Volvo V70 vs Oldsmobile Alero

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 V70	Oldsmobile Alero
Complaints on file	1,177	2,939
Model years covered	1996–2010	1998–2004
Worst model year	1998	2000
Best model year	2003	2002
Crashes reported	64	126
Fires reported	31	43
Injuries reported	43	90
Deaths reported	1	7
Most complained-about part	Acceleration & Cruise Control	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	11.8%	9.1%

Volvo V70 by year

3 3 242 220 116 268 91 36 118 22 23 8 13 8 6

96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

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

What breaks

Acceleration & Cruise Control 160 13.6%

Electrical System 142 12.1%

Engine & Cooling 139 11.8%

Fuel & Propulsion 124 10.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 108 9.2%

Brakes 103 8.8%

Lights 75 6.4%

Airbags 52 4.4%

Oldsmobile Alero by year

2 702 810 549 407 294 175

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

Electrical System 630 21.4%

Lights 427 14.5%

Brakes 412 14.0%

Engine & Cooling 335 11.4%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 181 6.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 148 5.0%

Suspension 112 3.8%

Airbags 103 3.5%