VehDB Insights · NHTSA owner complaints
The Most Complained-About Vehicles of the 2010 Model Year
Every complaint owners filed with NHTSA against 2010 model-year vehicles, whenever it was filed, ranked by vehicle. Complaints are unverified owner reports, but they are the earliest public reliability signal and they precede recalls.
50,344
Owner complaints
filed with NHTSA, 2010 model year
734
Vehicles complained about
distinct make and model
2,376
Complaints citing a crash
671 citing a fire
1,900
People injured
133 deaths reported
| # | Vehicle | Complaints | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford Fusion |
5,126
|
122 | 9 |
| 2 | Toyota Prius |
2,821
|
183 | 13 |
| 3 | Ford Escape |
2,068
|
29 | 3 |
| 4 | Chrysler Town And Country |
1,556
|
35 | 25 |
| 5 | Chevrolet Malibu |
1,359
|
41 | 14 |
| 6 | Toyota Corolla |
1,244
|
145 | 10 |
| 7 | Mercury Milan |
1,002
|
40 | 1 |
| 8 | Dodge Journey |
988
|
18 | 16 |
| 9 | Dodge Grand Caravan |
868
|
20 | 13 |
| 10 | Volkswagen Jetta |
852
|
23 | 5 |
| 11 | Ford F-150 |
842
|
23 | 35 |
| 12 | Chevrolet Equinox |
784
|
15 | 9 |
| 13 | Mazda Mazda3 |
686
|
18 | 5 |
| 14 | Jeep Wrangler |
686
|
15 | 35 |
| 15 | Ford Edge |
673
|
28 | 3 |
| 16 | Chevrolet Traverse |
668
|
17 | 6 |
| 17 | Toyota Camry |
602
|
100 | 1 |
| 18 | Honda Accord |
580
|
37 | 6 |
| 19 | Chevrolet Cobalt |
574
|
46 | 7 |
| 20 | Chevrolet HHR |
515
|
19 | 1 |
| 21 | Ford Fusion Hybrid |
507
|
9 | 0 |
| 22 | Dodge Ram 1500 |
486
|
26 | 3 |
| 23 | Honda Cr-V |
480
|
31 | 2 |
| 24 | Cadillac SRX |
474
|
21 | 5 |
| 25 | Mercedes-Benz C300 |
453
|
17 | 5 |
Top 25 vehicles by complaint count. Source: NHTSA ODI complaint file, aggregated Sep 8, 2026.
What 2010 owners complained about
The ten components named most often across every 2010 model-year vehicle. A complaint naming several components counts once for each.
| Component | Complaints | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Bags | 8,055 | 914 | 24 |
| Electrical System | 7,514 | 142 | 301 |
| Steering | 7,187 | 270 | 17 |
| Engine | 6,472 | 96 | 199 |
| Power Train | 4,922 | 154 | 38 |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 3,984 | 470 | 17 |
| Service Brakes | 3,767 | 343 | 24 |
| Unknown Or Other | 3,431 | 98 | 66 |
| Fuel/Propulsion System | 3,010 | 42 | 48 |
| Structure:body | 1,713 | 150 | 42 |
Methodology
- Source: the official NHTSA ODI complaint file (US DOT, public domain), aggregated into VehDB weekly. Last refresh: Sep 8, 2026. Narratives and complainant details are never stored.
- A complaint is one report by one owner. It counts once in the vehicle totals, and once per component it names in the component table, so component figures over-count if summed.
- Only vehicle complaints with a known model year are included; tire, equipment and child-seat complaints are excluded.
- Counts are absolute, not normalised by sales: a best-selling model accumulates more complaints than a niche one at the same defect rate. A high count is not by itself a verdict on quality.
- Crash, fire, injury and death figures are what the owner reported on the complaint form, not verified outcomes.
Need complaint data per vehicle?
GET /v1/cars/{uuid}/complaints returns these statistics for any car in the catalogue, and the complaints_for_vehicle MCP tool gives them to AI agents.