BMW 330CI vs GEO Prizm

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 330CI	GEO Prizm
Complaints on file	326	795
Model years covered	2000–2006	1990–2002
Worst model year	2004	1994
Best model year	2003	1998
Crashes reported	20	197
Fires reported	16	25
Injuries reported	23	138
Deaths reported	0	2
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	18.1%	45.5%

BMW 330CI by year

1 97 55 18 82 38 35

00 01 02 03 04 05 06

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

What breaks

Airbags 132 40.5%

Lights 33 10.1%

Engine & Cooling 27 8.3%

Electrical System 26 8.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 24 7.4%

Fuel & Propulsion 24 7.4%

Body & Structure 16 4.9%

Tires 9 2.8%

GEO Prizm by year

54 72 75 95 173 130 68 63 11 33 9 9 3

90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02

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

What breaks

Airbags 177 22.3%

Seat Belts 107 13.5%

Engine & Cooling 66 8.3%

Body & Structure 66 8.3%

Brakes 60 7.5%

Electrical System 52 6.5%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 43 5.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 37 4.7%