BMW X3 vs KIA Sportage

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 X3	KIA Sportage
Complaints on file	2,799	6,792
Model years covered	2004–2026	1995–2026
Worst model year	2019	2017
Best model year	2010	1995
Crashes reported	165	464
Fires reported	166	314
Injuries reported	105	303
Deaths reported	0	3
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	15.6%	16%

BMW X3 by year

182 144 178 132 93 26 41 166 67 346 130 158 120 138 103 229 141 143 107 13 51 67 24

04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 635 22.7%

Electrical System 396 14.1%

Airbags 332 11.9%

Other & Unspecified 225 8.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 188 6.7%

Seats 171 6.1%

Body & Structure 117 4.2%

Brakes 116 4.1%

KIA Sportage by year

88 98 299 558 493 462 354 321 4 93 169 113 138 120 28 264 454 449 154 195 183 560 226 102 205 62 67 310 97 86 40

95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 2,024 29.8%

Electrical System 653 9.6%

Brakes 632 9.3%

Fuel & Propulsion 485 7.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 483 7.1%

Other & Unspecified 478 7.0%

Airbags 297 4.4%

Body & Structure 285 4.2%