AtWhatMileage
Model year

The 2014 model year, ranked by risk

The 2014 field, worst and best

Of the 270 vehicles from the 2014 model year carrying enough owner reports to score, the Husqvarna Tr650 comes out worst at 88 out of 100 and the Nissan Armada best at 53. Every score on this page is ranked against 2014 cars only.

What a rank inside one model year means

Older cars have had more years to break and more years to accumulate complaints, so comparing a 2014 against a car ten years newer measures age as much as quality. Scoring inside a single model year removes that: every vehicle on this page has had the same 12 years on the road.

It does not correct for popularity on its own, either. The rate per 1,000 vehicles does that, using fleet sizes derived from recall records; where no recall exists to derive one from, the vehicle is scored on counts and marked as lower confidence.

Highest risk

Owner reports per 1,000 vehicles built, 2014 model year

The worst-scoring vehicles of 2014 that also have a fleet estimate, so a rate can be worked out. Shorter is better. Where the top bar towers over the rest, the model year has one outlier rather than a bad field; where the bars are level, the whole cohort was ordinary and the ranking below is splitting hairs.

Ranked worst first. Lower scores are better; the rank column is the vehicle's position in the whole 2014 cohort.
Rank Vehicle Reports Per 1,000 Median report Most reported problem Risk
1stHusqvarna Tr6503773.02kOther fuel system problem88
2ndPalomino Columbus23203.52kOther brake problem85
3rdFord F-532682.06kFuel leak or fuel odor85
4thFiat 50017221.918kOther powertrain problem84
5thMazda Mazda215234.47kAirbag failed to deploy in a crash84
6thMercedes Benz Cla25028099.515kOther speed control problem84
7thMercedes Benz S55036248.312kCruise control failure83
8thHarley-Davidson Flhtk506.1863Radiator or coolant leak83
9thEntegra Aspire16551.720kTire blowout or tread separation82
10thYamaha Fz09173.23kTiming chain, belt or tensioner failure82
11thMINI Cooper456.99kOther engine problem81
12thFord Focus Electric9819.96kOther powertrain problem81
13thSuzuki Dl10001512.51kOther fuel system problem81
14thBMW 335I3127.533kFuel pump failure80
15thToyota Camry640201.635kOther speed control problem80
16thMercedes Benz Sprinter 35008322.523kAirbag inflator rupture80
17thBMW 435I3329.325kOther engine problem80
18thHonda CR-V79834.317kOther engine problem80
19thFord Focus3,63119.848kOther powertrain problem80
20thToyota Tacoma13470.624kLoss of braking80
21stMaserati Ghibli345.49kStrut, shock or spring failure80
22ndJeep Cherokee3,96625.036kOther powertrain problem80
23rdMercedes Benz E35037897.641kControl arm, ball joint or bushing failure79
24thJaguar XJ1721.746kOther speed control problem79
25thBMW 535I4654.816kOther engine problem79
26thBMW X513120.547kFuel pump failure79
27thChevrolet Silverado1951.34kOther powertrain problem79
28thChevrolet Cruze1,10625.454kOther engine problem79
29thJeep Grand Cherokee3,40433.646kOther powertrain problem78
30thMercedes Benz C25022273.847kAirbag inflator rupture78
31stLexus Es3502610.14kComplete transmission failure78
32ndStallion 900685,666.76kOther body or interior problem78
33rdMercedes Benz B-Class Electric34104.020kOther powertrain problem78
34thChevrolet Spark27418.446kOther engine problem78
35thVolkswagen Passat78826.246kAirbag inflator rupture78
36thBMW 328I23715.562kOther engine problem77
37thBMW I3 Rex43—4kOther powertrain problem77
38thMercedes Benz Glk35012039.938kAirbag inflator rupture77
39thNissan Pathfinder7508.547kCVT failure77
40thMercedes Benz Sprinter 25004311.746kAirbag inflator rupture77
What each column means, and what it does not

Rank is the vehicle's position among the 270 vehicles of 2014 that carry enough owner reports to be scored at all. A car missing from this page is not a clean car; it is a car too few people filed about, which for a rare model is the normal outcome. Rank is the whole point of publishing the cohort: a vehicle described elsewhere on this site as the seventh riskiest of its year can be checked against the other six here.

Reports is the raw count of owner complaints filed with NHTSA about that vehicle, and it is the column most likely to mislead you. A model that sold two million copies will out-report a model that sold forty thousand without being any worse to own, which is why the column beside it exists. Per 1,000 divides those reports by an estimate of how many of that model year are on the road, derived from the fleet sizes manufacturers state in their recall filings. It is an estimate and it is blank wherever no recall covers the model year — roughly the cleanest vehicles and the rarest ones, an absence that cuts both ways.

Median report is the mileage by which half the dated reports had been filed, and it is the number a buyer standing in a driveway actually needs. Two cars with identical complaint counts are not the same car if one reports at 40,000 miles and the other at 140,000: the first is a defect, the second is wear. Most reported problem names the failure mode with the highest weighted report count for that vehicle, and Risk is the 0–100 score that combines rate, severity and timing, ranked inside 2014 and nothing else.

Nothing on this page is a measurement of how long a car lasts. It is a measurement of what owners chose to report to a federal complaints database, which is a real signal about defects and a poor one about oil changes. Read it as a list of things to have inspected, not as a verdict.

How far apart these cars really are

Across the 40 ranked vehicles shown, scores run from 88 down to 77. The distance between neighbours in the middle of a list like this is often a point or two, which is well inside the noise of voluntary reporting — read the ends of the ranking, not the middle of it.

Taking the worst failure mode from each of these 2014 vehicles, the problems that recur are other powertrain problem (8 vehicles), other engine problem (7 vehicles) and airbag inflator rupture (5 vehicles). A fault that shows up across several manufacturers in the same model year is usually a component they all bought from the same supplier.

The 2014 cars that hold up best

Lowest scores in the 2014 field: Nissan Armada (53), Mazda Mazda5 (55), Dodge Caravan (56), Hyundai Equus (58) and Ford F-250 (59).

A low score means owners of that car reported fewer serious failures, relative to how many were built, than owners of its contemporaries. It says nothing about the car in a particular driveway, and it is not a substitute for an inspection or a service history.

The same cohort from the other end.
Rank Vehicle Reports Per 1,000 Median report Most reported problem Risk
270thNissan Armada171.163kAirbag warning light or occupant sensor fault53
269thMazda Mazda5160.550kOther brake problem55
268thDodge Caravan270.557kAlternator or charging system failure56
267thHyundai Equus541.453kAirbag inflator rupture58
266thFord F-2502365.482kOther steering problem59
265thNissan Xterra150.430kABS module or sensor failure59
264thNissan Redundant Nv200180.370kFuel pump failure60
263rdAudi A5382.060kOther engine problem60
262ndNissan Quest220.664kCVT failure60
261stLincoln Navigator250.486kOther speed control problem60
260thLexus IS 350150.537kFuel pump failure60
259thAudi A4382.781kOther engine problem60
258thSubaru Crosstrek220.460kAirbag failed to deploy in a crash61
257thToyota Prius Plug-IN Hybrid212.190kOther brake problem61
256thFord Expedition961.290kOther powertrain problem61
255thChevrolet Suburban774.155kOther body or interior problem62
254thFord F-3501505.666kOther steering problem63
253rdChevrolet Malibu Eco192.758kControl module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure63
252ndAudi S4232.058kOther steering problem63
251stKia Sedona542.253kOther electrical problem63
250thGMC Yukon794.270kAirbag inflator rupture63
249thHyundai Sonata Hybrid400.484kOther engine problem63
248thAcura TL170.536kAirbag inflator rupture63
247thToyota Tundra1150.942kOther wheel or tire problem63
246thLand Rover Lr4242.453kTurbocharger or supercharger failure64
245thHyundai Genesis310.851kAirbag failed to deploy in a crash64
243rdInfiniti Qx80242.078kTiming chain, belt or tensioner failure64
244thCadillac Srx45410.758kHeadlight failure or clouding64
242ndAudi A7162.040kOther fuel system problem65
241stToyota Sienna2111.746kOther body or interior problem65
239thFord Transit Connect1591.260kOther body or interior problem65
240thAudi Q7662.246kFuel pump failure65
238thGMC Sierra 2500392.140kOther powertrain problem65
237thFord Flex3255.764kOther steering problem65
236thHyundai Veloster1163.179kOther engine problem65
235thVolkswagen Jetta Sportwagen464.377kFuel pump failure65
234thChevrolet Equinox6996.276kOther engine problem66
233rdChevrolet Tahoe1186.255kAirbag inflator rupture66
231stLexus ES Hybrid155.841kOther speed control problem66
232ndGMC Terrain3853.475kTiming chain, belt or tensioner failure66

Other model years

Using this list to shop

A ranking of every 2014 model year is most useful in reverse: it tells you which cars of that age have a documented pattern of expensive failures, so you know what to look for and what to walk away from. The model-year page for each car names the failures and the mileages they are reported at.

Scores are recomputed whenever the complaint database is re-imported, and a car's position can move as reports accumulate. The figure shown is the one from the most recent computation, and every page carries its own date.

Questions this page answers

Which 2014 vehicles are the least reliable?

Of the 270 2014 vehicles with enough owner reports to score, the Husqvarna Tr650 carries the highest computed risk at 88 out of 100. Scores are ranked within the 2014 model year only, so a car is never penalised for being older.

Which 2014 vehicles hold up best?

The Nissan Armada scores lowest at 53 out of 100 among 2014 vehicles with enough reports to rate. A low score means few reported failures relative to how many were built, not a guarantee.

What a low score is not. It is not a promise. A vehicle can sit at the safe end of its cohort because it genuinely had fewer reported defects, or because the people who bought it complain less, or because fewer were sold than our fleet estimate assumes. The score is a comparison of complaint behaviour, weighted by how bad each failure is, and the methodology page is explicit about which parts of that we are confident in.

Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed