BMW 525I vs Dodge Nitro

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 525I	Dodge Nitro
Complaints on file	663	1,635
Model years covered	1989–2009	2005–2012
Worst model year	2004	2007
Best model year	1994	2009
Crashes reported	15	57
Fires reported	63	37
Injuries reported	24	59
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	15.4%	9.4%

BMW 525I by year

4 51 21 30 9 10 37 2 1 31 41 40 123 52 111 98 1 1

89 90 91 92 93 94 95 98 99 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09

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

What breaks

Airbags 168 25.3%

Electrical System 86 13.0%

Engine & Cooling 79 11.9%

Seats 45 6.8%

Seat Belts 43 6.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 32 4.8%

Brakes 32 4.8%

Lights 25 3.8%

Dodge Nitro by year

1 676 611 36 111 197 3

05 07 08 09 10 11 12

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

What breaks

Electrical System 426 26.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 290 17.7%

Engine & Cooling 122 7.5%

Airbags 105 6.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 103 6.3%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 89 5.4%

Other & Unspecified 80 4.9%

Brakes 78 4.8%