Volvo XC90 vs Saturn ION

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 XC90	Saturn ION
Complaints on file	2,267	5,471
Model years covered	2003–2025	2003–2008
Worst model year	2016	2006
Best model year	2010	2005
Crashes reported	69	334
Fires reported	76	23
Injuries reported	52	175
Deaths reported	0	4
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Steering
Share of complaints involving harm	8.7%	9.8%

Volvo XC90 by year

149 669 304 73 59 44 11 16 30 6 13 7 311 121 74 58 50 59 49 69 58 37

03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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

What breaks

Electrical System 437 19.3%

Engine & Cooling 321 14.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 316 13.9%

Fuel & Propulsion 191 8.4%

Other & Unspecified 156 6.9%

Brakes 111 4.9%

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 89 3.9%

Body & Structure 81 3.6%

Saturn ION by year

961 1,124 755 1,537 1,090 4

03 04 05 06 07 08

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

What breaks

Steering 1,724 31.5%

Electrical System 1,598 29.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 583 10.7%

Engine & Cooling 288 5.3%

Airbags 263 4.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 202 3.7%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 116 2.1%

Lights 106 1.9%