FORD MUSTANG vs TOYOTA HIGHLANDER

The FORD MUSTANG (1976–2025, 47 model years) carries 11,532 NHTSA consumer complaints and 178 safety recalls, while the TOYOTA HIGHLANDER (1997–2025, 27 model years) carries 6,655 complaints and 125 recalls. Severity indicators for the pair split as follows: 1,005 vs 664 crashes, 418 vs 82 fires, and 34 vs 58 reported fatalities.

Raw complaint counts favor whichever nameplate has fewer vehicles on the road, so the cleaner lens is components: which specific part families concentrate each model's filings? For the FORD MUSTANG, the leading complaint category is air bags (2164 filings), followed by electrical system and power train. For the TOYOTA HIGHLANDER, it is power train (635), ahead of unknown or other and electrical system. When the two vehicles cluster around the same component, the problem is likely a shared supplier or a shared federal standard under stress; when they diverge, each nameplate has its own defect signature independent of the other.

NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program gives the FORD MUSTANG an average 0.6/5 crash-test rating versus 4.8/5 for the TOYOTA HIGHLANDER, aggregated across all model years with published scores. Use the side-by-side table below as your scorecard, but do not treat it as a verdict. Recall counts tell you how many defects the manufacturer has already been compelled to remedy; complaint counts tell you what owners are still flagging today; and safety ratings tell you how the vehicle performs in standardized barrier tests, three different lenses on the same underlying question. The "also compare" links at the bottom of this page let you triangulate against neighboring nameplates in each model's competitive set.