Mercedes Benz E500 vs Oldsmobile Bravada

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 E500	Oldsmobile Bravada
Complaints on file	546	1,346
Model years covered	2003–2009	1991–2004
Worst model year	2005	2002
Best model year	2006	2001
Crashes reported	14	123
Fires reported	2	53
Injuries reported	13	66
Deaths reported	0	1
Most complained-about part	Fuel & Propulsion	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	5.3%	18.1%

Mercedes Benz E500 by year

143 173 168 59 1 1 1

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 240 44.0%

Brakes 107 19.6%

Suspension 58 10.6%

Engine & Cooling 25 4.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 25 4.6%

Electrical System 19 3.5%

Airbags 18 3.3%

Other & Unspecified 12 2.2%

Oldsmobile Bravada by year

61 65 54 116 2 104 158 139 99 104 47 337 37 23

91 92 93 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

Brakes 293 21.8%

Electrical System 156 11.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 145 10.8%

Engine & Cooling 138 10.3%

Suspension 107 7.9%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 107 7.9%

Fuel & Propulsion 67 5.0%

Lights 49 3.6%