PlainCars

State profile

District of Columbia vehicle complaints

3,001 NHTSA complaints filed by District of Columbia drivers across 50 vehicle models, the models your neighbors flag most.

Complaints
3,001
Crashes
270
Models
50

Volume is not severity

According to NHTSA ODI filings attributed to District of Columbia drivers, the Ford Focus leads complaint volume at 121 (#1 of 50 tracked models) but the Toyota Camry leads crash-linked reports at 30 (#1); the Chrysler Town AND Country leads reported fatalities at 6 (#1).

121
Ford Focus complaints #1
30
Toyota Camry crashes #1
6
Chrysler Town AND Country deaths #1

Counts sum NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation complaints self-reported by owners in this state. Crash and fatality flags come from those filings, not a separate crash registry.

ODI volume LIGHT Crash-flag CRASH-HEAVY (9.0%)

Crash-flagged vs other filings

District of Columbia filings in this extract skew crash-flagged at 9.0% (CRASH-HEAVY · crash-led) versus other ODI rows - orthogonal to the make/model top-N bars below.

District of Columbia vs all jurisdictions by NHTSA complaint volume

Where this state's owner-attributed ODI complaint count sits among every state and DC on PlainCars

6,811 44th of 51 higher than 7 of 51 jurisdictions

States and DC, banded by owner-attributed NHTSA ODI complaint count

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more jurisdictions. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source NHTSA ODI owner-reported state field · 2026-08-08

District of Columbia has more filings than 7 of 51 jurisdictions in this extract. Absolute volume tracks population and reporting culture; it is not a per-vehicle defect rate.

Data updated August 2026. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigation, more than 2,000,000 owner filings sit in the national ODI file; this page counts the subset attributed to District of Columbia drivers. See our methodology.

District of Columbia ODI volume reading

The standout signal in District of Columbia is filing volume: 6,811 owner-attributed NHTSA ODI complaints (#44 of 51, thin-book tercile). Crash-flag share sits at 9.0% (CRASH-HEAVY).

As a thinner-book state, a handful of models can swing the ranking; open the table rows rather than reading the headline alone.

Inside this extract the Ford Focus leads District of Columbia with 121 filings (5 crash-flagged).

Severe outcomes reported in District of Columbia

270
Crash reports
109
Fire incidents
25
Reported fatalities
Most complained make in District of Columbia
Ford (721 complaints)

Most-complained vehicles in District of Columbia

Ranked by NHTSA complaints filed by in-state owners

complaints

What this shows The Ford Focus draws the most NHTSA complaints from District of Columbia drivers. State-level volume reflects how common a model is locally as much as its defect rate.

Source NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation As of 2026

Full ranking: top 50 most-complained vehicles in District of Columbia

# Vehicle Complaints
1 Ford Focus 121
2 Chevrolet Malibu 119
3 Toyota Camry 118
4 Honda Accord 116
5 Ford Explorer 115
6 Dodge Durango 115
7 Jeep Grand Cherokee 107
8 Toyota Prius 103
9 Ford Taurus 95
10 Nissan Altima 86
11 Ford Fusion 84
12 Ford Escape 79
13 Hyundai Sonata 78
14 Chrysler 200 72
15 Toyota Corolla 67
16 Jeep Wrangler 67
17 Honda Civic 67
18 Dodge Dakota 67
19 Volkswagen Jetta 64
20 Ford F-150 60
21 Jeep Cherokee 58
22 Dodge Grand Caravan 58
23 Honda CR-V 57
24 Jeep Liberty 55
25 Ford Mustang 51
26 Volkswagen Passat 49
27 Ford Windstar 48
28 Dodge RAM 1500 48
29 Chevrolet Impala 47
30 Chrysler Sebring 44
31 Toyota Rav4 42
32 Hyundai Elantra 42
33 Nissan Maxima 41
34 Chrysler Town AND Country 38
35 Ford Expedition 36
36 Chevrolet Equinox 36
37 Chevrolet Blazer 36
38 Toyota Sienna 35
39 Chevrolet Tahoe 35
40 Chevrolet Silverado 35
41 Hyundai Santa FE 34
42 Pontiac Grand AM 32
43 Ford Edge 32
44 Toyota Avalon 31
45 Honda Odyssey 31
46 Dodge Caravan 31
47 Volvo S60 30
48 Toyota 4runner 30
49 KIA Sorento 30
50 Subaru Forester 29

Nearest ODI volume peers

Closest owner-attributed complaint totals to District of Columbia's 6,811 filings (LIGHT band) - NHTSA ODI volume stamps, not an alphabetical state strip.

Rhode Island

6,911 · LIGHT · Δ100

Hawaii

6,648 · LIGHT · Δ163

Idaho

7,511 · LIGHT · Δ700

Delaware

7,850 · LIGHT · Δ1,039
Compare Ford Focus vs Chevrolet Malibu →

Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, with fatality-linked filings cross-checked against NHTSA FARS and crash-test ratings drawn from NHTSA NCAP. State is self-reported by the vehicle owner. District of Columbia totals: 3,001 filings across 50 models (LIGHT/CRASH-HEAVY; vintage August 2026).

How District of Columbia compares to the national picture

District of Columbia sits #44 of 51 jurisdictions (LIGHT; thinner third of the book). Absolute counts are small enough that one popular nameplate moves the ranking - open the model pages linked above rather than reading the state headline alone. Inside this extract the Ford Focus leads District of Columbia volume; check whether that nameplate's local share exceeds its national share before calling a regional pattern.

A note on self-reported state data

The state field on each NHTSA complaint is supplied by the consumer at filing - there is no mandatory check that the owner filed from their registration state, nor that the incident occurred in District of Columbia. District of Columbia's crash-led crash-flag standing (9.0%) is especially sensitive to that self-report noise; treat the LIGHT ranking as directional and open the model pages.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.