Mercedes Benz ML320 vs Lincoln Continental

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 ML320	Lincoln Continental
Complaints on file	1,087	2,566
Model years covered	1998–2009	1975–2020
Worst model year	2000	1994
Best model year	2009	2001
Crashes reported	93	115
Fires reported	39	114
Injuries reported	83	71
Deaths reported	0	9
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	19.8%	12%

Mercedes Benz ML320 by year

200 164 258 196 139 31 6 1 20 30 42

98 99 00 01 02 03 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

Brakes 151 13.9%

Steering 150 13.8%

Engine & Cooling 133 12.2%

Electrical System 93 8.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 85 7.8%

Stability & Traction Control 67 6.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 59 5.4%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 56 5.2%

Lincoln Continental by year

1 1 1 2 1 1 2 9 18 8 14 147 255 244 399 199 200 303 94 69 109 88 46 108 38 43 99 22 38 7

75 77 78 79 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 17 18 19 20

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 457 17.8%

Suspension 289 11.3%

Electrical System 260 10.1%

Brakes 219 8.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 178 6.9%

Body & Structure 155 6.0%

Steering 152 5.9%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 117 4.6%