Mercedes Benz ML320 vs Mercury Mountaineer

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	Mercury Mountaineer
Complaints on file	1,087	2,646
Model years covered	1998–2009	1996–2010
Worst model year	2000	1997
Best model year	2009	2010
Crashes reported	93	191
Fires reported	39	91
Injuries reported	83	148
Deaths reported	0	5
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm	19.8%	16.4%

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%

Mercury Mountaineer by year

3 399 298 182 164 32 504 220 271 113 153 119 156 8 24

96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

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

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 399 15.1%

Tires 364 13.8%

Body & Structure 298 11.3%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 221 8.4%

Engine & Cooling 217 8.2%

Electrical System 190 7.2%

Brakes 142 5.4%

Seats 127 4.8%