Mercury Topaz vs BMW Z4

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	Mercury Topaz	BMW Z4
Complaints on file	581	1,444
Model years covered	1983–1998	2002–2022
Worst model year	1994	2003
Best model year	1995	2008
Crashes reported	27	34
Fires reported	59	7
Injuries reported	12	9
Deaths reported	2	2
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Steering
Share of complaints involving harm	17.2%	3.6%

Mercury Topaz by year

1 13 5 13 28 28 57 67 59 92 98 106 13 1

83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 98

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

What breaks

Electrical System 113 19.4%

Engine & Cooling 99 17.0%

Seat Belts 77 13.3%

Brakes 59 10.2%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 34 5.9%

Fuel & Propulsion 32 5.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 28 4.8%

Steering 20 3.4%

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%