Mercedes Benz SL500 vs Unknown Unknown

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	Unknown Unknown
Complaints on file	308	756
Model years covered	1992–2009	1984–2003
Worst model year	2004	2000
Best model year	2006	1994
Crashes reported	12	72
Fires reported	30	34
Injuries reported	14	56
Deaths reported	2	14
Most complained-about part	Suspension	Tires
Share of complaints involving harm	18.8%	23.3%

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%

Unknown Unknown by year

4 5 5 6 15 5 10 11 12 23 37 27 54 62 137 129 64 65 85

84 85 86 87 88 89 90 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

Tires 119 15.7%

Body & Structure 60 7.9%

Electrical System 56 7.4%

Lights 56 7.4%

Equipment & Accessories 54 7.1%

Suspension 50 6.6%

Brakes 49 6.5%

Engine & Cooling 47 6.2%