Volvo XC70 vs BMW 528I

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 XC70	BMW 528I
Complaints on file	515	1,239
Model years covered	2001–2016	1979–2016
Worst model year	2004	2008
Best model year	2006	2009
Crashes reported	13	28
Fires reported	8	72
Injuries reported	9	45
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Fuel & Propulsion	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	5.8%	11.7%

Volvo XC70 by year

77 46 28 118 31 22 39 54 20 17 18 17 9 3 9 7

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

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

What breaks

Fuel & Propulsion 83 16.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 72 14.0%

Suspension 46 8.9%

Electrical System 43 8.3%

Engine & Cooling 41 8.0%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 34 6.6%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 31 6.0%

Airbags 24 4.7%

BMW 528I by year

1 2 49 39 59 53 3 1 181 33 87 164 145 119 92 106 105

79 80 97 98 99 00 01 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 384 31.0%

Electrical System 183 14.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 106 8.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 104 8.4%

Airbags 98 7.9%

Other & Unspecified 66 5.3%

Lights 63 5.1%

Brakes 36 2.9%