Do strut replacement problems track share of workers who drive to work alone across states?
Strut replacement complaints run higher where share of workers who drive to work alone is higherNHTSA owner complaints about strut replacement run 36% above what the makes sold there would predict in the 7 states with the highest share of workers who drive to work alone, and 1% above in the 7 with the lowest.
What it shows: States with more share of workers who drive to work alone tend to sit higher on the chart across 21 states: a pattern in the data, not proof of cause.
Data: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year 2019-2023, counties summed to states (B08301), joined to NHTSA owner complaints, downloaded 2026-10-12 · 21 states. Chart: CalcScrape · calcscrape.com
A moderate pattern, probably real but not certain: about 1 in 52 patterns this clear turn out to be false alarms. Weak spot: hold share of residents living in non-metro counties equal and the share of workers who drive to work alone pattern disappears, so it may be mostly that factor.