BMW 528I vs Chevrolet Volt

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 Volt
Complaints on file	1,239	2,964
Model years covered	1979–2016	2011–2019
Worst model year	2008	2017
Best model year	2009	2015
Crashes reported	28	81
Fires reported	72	21
Injuries reported	45	56
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	11.7%	5.3%

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 Volt by year

64 359 448 128 71 285 1,199 362 48

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

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

What breaks

Electrical System 705 23.8%

Fuel & Propulsion 508 17.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 428 14.4%

Engine & Cooling 377 12.7%

Airbags 311 10.5%

Other & Unspecified 224 7.6%

Brakes 102 3.4%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 67 2.3%