Every complaint in this report was filed by a real driver with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. We pulled the full public complaint record for 33 brands, 3,764 model years, and 597,865 individual complaints (data current as of July 17, 2026), then did the part nobody else does: we read them. Our clustering work groups complaints by what actually failed, so instead of "the 2023 Ioniq 5 has electrical complaints" we can tell you that 95 percent of its recent complaints describe the same single part failing.
No automaker pays us. No shop pays us to say nice things. That independence is the whole point of Wrench.Pro.
The headlines
1. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 has the most concentrated failure pattern in our entire dataset. Across the 2023 and 2024 model years, more than 9 in 10 recent complaints describe one component: the ICCU charging unit that keeps the 12-volt battery alive. When it fails, the car loses power. Sometimes while driving. 2. Honda has a steering problem that now spans three different models. Owners of the 2022 Civic, 2023 CR-V, and 2024 Prologue all report the same thing: steering that sticks or catches, especially on center. 3. The 2018 Ram 3500 shows what happens when a recall goes unrepaired. 97 percent of its recent complaints trace back to the same brake hydraulic unit. 4. Ford's 2010-2014 sedans still dominate the all-time complaint rankings, but the per-year leaderboard is full of vehicles you can buy new today.
Most complained-about vehicles, all time
Raw complaint totals favor older vehicles, which have had more years to rack them up. Still, the all-time list is striking for how much of it belongs to one automaker.
| Rank | Vehicle | Complaints | Most-reported system |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2010 Ford Fusion | 5,124 | Steering (1,657) |
| 2 | 2012 Ford Focus | 3,789 | Power train (1,455) |
| 3 | 2011 Hyundai Sonata | 3,368 | Steering (1,168) |
| 4 | 2010 Toyota Prius | 2,819 | Brakes (1,971) |
| 5 | 2013 Ford F-150 | 2,796 | Power train (1,212) |
| 6 | 2011 Ford Fusion | 2,780 | Steering (1,424) |
| 7 | 2013 Ford Escape | 2,743 | Engine (1,264) |
| 8 | 2014 Ford Focus | 2,644 | Power train (1,589) |
| 9 | 2014 Jeep Cherokee | 2,636 | Power train (1,460) |
| 10 | 2017 Ford Escape | 2,626 | Engine (1,528) |
Seven of the top ten are Fords.
Adjusted for time on the road
Dividing total complaints by years since the model year puts old and new vehicles on the same footing. This view is less kind to vehicles still in showrooms.
| Rank | Vehicle | Complaints per year | Total | Most-reported system |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2026 Tesla Model Y | 556 | 278 | Unknown/other |
| 2 | 2024 Honda Prologue | 318 | 795 | Steering (248) |
| 3 | 2023 Tesla Model Y | 311 | 1,089 | Forward collision avoidance (461) |
| 4 | 2010 Ford Fusion | 311 | 5,124 | Steering (1,657) |
| 5 | 2018 Ram 2500 | 293 | 2,493 | Brakes (2,261) |
| 6 | 2017 Ford Escape | 276 | 2,626 | Engine (1,528) |
| 7 | 2012 Ford Focus | 261 | 3,789 | Power train (1,455) |
| 8 | 2018 Honda CR-V | 245 | 2,084 | Engine (510) |
| 9 | 2016 Ford Explorer | 231 | 2,428 | Structure (573) |
| 10 | 2020 Ford Escape | 227 | 1,478 | Structure (603) |
A note on the 2026 Model Y: it tops this list on pace, but with only 278 total complaints and less than a year of data. Treat that ranking as an early signal until a full year of data lands.
When one problem dominates
This is the measurement we care most about. A vehicle with 150 complaints spread across 20 unrelated gripes is a different animal from a vehicle with 150 complaints about one part. We cluster the most recent complaints for each vehicle by failure mode. Here are the vehicles where a single failure accounts for the largest share.
| Vehicle | Share | The failure |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 Ram 3500 | 97% (180 of 186) | ABS and traction control loss tied to the brake HCU recall |
| 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5 | 95% (188 of 197) | ICCU failure causing 12-volt power loss |
| 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5 | 93% (179 of 193) | ICCU failure causing loss of propulsion |
| 2019 Ford Edge | 86% (130 of 151) | Torque converter and transmission shudder |
| 2024 GMC Canyon | 85% (148 of 174) | Headlight flicker during operation |
| 2019 Ford Escape | 84% (120 of 143) | EcoBoost coolant intrusion and engine failure |
| 2019 Toyota C-HR | 83% (73 of 88) | CVT transmission failure and bearing wear |
| 2020 Jeep Wrangler | 83% (82 of 99) | Instrument panel cluster going blank |
| 2021 Mazda CX-5 | 79% (58 of 73) | Engine oil consumption |
| 2018 Ford Escape | 79% (127 of 160) | Coolant intrusion into engine cylinders |
Deep dive: the Ioniq 5's twelve-volt problem
The Ioniq 5 is an 800-volt EV that can be stranded by the same kind of 12-volt battery that starts a 1998 Civic. The link between the two systems is the Integrated Charging Control Unit, and it is far and away the most complained-about component on the car.
Across the 2022 through 2025 model years, owners have filed 1,268 complaints on the Ioniq 5. 953 of them, 75 percent, are electrical system complaints, and the electrical system is the top complaint category in every single model year. In our clustering of recent complaints, the pattern sharpens: 95 percent of the 2023's clustered complaints and 93 percent of the 2024's describe ICCU failure. Owners report a warning light, then reduced power, then in many cases a car that will not drive at all. Twenty-five crashes are reported across these model years in the complaint records.
If you own one: know the early symptoms (12-volt warning, a click and loss of accessory power) and check your VIN for open recalls before your next road trip. Our vehicle pages list every open recall for your exact model year, free.
Deep dive: Honda's sticky steering spreads
One model with steering complaints is a data point. Three models spanning three model years and two platforms is a pattern.
On the 2022 Civic, steering is the top complaint category with 728 of 877 total complaints, 83 percent. On the 2023 CR-V it is 318 of 502, 63 percent. And on the brand-new 2024 Prologue, Honda's electric SUV, steering is already the top category at 248 of 795. Owners across all three describe the same sensation: the wheel sticks or notches near center, then breaks free, which makes small highway corrections feel like a fight.
The watch list
Four patterns from our clustering that deserve attention even though they missed the tables above. The 2019 and 2020 Ford F-150 share a dominant cluster of erratic shifting from the 10-speed transmission (70 and 75 percent of clustered complaints respectively). The 2020 Jeep Gladiator matches its Wrangler sibling with instrument clusters going blank (78 percent). The 2021 Toyota Highlander's 8-speed transmission whine accounts for 77 percent of its clustered complaints. And the 2023 GMC Yukon shows engine failure with sudden loss of propulsion in 71 percent of its clustered complaints, on a truck that is barely three years old.
How we did this, and what this data can't tell you
Our source is NHTSA's public complaint database, which any driver can file into and anyone can read. We pulled every complaint for the 33 brands in our catalog as of July 17, 2026. Complaint counts are not normalized for sales volume. A best-seller will accumulate more complaints than a niche model with the same defect rate, which is why we show both raw counts and concentration percentages. Concentration figures come from clustering each vehicle's 200 most recent complaints by failure mode, so they describe the recent complaint mix, not the vehicle's whole history. Complaints are unverified consumer reports. They show what owners are experiencing on the road; the authoritative word on any safety question is NHTSA's own investigation and recall record.
Every number in this report can be checked against the public record, and we will share our full dataset and clustering methodology with any journalist or researcher who asks: admin@wrench.pro.
Wrench.Pro is an independent, driver-first vehicle maintenance site. We publish every maintenance schedule, recall, and known issue for over 10,000 model years, free, and we don't take automaker money. Read our promise at wrench.pro/promise.