BMW X1 SAV vs Saab 900

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 X1 SAV	Saab 900
Complaints on file	221	549
Model years covered	2013–2017	1979–2000
Worst model year	2014	1995
Best model year	2017	1997
Crashes reported	17	32
Fires reported	10	29
Injuries reported	12	23
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	17.6%	15.3%

BMW X1 SAV by year

80 73 49 8 11

13 14 15 16 17

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

What breaks

Airbags 100 45.2%

Electrical System 20 9.0%

Engine & Cooling 17 7.7%

Other & Unspecified 17 7.7%

Body & Structure 14 6.3%

Brakes 13 5.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 8 3.6%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 6 2.7%

Saab 900 by year

2 1 1 2 4 5 18 12 18 34 21 15 25 8 88 159 78 27 26 4 1

79 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00

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

What breaks

Electrical System 80 14.6%

Engine & Cooling 74 13.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 67 12.2%

Brakes 45 8.2%

Airbags 42 7.7%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 28 5.1%

Suspension 25 4.6%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 24 4.4%