TroubleCAR

Methodology

Where the data comes from

All complaint data comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigation. Every complaint you see was filed by a real car owner through NHTSA's website, hotline, or other official channels. We refresh the data monthly.

How the trouble score is computed

The trouble score (0–100, where higher means worse) is a weighted composite of four signals:

  • Volume (30%) — how many complaints have been filed, log-scaled so that high-volume models don't automatically dominate.
  • Severity (40%) — what fraction of complaints involve a crash, fire, injury, or death. This is the most heavily weighted factor because severity matters more than count.
  • Component diversity (15%) — how spread out the problems are across systems. A model with problems in 10 different systems is worse than one with problems all in the same place.
  • Velocity (15%) — what fraction of complaints were filed in the last two years. Recent problems weigh more than old ones.

What the score does NOT account for

The trouble score is not normalized by sales volume. Popular models like the Honda Civic or Toyota Camry may appear to score higher simply because more people own them and therefore more complaints get filed. Free per-model sales data is not publicly available in a usable form, so we can't correct for this yet.

We also only count complaints filed with NHTSA. Problems that owners resolved without filing a federal complaint are not represented.

Score buckets

  • 0–25 — Good (few or minor complaints)
  • 26–50 — Moderate concerns
  • 51–75 — Significant problems
  • 76–100 — Serious or widespread issues

Limited data

For any model/year with fewer than 5 complaints filed, we show a "Limited data" badge instead of a score. Five complaints is not enough to draw a meaningful conclusion, and we'd rather tell you that honestly than invent a number.

Disclaimer

This score is not an official safety rating. It is derived from public NHTSA data using the methodology described above and reflects editorial judgment about how to weigh different signals. For official safety ratings, see NHTSA.gov/ratings. Always consult a qualified mechanic before making a purchase decision based on any online data.