Mercedes Benz C Class vs Ford F-550 SD

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	Mercedes Benz C Class	Ford F-550 SD
Complaints on file	249	613
Model years covered	1991–2006	1997–2026
Worst model year	1995	1999
Best model year	2000	2005
Crashes reported	8	16
Fires reported	16	45
Injuries reported	10	21
Deaths reported	1	1
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Fuel & Propulsion
Share of complaints involving harm	14.1%	13.5%

Mercedes Benz C Class by year

1 19 64 10 5 7 7 13 25 46 12 20 8 12

91 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06

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

What breaks

Electrical System 95 38.2%

Engine & Cooling 26 10.4%

Fuel & Propulsion 16 6.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 15 6.0%

Brakes 11 4.4%

Suspension 11 4.4%

Seats 10 4.0%

Airbags 9 3.6%

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%