BMW 535I vs Hyundai Veloster

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 535I	Hyundai Veloster
Complaints on file	722	1,768
Model years covered	1986–2016	2012–2021
Worst model year	2011	2012
Best model year	2016	2021
Crashes reported	37	71
Fires reported	30	80
Injuries reported	23	68
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	12.5%	12.4%

BMW 535I by year

1 1 9 3 5 5 2 116 100 81 156 86 59 46 37 15

86 88 89 90 91 92 94 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 167 23.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 146 20.2%

Electrical System 79 10.9%

Airbags 51 7.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 45 6.2%

Lights 43 6.0%

Other & Unspecified 28 3.9%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 21 2.9%

Hyundai Veloster by year

408 578 116 189 301 69 63 29 15

12 13 14 15 16 17 19 20 21

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 548 31.0%

Electrical System 207 11.7%

Other & Unspecified 177 10.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 142 8.0%

Steering 126 7.1%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 124 7.0%

Brakes 87 4.9%

Body & Structure 78 4.4%