BMW Z4 vs Subaru Impreza

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	Subaru Impreza
Complaints on file	1,444	3,451
Model years covered	2002–2022	1990–2026
Worst model year	2003	2017
Best model year	2008	1999
Crashes reported	34	269
Fires reported	7	66
Injuries reported	9	152
Deaths reported	2	5
Most complained-about part	Steering	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	3.6%	14.3%

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%

Subaru Impreza by year

2 48 8 69 25 38 55 27 54 13 339 64 113 95 68 84 249 149 60 75 337 344 157 99 108 162 181 224 100 19 15 6 53 10 1

90 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 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

Airbags 510 14.8%

Engine & Cooling 362 10.5%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 319 9.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 305 8.8%

Fuel & Propulsion 270 7.8%

Brakes 267 7.7%

Electrical System 236 6.8%

Other & Unspecified 225 6.5%