BMW 3 Series vs Mazda Tribute

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure	BMW 3 Series	Mazda Tribute
Complaints on file	1,149	2,831
Model years covered	1986–2013	2000–2011
Worst model year	2007	2001
Best model year	2012	2010
Crashes reported	49	138
Fires reported	32	71
Injuries reported	40	91
Deaths reported	0	5
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	10.5%	10.8%

BMW 3 Series by year

3 1 3 3 6 4 6 111 49 40 67 93 29 288 190 93 74 43 1 11 34

86 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Airbags 270 23.5%

Electrical System 146 12.7%

Engine & Cooling 98 8.5%

Lights 94 8.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 67 5.8%

Body & Structure 67 5.8%

Fuel & Propulsion 52 4.5%

Steering 49 4.3%

Mazda Tribute by year

6 734 502 266 232 542 181 6 251 46 57 8

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 429 15.2%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 352 12.4%

Body & Structure 293 10.3%

Brakes 253 8.9%

Suspension 253 8.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 231 8.2%

Electrical System 202 7.1%

Steering 197 7.0%