Ford F-550 SD 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	Ford F-550 SD	Mercedes Benz E320
Complaints on file	613	1,516
Model years covered	1997–2026	1994–2009
Worst model year	1999	2005
Best model year	2005	2008
Crashes reported	16	75
Fires reported	45	48
Injuries reported	21	77
Deaths reported	1	1
Most complained-about part	Fuel & Propulsion	Fuel & Propulsion
Share of complaints involving harm	13.5%	13.3%

Ford F-550 SD by year

2 92 85 35 31 40 67 41 55 25 31 1 2 4 8 3 10 18 4 5 4 7 16 15 1 5 3 3

97 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 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

Fuel & Propulsion 185 30.2%

Engine & Cooling 107 17.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 64 10.4%

Tires 63 10.3%

Electrical System 36 5.9%

Brakes 31 5.1%

Wheels 26 4.2%

Suspension 20 3.3%

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%