BMW Z4 vs KIA Forte

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 Z4	KIA Forte
Complaints on file	1,444	3,596
Model years covered	2002–2022	2009–2024
Worst model year	2003	2017
Best model year	2008	2024
Crashes reported	34	378
Fires reported	7	201
Injuries reported	9	228
Deaths reported	2	21
Most complained-about part	Steering	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	3.6%	23%

BMW Z4 by year

6 460 443 204 107 42 27 26 10 57 7 12 10 7 5 7 11 1 2

02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 19 20 21 22

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

What breaks

Steering 993 68.8%

Airbags 101 7.0%

Engine & Cooling 78 5.4%

Electrical System 74 5.1%

Wheels 25 1.7%

Brakes 21 1.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 18 1.2%

Body & Structure 18 1.2%

KIA Forte by year

1 317 214 404 272 644 325 202 432 188 216 101 95 42 97 46

09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 1,175 32.7%

Electrical System 321 8.9%

Other & Unspecified 320 8.9%

Airbags 292 8.1%

Brakes 218 6.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 215 6.0%

Lights 178 4.9%

Steering 160 4.4%