Chevrolet Captiva vs BMW 3 Series

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	Chevrolet Captiva	BMW 3 Series
Complaints on file	465	1,149
Model years covered	2011–2015	1986–2013
Worst model year	2014	2007
Best model year	2012	2012
Crashes reported	17	49
Fires reported	13	32
Injuries reported	24	40
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	11.6%	10.5%

Chevrolet Captiva by year

1 100 143 198 23

11 12 13 14 15

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

What breaks

Electrical System 140 30.1%

Engine & Cooling 98 21.1%

Other & Unspecified 57 12.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 34 7.3%

Stability & Traction Control 27 5.8%

Steering 19 4.1%

Airbags 14 3.0%

Body & Structure 14 3.0%

BMW 3 Series by year

3 1 3 3 6 4 6 111 49 40 67 93 29 288 190 93 74 43 1 11 34

86 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 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

Airbags 270 23.5%

Electrical System 146 12.7%

Engine & Cooling 98 8.5%

Lights 94 8.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 67 5.8%

Body & Structure 67 5.8%

Fuel & Propulsion 52 4.5%

Steering 49 4.3%