Mercedes Benz SL500 vs Chevrolet Spark

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 SL500	Chevrolet Spark
Complaints on file	308	759
Model years covered	1992–2009	2013–2022
Worst model year	2004	2013
Best model year	2006	2018
Crashes reported	12	71
Fires reported	30	8
Injuries reported	14	47
Deaths reported	2	0
Most complained-about part	Suspension	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	18.8%	16.6%

Mercedes Benz SL500 by year

2 7 10 39 9 13 8 2 2 3 108 64 22 15 4

92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 03 04 05 06 09

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

What breaks

Suspension 64 20.8%

Electrical System 60 19.5%

Brakes 43 14.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 36 11.7%

Engine & Cooling 16 5.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 14 4.5%

Airbags 14 4.5%

Steering 10 3.2%

Chevrolet Spark by year

224 274 102 36 45 15 20 26 12 5

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 124 16.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 124 16.3%

Electrical System 101 13.3%

Other & Unspecified 57 7.5%

Airbags 56 7.4%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 51 6.7%

Brakes 47 6.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 44 5.8%