We are flooded with information that is not simple enough to act on. These are attempts to simplify it enough to close the gap between knowing and doing.
- Takata, from the complaint sideThe largest recall in automotive history is usually described in units. Here it is in what owners actually filed: 29 nameplates, 14 makes, one decade.
- The fault that didn't exist before 2011Backup cameras were mandated to stop people reversing over children. They worked. They also created a complaint category that did not previously exist, and it peaked the year the mandate did.
- When one fault is the whole storyMost cars accumulate complaints about everything. A few draw them about one thing, so overwhelmingly that the rest of the car disappears.
- The year to buy, for 24 cars people actually buyEvery one of these models has a first year flagged for unusual complaints, and a later year with none. Same car, same showroom, different risk.
- Don't buy the first model year: we checked 263 of themThe advice is old and everyone repeats it. The raw complaint numbers appear to prove it, and that appearance is a trap. Here is what survives a control.