2000 Mercedes Benz S500: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 85 complaints
85
Total Complaints
84,000mi
Median Mileage
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Top Issue
3
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

45,000 25th Percentile
84,000 Median Mileage
120,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
27
INTERIOR LIGHTING
12
SUSPENSION
7
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
6
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
5
STRUCTURE:BODY
4
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL
3
POWER TRAIN
2
ENGINE
2
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
2

Severity Assessment

3
Crashes
1
Fires
7
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"DRIVING AT 55-65 MPH VIOLENT VIBRATION OCCURS CAUSING DIFFICULTY IN CONTROL, REAR BRAKES AS WELL AS EMERGENCY BRAKE PADS FREEZE DURING VIBRATION DUE TO AUTOMATIC SELF-ADJUSTMENT OF EMERGENCY BRAKES. MJS"
"DRIVING AT 55-65 MPH VIOLENT VIBRATION OCCURS CAUSING DIFFICULTY IN CONTROL, REAR BRAKES AS WELL AS EMERGENCY BRAKE PADS FREEZE DURING VIBRATION DUE TO AUTOMATIC SELF-ADJUSTMENT OF EMERGENCY BRAKES. MJS"
"DRIVING AT 55-65 MPH AND ACCIDENTAL MOVEMENT OF THE GEARSHIFT LEVER FROM DRIVE TO NEUTRAL AND BACK TO DRIVE RESULTS IN THE TRANSMISSION NOT ENGAGING IN DRIVE UNTIL VEHICLE REACHES 20 MPH. MJS"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 27 complaints
25th: 45,000 mi Median: 90,500 mi 75th: 127,097 mi
INTERIOR LIGHTING 12 complaints
25th: 48,436 mi Median: 68,782 mi 75th: 80,087 mi
SUSPENSION 7 complaints
25th: 99,250 mi Median: 100,500 mi 75th: 108,250 mi
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 6 complaints
25th: 45,000 mi Median: 90,000 mi 75th: 120,000 mi
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 5 complaints
Median: 45,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

CA: 19 FL: 14 WA: 14 GA: 6 VA: 6 OH: 4 NC: 3 IL: 3 NJ: 3 DC: 2

Who Files Complaints?

7.1%
Original Owners
92.9%
Second+ Owners

Mercedes Benz S500 — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

YearComplaintsCrashes
2001552
2002361
2004243

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28