Mercedes Benz C230 vs Mini Cooper S

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	Mercedes Benz C230	Mini Cooper S
Complaints on file	883	2,181
Model years covered	1997–2007	2002–2025
Worst model year	2007	2003
Best model year	1998	2012
Crashes reported	53	57
Fires reported	29	152
Injuries reported	41	54
Deaths reported	0	4
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Steering
Share of complaints involving harm	13.9%	12.2%

Mercedes Benz C230 by year

7 54 35 44 4 73 76 44 120 154 272

97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 164 18.6%

Airbags 144 16.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 119 13.5%

Fuel & Propulsion 101 11.4%

Electrical System 83 9.4%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 37 4.2%

Brakes 31 3.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 31 3.5%

Mini Cooper S by year

105 258 279 383 243 300 197 151 78 46 30 32 17 20 10 8 7 8 1 2 6

02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 19 20 22 24 25

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

What breaks

Steering 682 31.3%

Engine & Cooling 528 24.2%

Airbags 281 12.9%

Electrical System 174 8.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 114 5.2%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 70 3.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 55 2.5%

Other & Unspecified 52 2.4%