2001 Mercedes Benz S500: Reliability Data
When Do Complaints Happen?
Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.
What Fails?
Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.
Severity Assessment
Sample Complaint Reports
"THROTTLE INTERRUPT CAUSED BY BRAKE LIGHT ACTIVATION CAUSES CAR TO HAVE DEAD SPOT WHILE ACCELERATING."
"WHENEVER THE TURN SIGNALS ARE IN USE THEY WOULD MALFUNCTION. TOOK VEHICLE TO DEALERSHIP TO HAVE MECHANIC REPAIR THE PROBLEM. MECHANIC REPLACED THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER AND SEVERAL ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS. BUT, PROBLEM STILL EXISTS.*AK"
"WHENEVER THE TURN SIGNALS ARE IN USE THEY WOULD MALFUNCTION. TOOK VEHICLE TO DEALERSHIP TO HAVE MECHANIC REPAIR THE PROBLEM. MECHANIC REPLACED THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER AND SEVERAL ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS. BUT, PROBLEM STILL EXISTS.*AK"
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.
Where Are Complaints Coming From?
Top states by complaint count.
Who Files Complaints?
Mercedes Benz S500 — Other Years
See how this model compares across different model years.
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
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