BMW 530I vs Plymouth Neon

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 530I	Plymouth Neon
Complaints on file	808	2,016
Model years covered	1994–2025	1994–2001
Worst model year	2004	1995
Best model year	1994	1999
Crashes reported	56	230
Fires reported	55	66
Injuries reported	43	161
Deaths reported	0	11
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	19.1%	23.2%

BMW 530I by year

12 7 29 32 61 175 84 128 109 25 38 28 15 20 10 5 27 3

94 95 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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

What breaks

Airbags 205 25.4%

Electrical System 106 13.1%

Engine & Cooling 89 11.0%

Seats 67 8.3%

Seat Belts 43 5.3%

Brakes 41 5.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 39 4.8%

Lights 38 4.7%

Plymouth Neon by year

3 711 476 234 237 82 199 74

94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 625 31.0%

Brakes 233 11.6%

Electrical System 170 8.4%

Airbags 169 8.4%

Steering 119 5.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 114 5.7%

Other & Unspecified 81 4.0%

Body & Structure 75 3.7%