FaultScore

Jaguar Vanden Plas vs Mercedes Benz S550

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 Jaguar Vanden Plas Mercedes Benz S550
Complaints on file 74 184
Model years covered 1984–2004 2010–2017
Worst model year 2015
Best model year 2016
Crashes reported 6 19
Fires reported 1 11
Injuries reported 5 13
Deaths reported 0 0
Most complained-about part Engine & Cooling Other & Unspecified
Share of complaints involving harm 16.2% 23.4%

Jaguar Vanden Plas by year

84 85 88 89 90 91 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04
Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 17 23.0%
Acceleration & Cruise Control 15 20.3%
Brakes 5 6.8%
Transmission & Drivetrain 4 5.4%
Electrical System 4 5.4%
Seat Belts 4 5.4%
Airbags 3 4.1%
Steering 3 4.1%

Mercedes Benz S550 by year

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

What breaks

Other & Unspecified 24 13.0%
Steering 18 9.8%
Fuel & Propulsion 16 8.7%
Body & Structure 15 8.2%
Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 13 7.1%
Seat Belts 12 6.5%
Engine & Cooling 11 6.0%
Electrical System 11 6.0%