BMW 528I vs Chevrolet Venture

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 528I	Chevrolet Venture
Complaints on file	1,239	3,069
Model years covered	1979–2016	1988–2005
Worst model year	2008	1999
Best model year	2009	2005
Crashes reported	28	174
Fires reported	72	50
Injuries reported	45	215
Deaths reported	0	11
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	11.7%	14.7%

BMW 528I by year

1 2 49 39 59 53 3 1 181 33 87 164 145 119 92 106 105

79 80 97 98 99 00 01 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

Engine & Cooling 384 31.0%

Electrical System 183 14.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 106 8.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 104 8.4%

Airbags 98 7.9%

Other & Unspecified 66 5.3%

Lights 63 5.1%

Brakes 36 2.9%

Chevrolet Venture by year

1 3 612 518 467 464 284 284 231 146 59

88 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

Engine & Cooling 555 18.1%

Body & Structure 271 8.8%

Electrical System 262 8.5%

Lights 260 8.5%

Fuel & Propulsion 226 7.4%

Brakes 206 6.7%

Airbags 181 5.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 169 5.5%