Where each one leads
Ford Thunderbird
- Against cars of the same year, the Ford Thunderbird comes out better in New York safety inspections (fails 66% less often than average) than the Toyota MR2 (fails 31% less often than average).
Toyota MR2
Ahead on none of the like-for-like measures.
Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare
At a glance
| Ford Thunderbird | Toyota MR2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 1981–2005 | 1985–2007 |
| Licensed in the United Kingdom | 251 | 6,789 |
| On the road in the Netherlands | 415 | 1,746 |
| In traffic in Finland | 167 | 134 |
EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).
Reliability and problems
| Ford Thunderbird | Toyota MR2 | |
|---|---|---|
| UK MOT first-time pass rate | — | 66% |
| … against cars of the same age | — | +10% |
| New York safety inspections failed | 0.6% | 1.1% |
| … against cars of the same year | −66% | −31% |
| Illogical odometer records (NL) | — | 14.1% |
| US owner complaints | 2,357 | 54 |
| Most complaints about | Engine and engine cooling | Power train |
| Model year with most complaints | 1993 (423) | 1991 (12) |
| US recall campaigns | 21 | 1 |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | 890 | 620 |
| NHTSA defect investigations | 40 | 3 |
Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).
Fuel, emissions and price
| Ford Thunderbird | Toyota MR2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | 13.0 l/100 km (2005) | — |
| Dutch list price when new (median) | — | €33,245 |
| Average odometer in Finland | 93,000 km | 182,000 km |
Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).