Volvo 770 vs Acura CL

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	Volvo 770	Acura CL
Complaints on file	298	731
Model years covered	1998–2001	1997–2004
Worst model year	2000	2001
Best model year	1998	1998
Crashes reported	2	49
Fires reported	4	4
Injuries reported	16	35
Deaths reported	0	7
Most complained-about part	Suspension	Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm	7.4%	13%

Volvo 770 by year

80 110 103 5

98 99 00 01

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

What breaks

Suspension 75 25.2%

Electrical System 33 11.1%

Body & Structure 29 9.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 27 9.1%

Engine & Cooling 26 8.7%

Steering 19 6.4%

Brakes 16 5.4%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 16 5.4%

Acura CL by year

106 69 66 11 317 71 89 2

97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04

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

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 333 45.6%

Airbags 77 10.5%

Electrical System 63 8.6%

Engine & Cooling 42 5.7%

Brakes 30 4.1%

Suspension 27 3.7%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 26 3.6%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 25 3.4%