BMW 535XI vs Saturn SC1

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	Saturn SC1
Complaints on file	223	554
Model years covered	2007–2013	1991–2001
Worst model year	2008	1994
Best model year	2012	2000
Crashes reported	1	93
Fires reported	12	5
Injuries reported	6	63
Deaths reported	0	2
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Seats
Share of complaints involving harm	8.5%	29.4%

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%

Saturn SC1 by year

8 18 85 102 73 43 98 58 30 10 29

91 92 93 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

Seats 81 14.6%

Engine & Cooling 75 13.5%

Electrical System 59 10.6%

Seat Belts 59 10.6%

Brakes 58 10.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 39 7.0%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 31 5.6%

Airbags 29 5.2%