Audi Q3 vs Mercedes Benz C250

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	Audi Q3	Mercedes Benz C250
Complaints on file	364	902
Model years covered	2008–2026	2012–2016
Worst model year	2020	2013
Best model year	2019	2015
Crashes reported	14	51
Fires reported	3	21
Injuries reported	8	43
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	6.9%	12.7%

Audi Q3 by year

2 37 38 8 31 15 112 23 51 4 28 7 8

08 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

Electrical System 64 17.6%

Engine & Cooling 57 15.7%

Other & Unspecified 49 13.5%

Fuel & Propulsion 36 9.9%

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 31 8.5%

Steering 19 5.2%

Airbags 16 4.4%

Brakes 13 3.6%

Mercedes Benz C250 by year

317 346 222 16 1

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

Airbags 437 48.4%

Engine & Cooling 135 15.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 59 6.5%

Steering 44 4.9%

Other & Unspecified 43 4.8%

Electrical System 37 4.1%

Body & Structure 29 3.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 27 3.0%