BMW 535XI vs Ford F Super Duty

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 535XI	Ford F Super Duty
Complaints on file	223	552
Model years covered	2007–2013	1981–2008
Worst model year	2008	2000
Best model year	2012	1998
Crashes reported	1	22
Fires reported	12	18
Injuries reported	6	15
Deaths reported	0	1
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	8.5%	10.1%

BMW 535XI by year

1 123 26 44 23 6

07 08 10 11 12 13

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 31 13.9%

Electrical System 30 13.5%

Fuel & Propulsion 30 13.5%

Airbags 21 9.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 18 8.1%

Tires 18 8.1%

Lights 14 6.3%

Wheels 13 5.8%

Ford F Super Duty by year

1 1 2 1 1 10 4 27 13 12 28 20 115 78 38 50 33 23 49 46

81 87 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 08

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 106 19.2%

Brakes 78 14.1%

Tires 66 12.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 50 9.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 49 8.9%

Steering 47 8.5%

Electrical System 36 6.5%

Suspension 31 5.6%