BMW 323I vs Volvo S60

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 323I	Volvo S60
Complaints on file	676	1,678
Model years covered	1985–2011	2000–2024
Worst model year	2000	2012
Best model year	1998	2021
Crashes reported	41	96
Fires reported	14	35
Injuries reported	43	60
Deaths reported	4	0
Most complained-about part	Transmission & Drivetrain	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	15.1%	11.4%

BMW 323I by year

1 27 175 459 3 3 4 3 1

85 98 99 00 01 07 08 10 11

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

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 271 40.1%

Airbags 142 21.0%

Body & Structure 43 6.4%

Electrical System 30 4.4%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 25 3.7%

Suspension 19 2.8%

Doors, Latches & Locks 19 2.8%

Tires 18 2.7%

Volvo S60 by year

1 262 248 168 262 57 42 34 14 9 5 167 105 35 81 34 17 5 31 25 14 28 3 31

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 322 19.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 273 16.3%

Electrical System 224 13.3%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 121 7.2%

Other & Unspecified 91 5.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 86 5.1%

Airbags 72 4.3%

Brakes 66 3.9%