BMW 528I vs Ford Aerostar

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	Ford Aerostar
Complaints on file	1,244	3,109
Model years covered	1979–2016	1986–2000
Worst model year	2008	1993
Best model year	2009	1999
Crashes reported	29	268
Fires reported	74	516
Injuries reported	45	180
Deaths reported	0	11
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	11.9%	31.4%

BMW 528I by year

1 2 49 39 59 53 3 1 181 33 87 164 145 119 94 109 105

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 386 31.0%

Electrical System 185 14.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 107 8.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 104 8.4%

Airbags 98 7.9%

Other & Unspecified 66 5.3%

Lights 63 5.1%

Brakes 36 2.9%

Ford Aerostar by year

72 140 230 328 254 282 439 541 384 204 124 83 4 13 11

86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00

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

What breaks

Electrical System 685 22.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 433 13.9%

Brakes 351 11.3%

Engine & Cooling 233 7.5%

Fuel & Propulsion 214 6.9%

Airbags 141 4.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 138 4.4%

Seat Belts 136 4.4%