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CarsLore / Compare / Sports cars / Thunderbird vs Scirocco

Ford Thunderbird vs Volkswagen Scirocco

Two sports cars, compared on the same official records: MOT and inspection results, safety ratings, fuel use, recalls and owner complaints. Side by side from official registers: recalls, complaints and registrations.

At a glance

Ford ThunderbirdVolkswagen Scirocco
Model years in the US safety record1981–20051981–1991
New cars registered in Europe—126,784 (2010–2022)
Licensed in the United Kingdom25144,756
On the road in the Netherlands4155,922
In traffic in Finland167654

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 ThunderbirdVolkswagen Scirocco
UK MOT first-time pass rate—70%
… against cars of the same age—+2%
New York safety inspections failed0.6%—
… against cars of the same year−66%—
Illogical odometer records (NL)—11.8%
US owner complaints2,35714
Most complaints aboutEngine and engine coolingFuel system, gasoline
Model year with most complaints1993 (423)1987 (9)
US recall campaigns215
Manufacturer service bulletins89017
NHTSA defect investigations40—

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 ThunderbirdVolkswagen Scirocco
Official combined fuel use, Canada13.0 l/100 km (2005)—
Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe—164 g/km
Average power of new cars in Europe—137 kW (183 hp)
Average mass in running order—1,370 kg
Dutch list price when new (median)—€34,739
Average odometer in Finland93,000 km203,000 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).