GarageCalc The fastest-rising complaint magnets of 2026
Current-production models, complaints received Jan 1 - Aug 24, 2026 versus the same window of 2025 (minimum 50 complaints in 2026 and 30 in 2025; see methodology for exclusions). Hybrids and EVs are highlighted.
| # | Model | Type | 2025 | 2026 | Change | Top complaint area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toyota Sienna Hybrid | Hybrid | 56 | 257 | +359% | Seats |
| 2 | Toyota Camry Hybrid | Hybrid | 47 | 184 | +291% | Hybrid propulsion system |
| 3 | Ram ProMaster | 40 | 153 | +283% | Electrical system | |
| 4 | Kia EV6 | EV | 68 | 238 | +250% | Electrical system |
| 5 | Land Rover Range Rover Sport | 48 | 146 | +204% | Steering | |
| 6 | Hyundai Ioniq 5 | EV | 209 | 587 | +181% | Electrical system |
| 7 | Lincoln Nautilus | 30 | 74 | +147% | Power train | |
| 8 | Kia Niro | Hybrid/EV | 35 | 84 | +140% | Electrical system |
| 9 | Volvo XC60 | 35 | 75 | +114% | Electrical system | |
| 10 | Toyota Grand Highlander | 51 | 102 | +100% | Power train | |
| 11 | Tesla Model Y | EV | 307 | 606 | +97% | Unknown or other |
| 12 | Infiniti QX50 | 31 | 61 | +97% | Engine | |
| 13 | Kia Telluride | 204 | 394 | +93% | Engine |
Three stories behind the numbers
1. Toyota's hybrid headache is specific, not vague
The Sienna Hybrid's +359% surge is concentrated: 168 of its 257 complaints concern seats, and 184 of them are about the 2025 model year. That maps directly onto Toyota's recall of roughly 55,000 MY2025 Siennas for improperly welded second-row seat rails, a recall whose repairs have been delayed long enough to spark a class action. Owners are filing complaints while they wait.
2. The Ioniq 5's electrical saga keeps generating paperwork
Hyundai's Ioniq 5 logged 587 complaints in eight months, more than the Toyota Camry or Jeep Cherokee, and 477 of them cite the electrical system. This is the ongoing ICCU (integrated charging control unit) failure story: NHTSA recalls 24V-204 and the expanded 24V-868 cover about 145,000 vehicles, and complaint volume suggests owners are still hitting the failure in 2026. Kia's related EV6 (+250%, also led by electrical complaints) tells the same story from the sister brand.
3. Legacy trucks are quietly improving
The perennial complaint leaders are all trending down: F-150 -2%, Silverado -13%, Ram 1500 -11%, Sierra -21%, and the Ford Explorer dropped a remarkable 42%. Brand-level, Ford complaints fell 20% while Toyota rose 32% and Hyundai 38%. The complaint league table is being reshuffled by powertrain transition, not by the usual suspects.
Most complained-about vehicles of 2026 (so far)
Want your own car? The Car Complaint Checker looks up any model's 2026 complaint count, trend and top problem areas.
Read this table as a volume story, not a reliability ranking. The vehicles at the top are largely the ones Americans own in the greatest numbers, so raw complaint totals track sales more than they track quality. The signal worth watching is the year-over-year change: sales are roughly constant within a model from one year to the next, so a sharp rise means the per-vehicle complaint rate genuinely moved, not just that the model is popular. That is why the fastest-rising table above, not this one, is the real finding.
| # | Model | 2026 YTD | vs 2025 | Top complaint area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford F-150 | 2,225 | -2% | Power train |
| 2 | Ford Escape | 1,477 | -15% | Engine |
| 3 | Chevrolet Silverado 1500 | 1,189 | -13% | Engine |
| 4 | Ram 1500 | 1,151 | -11% | Electrical system |
| 5 | Ford Explorer | 1,006 | -42% | Structure |
| 6 | GMC Sierra 1500 | 958 | -21% | Engine |
| 7 | Honda CR-V | 954 | +11% | Steering |
| 8 | Honda Odyssey | 934 | +78% | Electrical system |
| 9 | Honda Accord | 927 | +29% | Engine |
| 10 | Jeep Wrangler | 886 | +52% | Electrical system |
| 11 | Honda Pilot | 728 | +9% | Engine |
| 12 | Nissan Rogue | 701 | +81% | Engine |
| 13 | Ford Edge | 699 | -15% | Power train |
| 14 | Jeep Grand Cherokee | 611 | +5% | Electrical system |
| 15 | Tesla Model Y | 606 | +97% | Unknown or other |
| 16 | Hyundai Ioniq 5 | 587 | +181% | Electrical system |
| 17 | Hyundai Tucson | 584 | +55% | Engine |
| 18 | Jeep Cherokee | 578 | -22% | Power train |
| 19 | Hyundai Palisade | 576 | +35% | Seat belts |
| 20 | Ram 2500 | 535 | +50% | Service brakes |
Complaints by brand
| # | Brand | 2026 YTD | 2025 same period | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford | 8,672 | 10,869 | -20% |
| 2 | Honda | 5,036 | 4,607 | +9% |
| 3 | Chevrolet | 4,205 | 4,501 | -7% |
| 4 | Hyundai | 3,768 | 2,738 | +38% |
| 5 | Toyota | 3,446 | 2,618 | +32% |
| 6 | Jeep | 2,919 | 2,653 | +10% |
| 7 | Kia | 2,842 | 2,471 | +15% |
| 8 | GMC | 2,296 | 2,762 | -17% |
| 9 | Ram | 2,097 | 1,855 | +13% |
| 10 | Nissan | 1,914 | 1,599 | +20% |
Methodology
- Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation complaints flat file (COMPLAINTS_RECEIVED_2025-2026), downloaded August 24, 2026. Public domain federal data.
- Windows: complaints received January 1 - August 24, 2026 versus January 1 - August 24, 2025 (equal-length periods).
- Counting: one complaint = one distinct NHTSA ODI number. The raw file repeats a complaint once per affected component; we deduplicate, so our counts are complaints, not component mentions. Vehicle products only (tires, equipment and child seats excluded).
- Fastest-rising list: minimum 50 complaints in 2026 and 30 in the 2025 window. Two models that met the numeric bar were excluded as out of production with complaint waves on old vehicles: Dodge Dart (2013-2016 cars, powertrain/shift-cable wave) and gas-era Toyota C-HR (2018-2021 cars). We note this so nobody accuses the list of hiding inconvenient entries.
- Honest caveats: raw complaint counts correlate with sales volume, which is why the F-150 always tops raw tables. The growth analysis partially controls for this, but two entries deserve flags: the Camry Hybrid's rise largely reflects the hybrid-only 2025 redesign ramping up (older hybrid Camrys are filed under "Camry" in NHTSA data), and a portion of Model Y growth tracks the fast-selling 2026 refresh. Even discounting both, electrified models dominate the list.
- Reuse: two CSVs under CC BY 4.0: the tables on this page and the full per-model table (all 765 models with at least three complaints in either window, 2026 and 2025 counts, top four components and top six model years each). The raw complaint-level file is NHTSA's own flat file download, about 160 MB. Cite by linking to this page.
About GarageCalc
GarageCalc builds free automotive calculators and reference tools: tire fitment, towing capacity by vehicle, and a 0-60 times database. Questions about this analysis or requests for custom cuts of the data: [email protected]. Our corrections policy applies to this study.