Mitsubishi Lancer vs BMW X3

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	Mitsubishi Lancer	BMW X3
Complaints on file	1,139	2,799
Model years covered	1996–2017	2004–2026
Worst model year	2002	2019
Best model year	2016	2010
Crashes reported	155	165
Fires reported	19	166
Injuries reported	87	105
Deaths reported	3	0
Most complained-about part	Transmission & Drivetrain	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	23.2%	15.6%

Mitsubishi Lancer by year

1 1 194 242 96 27 52 3 126 139 66 51 26 9 23 36 40 7

96 00 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

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

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 161 14.1%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 151 13.3%

Engine & Cooling 132 11.6%

Airbags 117 10.3%

Suspension 78 6.8%

Electrical System 74 6.5%

Brakes 72 6.3%

Body & Structure 60 5.3%

BMW X3 by year

182 144 178 132 93 26 41 166 67 346 130 158 120 138 103 229 141 143 107 13 51 67 24

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

Engine & Cooling 635 22.7%

Electrical System 396 14.1%

Airbags 332 11.9%

Other & Unspecified 225 8.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 188 6.7%

Seats 171 6.1%

Body & Structure 117 4.2%

Brakes 116 4.1%