

Fuel & Propulsion 214 6.9%

Airbags 141 4.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 138 4.4%

Seat Belts 136 4.4%