Worst Used Car Years to Avoid (2015–2025), Ranked by NHTSA Complaints

Shopping for a used car? Some model years drew far more complaints than the years before and after them. The biggest spike in our data is the 2018 Ram 2500, with 2,576 complaints, 14.4× that model's typical year. Below are all 156 spike years among the 60 most-complained-about vehicles.

How we pick a "spike" year

We compare each model year to the same vehicle's median year. Comparing a vehicle to itself takes sales volume out of the picture, so a popular truck doesn't look worse just because more of them were sold. A year counts as a spike when it has at least 1.5× the typical year's complaints and at least 100 complaints in total.

Every spike year, worst first

Before you buy

• A spike year isn't automatically a bad car. Recalls often fixed the problem, so check whether the one you're looking at had its recall work done (enter the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls).
• Newer years (2024–2025) rarely show as spikes because owners haven't had time to report problems yet.
• Budget for the problem the year is known for. The repair cost calculators linked from each vehicle page estimate what it costs to fix.

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation owner complaints, model years 2015–2025, retrieved 2026-09-25. Methodology. Free to cite with a link.