Volvo 850 vs BMW 325I

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	Volvo 850	BMW 325I
Complaints on file	732	1,808
Model years covered	1993–2000	1987–2012
Worst model year	1996	2006
Best model year	1997	1993
Crashes reported	45	71
Fires reported	51	103
Injuries reported	38	76
Deaths reported	3	2
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	18.7%	13.9%

Volvo 850 by year

96 108 148 235 142 2 1

93 94 95 96 97 99 00

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

What breaks

Brakes 117 16.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 73 10.0%

Electrical System 73 10.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 67 9.2%

Engine & Cooling 55 7.5%

Tires 45 6.1%

Airbags 42 5.7%

Seats 37 5.1%

BMW 325I by year

5 7 10 5 4 55 25 23 42 1 196 198 261 182 81 709 1 1 1 1

87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 11 12

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

What breaks

Airbags 529 29.3%

Electrical System 217 12.0%

Lights 205 11.3%

Engine & Cooling 176 9.7%

Doors, Latches & Locks 78 4.3%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 71 3.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 65 3.6%

Steering 60 3.3%