Mercedes Benz ML320 vs Pontiac Bonneville

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	Pontiac Bonneville
Complaints on file	1,087	2,580
Model years covered	1998–2009	1977–2005
Worst model year	2000	1998
Best model year	2009	2004
Crashes reported	93	135
Fires reported	39	180
Injuries reported	83	117
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	19.8%	16.7%

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%

Pontiac Bonneville by year

1 4 2 2 1 1 2 3 24 20 35 45 26 139 183 123 330 181 188 359 176 301 179 113 67 38 37

77 78 79 81 82 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 615 23.8%

Electrical System 324 12.6%

Brakes 256 9.9%

Steering 218 8.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 171 6.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 169 6.6%

Airbags 150 5.8%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 133 5.2%