BMW 528I vs KIA Sephia

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	KIA Sephia
Complaints on file	1,239	3,080
Model years covered	1979–2016	1986–2003
Worst model year	2008	1999
Best model year	2009	1994
Crashes reported	28	299
Fires reported	72	118
Injuries reported	45	171
Deaths reported	0	6
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	11.7%	19.3%

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%

KIA Sephia by year

3 25 104 203 375 994 749 461 158 6 2

86 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03

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

What breaks

Brakes 806 26.2%

Engine & Cooling 395 12.8%

Electrical System 348 11.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 293 9.5%

Airbags 174 5.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 164 5.3%

Body & Structure 127 4.1%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 125 4.1%