Volkswagen Tiguan vs Subaru Forester

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 Tiguan	Subaru Forester
Complaints on file	3,543	8,735
Model years covered	2009–2026	1998–2026
Worst model year	2018	2016
Best model year	2026	2026
Crashes reported	106	898
Fires reported	41	157
Injuries reported	72	380
Deaths reported	1	9
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Windows, Mirrors & Wipers
Share of complaints involving harm	6.2%	16.5%

Volkswagen Tiguan by year

247 159 241 214 227 131 106 146 104 457 293 211 194 478 93 104 88 50

09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 726 20.5%

Electrical System 533 15.0%

Other & Unspecified 381 10.8%

Airbags 320 9.0%

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 272 7.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 207 5.8%

Fuel & Propulsion 200 5.6%

Steering 186 5.2%

Subaru Forester by year

138 156 95 169 109 238 270 105 121 89 67 228 307 195 140 94 576 897 622 801 679 1,088 813 285 144 111 41 129 28

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 25 26

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

What breaks

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 1,267 14.5%

Engine & Cooling 1,019 11.7%

Airbags 911 10.4%

Other & Unspecified 815 9.3%

Electrical System 794 9.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 566 6.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 533 6.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 512 5.9%