Mercedes Benz S Class vs Pontiac Aztek

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 S Class	Pontiac Aztek
Complaints on file	338	829
Model years covered	1994–2012	2001–2005
Worst model year	2000	2001
Best model year	1994	2005
Crashes reported	9	43
Fires reported	9	18
Injuries reported	10	38
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Fuel & Propulsion
Share of complaints involving harm	8.3%	11.9%

Mercedes Benz S Class by year

14 32 6 4 2 10 101 46 56 43 17 3 3 1

94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 09 12

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

What breaks

Electrical System 118 34.9%

Suspension 67 19.8%

Lights 33 9.8%

Airbags 19 5.6%

Engine & Cooling 15 4.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 12 3.6%

Tires 11 3.3%

Equipment & Accessories 11 3.3%

Pontiac Aztek by year

329 173 188 96 43

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

Fuel & Propulsion 129 15.6%

Electrical System 120 14.5%

Engine & Cooling 94 11.3%

Brakes 84 10.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 55 6.6%

Suspension 52 6.3%

Equipment & Accessories 41 4.9%

Airbags 38 4.6%