Cars

• Takata, from the complaint side
  The 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 2011
  Backup 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 story
  Most 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 buy
  Every 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 them
  The 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.