Cadillac STS vs Mercedes Benz E320

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	Cadillac STS	Mercedes Benz E320
Complaints on file	610	1,516
Model years covered	1998–2011	1994–2009
Worst model year	2005	2005
Best model year	2002	2008
Crashes reported	74	75
Fires reported	26	48
Injuries reported	43	77
Deaths reported	0	1
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Fuel & Propulsion
Share of complaints involving harm	23.4%	13.3%

Cadillac STS by year

3 16 15 17 10 15 9 145 197 67 77 24 6 9

98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

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

What breaks

Airbags 106 17.4%

Electrical System 86 14.1%

Engine & Cooling 83 13.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 47 7.7%

Fuel & Propulsion 42 6.9%

Brakes 34 5.6%

Stability & Traction Control 31 5.1%

Steering 25 4.1%

Mercedes Benz E320 by year

19 129 62 80 51 109 81 54 27 281 243 287 49 20 13 11

94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09

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

What breaks

Fuel & Propulsion 383 25.3%

Brakes 223 14.7%

Electrical System 207 13.7%

Engine & Cooling 116 7.7%

Airbags 111 7.3%

Suspension 111 7.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 67 4.4%

Body & Structure 39 2.6%