What NHTSA Complaint Counts Tell a Used-Car Buyer

• More time on the road gives owners more opportunity to file reports. A low count for a recent model year needs that context.
• Dividing complaints by years on market is a rough age adjustment. It does not fully account for when problems arise or reports are filed.
• A category share describes the mix of reports. It is not the share of vehicles affected.
• CarTold has no sales or registration data, so these counts cannot support a per-vehicle failure rate.

For the 2016 F-150, 1,698 complaints divided by 10 years gives 169.8 per year. For the 2021 F-150, 1,204 complaints divided by 5 years gives 240.8 per year. The ordering changes when the denominator changes. Neither ordering establishes which model year is more reliable.

The F-150 example shows why the calculation matters, but it does not isolate age as the cause. Two model years can also differ in sales, design, usage and the timing of reports. Sharing a model name does not hold those factors constant.

Complaints per year on market is the total divided by the number of calendar years since the model year, with a minimum denominator of one. It averages reports over that period. It is not a count of complaints filed in the latest year, and it assumes no particular number of vehicles on the road.

Category shares help you decide where to read further. In the checked snapshot, the 2017 Ford Escape had 2,646 complaints, with 65% grouped under engine. The 2018 Ford Escape had 1,746 complaints, with 72% grouped under engine. Those concentrations prompted a closer look at the symptoms and Ford's bulletins in the coolant-intrusion analysis. A broad category such as engine cannot establish that every report describes the same failure.

Read the report text as well as the category. Look for the conditions in which the problem occurred and whether other records describe the same symptom. A serious individual report still deserves attention even when it sits in a small category.

1. Check the date and denominator. Note when the figures were collected and whether you are comparing totals, annualized counts or category shares.
2. Read the symptoms. Look beyond the largest bar in a chart. Note the component, driving conditions and reported outcome.
3. Check related records. Search for a recall or bulletin covering that symptom and the car's configuration. A similar description does not prove that the records concern the same defect.
4. Take questions to the inspection. Ask the mechanic to assess the car's condition and review relevant service records. Use complaint data to prepare those questions.

NHTSA complaints are submitted reports, not a census of vehicle failures. Some problems are never reported, and a report alone does not confirm a defect. Without sales, registration and usage data, CarTold cannot estimate a buyer's probability of experiencing the reported problem. Age adjustment and category grouping do not remove those limits.

The examples use the database snapshot checked on 2026-08-07. Complaints were deduplicated by NHTSA's ODI number at import. Annualized counts divide totals by the check year minus the model year, with a minimum denominator of one; category shares divide the category count by the model-year total.

NHTSA uses complaints alongside other records to identify possible safety issues and assess existing recalls. Its dataset documentation describes that purpose. See also our analysis of when complaints arrive.

• How CarTold's reports work
• 2016 Ford F-150 report
• 2021 Ford F-150 report
• Ford Escape coolant-intrusion reports
• Ford Escape model years compared