Owner complaints offer a rough gauge of which vehicles frustrate the people who drive them. Federal safety filings and a pickup-focused owner website supply the counts behind this list, and the two sources use different methods and dates. Together they rank eight models that drew the heaviest volume of grumbling.
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1. Ford Fusion: Fusion Tops the Pile
A Tires Easy analysis of NHTSA records places the Ford Fusion first, with 16,335 federal complaints filed between 2015 and 2024. That is the most of any model in the ranking, and the count covers the Fusion alone rather than the wider Ford lineup. The midsize sedan outpaced every truck and crossover on the list in the same federal dataset.
A raw complaint total reflects how many cars were on the road as much as how often they failed, so the Fusion’s lead partly tracks its popularity. The figure still marks it as the model drawing the most formal grievances in the period.
2. Ford F-150: Truck With Heavy Paperwork
Ford’s full-size pickup lands second, with 15,378 federal complaints recorded in the same NHTSA window. Only the Fusion drew more filings, which puts two Ford products at the head of a ranking covering every model sold. Pickups see hard use, so a long list of reports is not surprising for a truck that stays in daily service.
Sales scale may matter here too. A truck found in so many driveways could generate a long paper trail, and the count alone does not separate minor annoyances from serious safety defects. Ranking second still places the truck far above most of the models in the dataset.
3. Hyundai Sonata: Sedan in Seventh
Hyundai’s midsize sedan appears seventh in the NHTSA tally, drawing 10,170 federal complaints across model years 2015 through 2024. It sits just above the Honda CR-V and Ford Edge further down the ranking. The placement shows that non-Ford nameplates also reach five-figure complaint counts in this dataset.
A seventh-place finish says nothing about whether any single defect was widespread. The tally lumps every kind of report together, from braking worries to electrical glitches, so buyers would need to read individual complaints for detail. The count works best as a starting point for further research.
4. Honda CR-V: Crossover Close Behind
Honda’s compact crossover collects 10,016 federal complaints in the 2015-2024 data, which ranks it eighth. The figure sits only slightly below the Sonata’s count, so the two models are nearly tied. A large complaint total can accompany a model that appears on the road in very high numbers, whatever its reputation. Buyers weighing the model would still want to see what the individual reports describe.
The CR-V’s position illustrates how volume shapes these lists. Honda’s compact SUV is a common sight, and the reports attached to it may reflect that presence rather than a verdict on its build quality.
5. Ford Edge: Edge of the Top Ten
Ford’s midsize crossover takes ninth place, logging 9,871 federal complaints in the NHTSA spreadsheets analyzed for 2015 through 2024. That gives Ford three entries in the group, since the Fusion and F-150 rank above it. The Edge sits only a short distance behind the CR-V, which shows how tightly bunched the lower half of the ranking is.
Three Ford models in a single list is a striking pattern, although the data does not explain it. Brand popularity, fleet use and the willingness of owners to file reports may all contribute alongside any genuine defects.
6. Ram 1500: Pickup Complaint Leader
A separate pickup-focused tally from CarComplaints.com puts the Ram 1500 at the top, with 6,187 owner complaints logged as of September 2020. That is the most of any pickup there, and it is roughly double the Silverado’s. The numbers come from owner reports on a private website, a different method from the federal figures used earlier in this gallery.
Because the count is dated to September 2020 and drawn from a voluntary site, it should be read as a snapshot of owner frustration at that moment. Later model years would have added further entries since then.
7. Chevrolet Silverado: Silverado in the Middle
Chevrolet’s full-size pickup ranks behind the Ram in the same CarComplaints.com comparison, with 3,001 owner complaints logged as of September 2020. That is roughly half the Ram’s total and more than double the Sierra’s, placing the Silverado squarely in the middle of the three trucks examined. Its figure shows that a large truck line can sit well below its rival on this particular measure, even in the same year and on the same site.
The Silverado’s count again depends on how many owners chose to post online by that date. A lower total than the Ram’s does not prove fewer problems, only fewer recorded gripes on one site.
8. GMC Sierra 1500: Sierra Brings Up the Rear
GMC’s full-size pickup records the smallest tally of the three trucks, with 1,102 owner complaints logged on CarComplaints.com as of September 2020. Its count is only a fraction of the Silverado’s, and a small share of the Ram’s. The gap shows how widely the three trucks differ when owners are invited to report problems on the same site.
A small number on a voluntary site can also reflect a smaller audience of buyers. Treated with caution, the Sierra’s figure suggests relatively few logged complaints rather than a clean record, and a snapshot dated September 2020 cannot speak for later model years.
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