Most reliable used compact cars by NHTSA complaints per 10,000 built

These 15 model years of used compact cars drew the fewest NHTSA owner complaints for every 10,000 cars built. The rate puts models that sell in large and small numbers on the same scale.

How this list is ranked

Complaints per 10,000 built is a model year's NHTSA owner complaints divided by its production, times 10,000.
Production is the number of cars the maker reported building for that model year to NHTSA under Early Warning Reporting (EWR).
Only model years with at least 10,000 built and from 2023 or earlier are ranked. Production for newer model years is not final.
At most 3 model years per model are listed, so one model can't fill the list. Ties are listed by make, model and year.
It covers 5 models of used compact cars with a model page on this site: Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, Nissan Sentra, Toyota Corolla and Toyota Prius.
The ranked model years run from 2013 to 2023.
Source: NHTSA owner complaints and EWR production reports, as of October 26, 2026.

Rank	Model year	Complaints per 10,000 built	Complaints	Built	Model
1	2023 Nissan Sentra	2.3	19	82,762	All years
2	2022 Toyota Corolla	3.8	100	262,758	All years
3	2023 Toyota Corolla	4.4	73	167,793	All years
4	2016 Toyota Corolla	5.3	214	401,273	All years
5	2023 Hyundai Elantra	5.5	98	177,512	All years
6	2020 Toyota Prius	5.6	14	25,121	All years
7	2022 Toyota Prius	6.3	24	38,363	All years
8	2018 Toyota Prius	7.4	36	48,441	All years
9	2020 Honda Civic	8.1	224	275,448	All years
10	2022 Nissan Sentra	8.4	81	96,315	All years
11	2021 Honda Civic	8.6	143	166,281	All years
12	2013 Honda Civic	8.8	319	363,112	All years
13	2019 Nissan Sentra	9.1	222	243,448	All years
14	2022 Hyundai Elantra	12.2	100	82,192	All years
15	2018 Hyundai Elantra	12.3	282	228,398	All years

What these numbers can't show

Here 'reliable' means few NHTSA complaints per 10,000 built.
Complaints are unverified reports that owners filed with NHTSA. They don't show repair costs, or problems owners never reported.
Older model years have had more time to draw complaints, so the measure favors newer years.
A few model years have no production match in EWR and are left out.