Mercedes Benz ML350 vs Ford Fusion Hybrid

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 ML350	Ford Fusion Hybrid
Complaints on file	651	1,580
Model years covered	2001–2009	2010–2020
Worst model year	2006	2017
Best model year	2005	2016
Crashes reported	43	74
Fires reported	80	14
Injuries reported	35	35
Deaths reported	0	7
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Steering
Share of complaints involving harm	24.3%	8.2%

Mercedes Benz ML350 by year

2 31 44 28 235 113 93 105

01 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

Engine & Cooling 86 13.2%

Electrical System 86 13.2%

Steering 74 11.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 72 11.1%

Seats 62 9.5%

Airbags 61 9.4%

Brakes 47 7.2%

Lights 28 4.3%

Ford Fusion Hybrid by year

645 166 134 175 89 65 68 96 81 47 14

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 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

Steering 294 18.6%

Airbags 236 14.9%

Brakes 193 12.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 149 9.4%

Electrical System 133 8.4%

Engine & Cooling 131 8.3%

Other & Unspecified 74 4.7%

Fuel & Propulsion 68 4.3%