BMW 528XI vs Mercury Topaz

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 528XI	Mercury Topaz
Complaints on file	239	581
Model years covered	2008–2014	1983–1998
Worst model year	2012	1994
Best model year	2010	1995
Crashes reported	6	27
Fires reported	7	59
Injuries reported	5	12
Deaths reported	0	2
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	7.5%	17.2%

BMW 528XI by year

43 9 12 88 86 1

08 09 10 12 13 14

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 87 36.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 36 15.1%

Electrical System 33 13.8%

Lights 20 8.4%

Airbags 18 7.5%

Other & Unspecified 13 5.4%

Fuel & Propulsion 11 4.6%

Seat Belts 6 2.5%

Mercury Topaz by year

1 13 5 13 28 28 57 67 59 92 98 106 13 1

83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 98

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

What breaks

Electrical System 113 19.4%

Engine & Cooling 99 17.0%

Seat Belts 77 13.3%

Brakes 59 10.2%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 34 5.9%

Fuel & Propulsion 32 5.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 28 4.8%

Steering 20 3.4%