Mercedes Benz ML350 vs Mazda CX-7

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	Mazda CX-7
Complaints on file	652	1,546
Model years covered	2001–2009	2007–2013
Worst model year	2006	2007
Best model year	2005	2009
Crashes reported	43	40
Fires reported	80	64
Injuries reported	35	32
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	24.2%	8.8%

Mercedes Benz ML350 by year

2 31 44 28 236 113 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 11.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 72 11.0%

Seats 62 9.5%

Airbags 61 9.4%

Brakes 48 7.4%

Lights 28 4.3%

Mazda CX-7 by year

716 265 85 215 204 59 2

07 08 09 10 11 12 13

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 459 29.7%

Airbags 272 17.6%

Suspension 235 15.2%

Lights 97 6.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 84 5.4%

Electrical System 67 4.3%

Steering 62 4.0%

Other & Unspecified 44 2.8%