BMW 525I vs Ford Fusion Hybrid

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	Ford Fusion Hybrid
Complaints on file	663	1,580
Model years covered	1989–2009	2010–2020
Worst model year	2004	2017
Best model year	1994	2016
Crashes reported	15	74
Fires reported	63	14
Injuries reported	24	35
Deaths reported	0	7
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Steering
Share of complaints involving harm	15.4%	8.2%

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%

Ford Fusion Hybrid by year

645 166 134 175 89 65 68 96 81 47 14

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

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

What breaks

Steering 294 18.6%

Airbags 236 14.9%

Brakes 193 12.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 149 9.4%

Electrical System 133 8.4%

Engine & Cooling 131 8.3%

Other & Unspecified 74 4.7%

Fuel & Propulsion 68 4.3%