BMW 318 vs Audi TT

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 318	Audi TT
Complaints on file	169	418
Model years covered	1984–2001	2000–2016
Worst model year	1995	2001
Best model year	1996	2003
Crashes reported	25	12
Fires reported	2	11
Injuries reported	18	4
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	26.6%	6.5%

BMW 318 by year

4 2 2 47 17 17 26 28 11 6 3 6

84 85 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 01

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 63 37.3%

Airbags 21 12.4%

Electrical System 19 11.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 11 6.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 10 5.9%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 7 4.1%

Brakes 6 3.6%

Seat Belts 6 3.6%

Audi TT by year

94 154 53 19 33 17 4 1 17 15 4 2 5

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 16

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

What breaks

Electrical System 144 34.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 53 12.7%

Engine & Cooling 45 10.8%

Airbags 26 6.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 24 5.7%

Tires 21 5.0%

Brakes 14 3.3%

Suspension 14 3.3%