BMW 328XI vs Pontiac Sunfire

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 328XI	Pontiac Sunfire
Complaints on file	672	1,641
Model years covered	2006–2016	1985–2005
Worst model year	2008	1996
Best model year	2009	2005
Crashes reported	32	153
Fires reported	61	61
Injuries reported	28	102
Deaths reported	0	7
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	18%	19.7%

BMW 328XI by year

6 287 152 18 29 99 1 33 21 22 4

06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

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

What breaks

Electrical System 146 21.7%

Engine & Cooling 144 21.4%

Airbags 96 14.3%

Other & Unspecified 41 6.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 37 5.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 34 5.1%

Doors, Latches & Locks 29 4.3%

Steering 28 4.2%

Pontiac Sunfire by year

2 1 2 154 320 257 149 128 169 83 128 113 41 94

85 91 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

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

What breaks

Electrical System 339 20.7%

Engine & Cooling 259 15.8%

Brakes 172 10.5%

Airbags 125 7.6%

Steering 115 7.0%

Lights 109 6.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 76 4.6%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 71 4.3%