2002 Mercedes Benz C Class: Reliability Data

46
Total Complaints
65,000mi
Median Mileage
Electrical System
Top Issue
1
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

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

8,700 25th Percentile
65,000 Median Mileage
90,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

Electrical System
7
Seats
5
Engine And Engine Cooling
5
Suspension
4
Fuel System, Gasoline
4
Unknown Or Other
3
Tires
3
Power Train
2
Glass, Side/Rear
1
Air Conditioner
1

Severity Assessment

1
Crashes
2
Fires
0
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"VEHICLE WOULD WANDER TO RIGHT WHEN DRIVEN. VEHICLE BEEN IN DEALER SHOP ON FOUR OCCASIONS, AND PROBLEM STILL REOCCURRING. FEEL FREE TO PROVIDE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS MATTER.*AK"
"WHILE STARTING VEHICLE THERE IS CONSTANT VIBRATION UNTIL VEHICLE HAS HEATED UP APPROXIMATELY 20 MINUTES. DEALER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED, MECHANIC HAS NOT FOUND WHAT WAS CAUSING THE PROBLEM. WHILE IN REPAIR DEALER PROVIDED SEVERAL RENTAL CARS TO CONSUMER, AND ALL OF THE RENTAL CARS WERE EXPERIENCING THE..."
"CONSUMER STATES THERE ARE PROBLEMS CONCERING THE ESP AND BAS SYSTEMS WARNING MESSAGES THAT ARE APPEARING ON THE MONITOR, WHEN TRAVELING AT A MODERATE RATE OF SPEED IN A STRAIGHT LINE, THE VEHICLE LOSES ALL POWER ALONG WITH BRAKING SENSATION. (MERCEDES BENZ C-240)*JB"

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 7 complaints
25th: 43,667 mi Median: 60,500 mi 75th: 71,250 mi
Seats 5 complaints
25th: 62,750 mi Median: 70,261 mi 75th: 85,391 mi
Engine And Engine Cooling 5 complaints
Median: 78,000 mi
Fuel System, Gasoline 4 complaints
Median: 104,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

CA: 6 CO: 5 MD: 5 NM: 5 TX: 4 OH: 4 NY: 3 PA: 3 NJ: 3 FL: 2

Who Files Complaints?

21.7%
Original Owners
78.3%
Second+ Owners

Mercedes Benz C Class — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

YearComplaintsCrashes
1995642
2001250
2004202

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