Do reports of this repair follow the weather where owners live, county by county?

A moderate pattern, not a firm finding: across 104 U.S. counties with 10 or more NHTSA owner complaints about fuel pump replacement, reports run 47% above the national share in the third with the wettest climates against 7% above in the third with the driest climates. This is an association across counties, not a cause.

Reports of fuel pump replacement by county, grouped by yearly precipitation. Third of counties with the driest climates: 7% above; Middle third: 5% above; Third with the wettest climates: 47% above.

• Split the 104 counties into thirds by yearly precipitation: the third with the driest climates reports fuel pump replacement 7% above what the national share predicts, the middle third 5% above, and the third with the wettest climates 47% above.
• Take out any single county and the pattern still holds; the one it leans on most is St. Lucie County, FL.
• Weak spot: compare only counties with similar elevation and the pattern keeps about 55% of its strength, so part of it may come from that instead.
• Still open: complaint city names are matched to counties by place name, so a county with postal-neighbourhood names is undercounted, and county elevation is the height of one point, not the county average.

Weather and roads act on a car where it is driven, not on a state average, so the county map tests the same mechanism more closely.

Source: NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county climate files 1991-2020, joined to NHTSA owner complaints placed in counties by city name · file downloaded 2026-10-05