Mercedes Benz SL vs Honda Honda

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 SL	Honda Honda
Complaints on file	57	142
Model years covered	1990–2011	1982–2003
Worst model year	—	2003
Best model year	—	1999
Crashes reported	1	19
Fires reported	8	1
Injuries reported	4	19
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	22.8%	27.5%

Mercedes Benz SL by year

1 1 1 2 22 16 7 3 2 1 1

90 91 92 93 94 95 03 04 06 07 11

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

What breaks

Electrical System 30 52.6%

Brakes 4 7.0%

Suspension 3 5.3%

Stability & Traction Control 3 5.3%

Equipment & Accessories 3 5.3%

Engine & Cooling 2 3.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 2 3.5%

Steering 2 3.5%

Honda Honda by year

1 2 2 2 1 1 8 1 5 4 5 3 7 7 16 11 13 13 13 27

82 83 84 86 87 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03

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

What breaks

Airbags 24 16.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 18 12.7%

Electrical System 18 12.7%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 14 9.9%

Brakes 11 7.7%

Engine & Cooling 10 7.0%

Body & Structure 10 7.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 5 3.5%