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First on the odometer: electronic stability control. Last: engine.

Study · 2026-10-02

Which systems go first: the odometer at first complaint, by component

NHTSA’s complaint form asks which system failed and what the odometer said. Across 57,720 readings on 2018–2022 model years, electronic stability control complaints arrive earliest — at 0.46× the mileage of same-age vehicles — and engine complaints latest, at 2.12×.

Readingscomponent mentions with a mileage 57,720

Systems ranked600+ readings each 17

Earliestmedian at complaint 10,000 mi

Latestmedian at complaint 47,616 mi

Every system, earliest to latest

Source: NHTSA ODI complaints

Ranked by the age-adjusted ratio: each system’s median odometer against the whole fleet’s, inside each model year.

Red: complaints about that system arrive at lower mileage than the fleet’s complaints on the same model years. Blue: later. Log scale: each step out from the line is a doubling.

System	vs same age	Median mi	Middle half	Under 12,000	Readings
Electronic Stability Control	0.46×	10,000	3,400 – 26,834	53.7%	961
Vehicle Speed Control	0.48×	10,700	3,000 – 30,000	52.3%	2,124
Wheels	0.56×	12,000	4,800 – 25,000	48.6%	926
Visibility/Wiper	0.59×	11,500	4,200 – 29,000	50.4%	3,640
Steering	0.63×	14,000	4,000 – 33,000	45.5%	4,469
Exterior Lighting	0.65×	16,000	3,000 – 44,000	45.4%	840
Forward Collision Avoidance	0.75×	15,000	5,000 – 36,000	43.9%	1,523
Service Brakes	0.78×	18,000	5,000 – 45,169	41.2%	4,961
Electrical System	0.8×	19,000	5,000 – 45,600	39.9%	7,665
Suspension	0.8×	17,500	7,480 – 33,000	37.1%	2,032
Structure	0.98×	20,000	5,000 – 46,900	39.0%	2,349
Air Bags	1.06×	23,000	8,000 – 57,000	32.3%	1,673
Fuel/Propulsion System	1.19×	29,000	6,500 – 64,000	34.2%	3,750
Power Train	1.57×	34,300	8,100 – 72,850	30.4%	7,423
Seat Belts	1.58×	27,000	8,664 – 61,000	30.5%	663
Back Over Prevention	2.09×	40,000	20,000 – 69,580	16.9%	1,099
Engine	2.12×	47,616	12,000 – 81,000	24.6%	11,622

How this was measured

Source: NHTSA ODI complaints

Every complaint filed with NHTSA names one or more components and carries the odometer reading the owner gave. For model years 2018 to 2022 we took each component a complaint names, with that complaint’s mileage, dropping zeros and readings over 500,000 and the “unknown or other” category. A complaint naming three systems counts once for each.

One system, one name. NHTSA’s form has used two names for several systems over the years, and the two spellings carry very different mileages, so ranked apart they would make the form the finding. Each pair is counted as one system: ENGINE and ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING; SERVICE BRAKES and SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC; FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM and FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE; VISIBILITY/WIPER and VISIBILITY.

Every comparison is made inside a model year. A system’s figure is its median odometer divided by the median of every complaint on the same model year, then averaged across 2018–2022 weighted by readings. A nameplate’s figure on a system is its median for that system divided by the fleet’s median for the same system and model year. 0.50 means half the mileage; 1.50 means half again as far.

This measures when problems get reported, by the minority of owners who report them. It is not a failure rate, and complaint counts, which scale with sales, are never used to rank anything.

Engine

50 nameplates ranked on this system. Earliest and latest five, against same-age vehicles reporting the same system.

Reported earliest

Nameplate	vs same system	Median mi	Readings
Volkswagen Golf / GTI 2019	0.01×	500	145
Volkswagen Jetta 2019	0.02×	790	70
Acura RDX 2019–2020	0.16×	6,935	79
Volkswagen Tiguan 2018–2019	0.16×	8,245	61
Subaru Outback 2018–2020	0.18×	9,000	45

Reported latest

Nameplate	vs same system	Median mi	Readings
Ford Fusion 2018–2020	1.91×	89,000	265
Kia Sorento 2018–2019	1.83×	78,500	78
Ford Expedition 2018–2020	1.73×	77,000	152
Kia Optima 2018–2020	1.67×	76,270	82
Ford Escape 2018–2022	1.67×	81,000	787

Electrical System

37 nameplates ranked on this system. Earliest and latest five, against same-age vehicles reporting the same system.

Reported earliest

Nameplate	vs same system	Median mi	Readings
Tesla Model Y 2021–2022	0.43×	10,000	56
Subaru Forester 2018–2020	0.51×	6,500	73
Honda Pilot 2018–2021	0.59×	5,400	189
GMC Sierra 2019–2021	0.63×	8,700	83
Honda Odyssey 2018–2020	0.64×	11,244	144

Reported latest

Nameplate	vs same system	Median mi	Readings
Jeep Gladiator Pickup 2020	5.66×	55,000	45
BMW X5 2019–2021	3.99×	55,000	48
Dodge Grand Caravan 2018–2019	2.51×	49,000	43
Ford Fusion 2018–2020	2.46×	37,000	49
Jaguar I-Pace 2019–2020	2.1×	28,000	48

Power Train

34 nameplates ranked on this system. Earliest and latest five, against same-age vehicles reporting the same system.

Reported earliest

Nameplate	vs same system	Median mi	Readings
Volkswagen Golf / GTI 2019	0.02×	500	65
Volkswagen Jetta 2019	0.08×	2,050	105
Toyota Tacoma 2018–2019	0.1×	3,500	46
Toyota Camry 2018–2019	0.28×	9,700	105
Toyota RAV4 2018–2019	0.28×	8,940	52

Reported latest

Nameplate	vs same system	Median mi	Readings
Ford Edge 2018–2020	2.49×	75,000	168
Ford Fusion 2018–2020	2.47×	80,000	107
Toyota Highlander 2018–2020	2.36×	72,000	57
Ford Expedition 2018–2021	2.26×	73,200	168
Ford Escape 2018–2021	1.91×	62,000	241

Service Brakes

21 nameplates ranked on this system. Earliest and latest five, against same-age vehicles reporting the same system.

Reported earliest

Nameplate	vs same system	Median mi	Readings
Toyota Tacoma 2018–2019	0.42×	6,000	48
Toyota RAV4 2018–2019	0.43×	5,000	42
Nissan Rogue 2018–2020	0.49×	10,000	306
Volkswagen Atlas 2018–2019	0.53×	10,000	69
Honda Accord 2018–2020	0.72×	12,500	213

Reported latest

Nameplate	vs same system	Median mi	Readings
Chevrolet Equinox 2018–2020	5.05×	65,000	83
Jeep Grand Cherokee 2018–2019	3.82×	53,000	85
Ram 2500 2018	2.1×	59,000	455
Ram 3500 2018	1.96×	55,000	133
Toyota Camry 2018–2019	1.83×	40,000	94

Steering

14 nameplates ranked on this system. Earliest and latest five, against same-age vehicles reporting the same system.

Reported earliest

Nameplate	vs same system	Median mi	Readings
Jeep Gladiator Pickup 2020	0.25×	1,000	90
Subaru Outback 2018–2019	0.26×	4,100	49
Jeep Wrangler 2018–2022	0.41×	5,500	1,120
Tesla Model 3 2018–2020	0.67×	10,000	44
Chrysler Pacifica 2018	0.77×	11,127	53

Reported latest

Nameplate	vs same system	Median mi	Readings
Honda CR-V 2018–2021	3.03×	45,000	134
Honda Civic 2018–2022	2.69×	44,000	119
Chevrolet Silverado 2018–2020	1.93×	15,000	70
Ram 1500 2018–2019	1.69×	24,000	176
Ford F-250 Super Duty 2018–2019	1.55×	22,000	633

Fuel/Propulsion System

18 nameplates ranked on this system. Earliest and latest five, against same-age vehicles reporting the same system.

Reported earliest

Nameplate	vs same system	Median mi	Readings
Toyota RAV4 2019–2020	0.06×	1,000	200
Subaru Outback 2018–2019	0.41×	8,000	42
Toyota Tacoma 2018–2020	0.51×	10,000	71
Honda CR-V 2018–2020	0.63×	13,500	319
Toyota Highlander 2018–2019	0.64×	11,214	57

Reported latest

Nameplate	vs same system	Median mi	Readings
Ford F-250 Super Duty 2019–2021	4.61×	103,000	65
Honda Odyssey 2018–2019	3.29×	65,000	62
Honda Pilot 2018–2020	3.13×	66,000	81
Honda Accord 2018–2020	2.84×	72,174	190
Ford Escape 2018–2022	2.06×	53,000	79

Visibility/Wiper

10 nameplates ranked on this system. Earliest and latest five, against same-age vehicles reporting the same system.

Reported earliest

Nameplate	vs same system	Median mi	Readings
Kia Telluride 2020–2021	0.64×	4,400	111
Hyundai Palisade 2020–2021	0.65×	4,500	106
Subaru Forester 2018–2021	0.83×	8,500	617
Subaru Legacy 2018–2020	0.89×	9,000	99
Subaru Outback 2018–2022	0.96×	11,000	739

Reported latest

Nameplate	vs same system	Median mi	Readings
Ford F-150 2018–2021	2.31×	36,100	101
Ram 1500 2019–2020	2.29×	18,000	54
Subaru Ascent 2019–2020	1.36×	11,000	101
Subaru Crosstrek 2018–2020	1.05×	13,396	176
Subaru Impreza 2018–2020	1.04×	10,300	94

The data behind this

Everything above, as files. No key, no form, no attribution beyond the line below — if it is useful, use it.

CSV — systems and every ranked nameplate-system · JSON — with the method

How to cite

WhichTrim, “Which systems go first: the odometer at first complaint, by component, 2018–2022”, 2026-10-02. https://whichtrim.com/studies/component-mileage/

The underlying records are U.S. federal public-domain data from NHTSA. The joins, the filtering and the arithmetic are ours, and we would rather be credited than not — but the figures are checkable from the source either way, which is the point.

Questions about this study

Source: NHTSA ODI complaints

Does an early system mean it is badly made?

It means owners report that system to NHTSA at lower mileage than the fleet's complaints as a whole. Some systems are simply noticed early — a warning light or a screen fault shows up on day one, a worn suspension part does not. Read the ratio as when complaints about a system tend to arrive, not how often it fails.

Why compare a nameplate against the same system rather than the whole fleet?

Because systems have their own clocks. An engine complaint at 40,000 miles is early for an engine and late for an infotainment screen. Comparing a nameplate's engine complaints with every same-age engine complaint isolates the nameplate from the system.

Why count a complaint more than once?

The question is per system. A complaint that names the engine and the power train is evidence about both, so each gets the reading. The totals on this page are component mentions, and they say so.

Can I use these numbers?

Yes. The full table is on this page as CSV and JSON, the source is public-domain federal data, and every nameplate links to its page, where the complaints are. Credit WhichTrim and link back.