2004 Mercedes Benz Ml500: Reliability Data

26
Total Complaints
90,000mi
Median Mileage
Electrical System
Top Issue
0
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

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

42,221 25th Percentile
90,000 Median Mileage
125,500 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

Electrical System
5
Steering
5
Seat Heater/Cooler
2
Headlights
1
Tires
1
Pads
1
Rotor
1
Automatic Transmission
1
Service Brakes, Hydraulic
1
Defroster/Defogger/Hvac System
1

Severity Assessment

0
Crashes
6
Fires
5
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"I WANT TO PROTEST IN THE LOUDEST VOICE THAT I HAVE AS A AUTOMOBILE DRIVER THE USE BY SOME RECENT MODEL CARS OF HIGH INTENSITY HEADLIGHTS. I AM NOT REFERRING TO HIGH BEAMS.......THESE LIGHTS ARE FAR WORSE THAN HIGH BEAMS. I AM BLINDED BY THESE LIGHTS AND FIND MY EYES TURNING TO THEM INVOLUNTARILY. I ..."
"VEHICLE LOST POWER DUE TO THE ESM TRACKING SYSTEM. AFTER ABOUT 15-20 MINUTES THE VEHICLE COULD BE RESTARTED. *AK *NM"
"I HAVE RETURNED MY SUV TO MERCEDES ABOUT 5 TIMES TO HAVE THE BRAKES REPLACED BECAUSE THEY SQUEAL WHEN STOPPING. I HAVE BEEN TOLD MY MERCEDES THAT THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN BE DONE BECAUSE ALL DISC BRAKES SQUEAL. I FIND THIS HARD TO BELIEVE BECAUSE I HAVE HAD MANY CARS WITH DISC BRAKES OVER THE YEARS..."

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 5 complaints
25th: 46,000 mi Median: 92,750 mi 75th: 150,375 mi
Steering 5 complaints
25th: 110,000 mi Median: 123,000 mi 75th: 165,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

NY: 5 NJ: 4 MD: 4 NC: 2 CO: 2 OH: 2 TX: 2 MI: 1 NH: 1 CA: 1

Who Files Complaints?

15.4%
Original Owners
84.6%
Second+ Owners

Mercedes Benz Ml500 — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

YearComplaintsCrashes
2002331
2006495

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