Mercedes Benz S500
Owners filed 175 complaints across 15 model years of the Mercedes Benz S500. The 2000 drew the most (55).
Which Mercedes Benz S500 years should you avoid?
Not enough of the record to single a year out. Fewer than 4 Mercedes Benz S500 model years have at least 25 complaints and are old enough to judge, so any ranking would be noise. The table below has every year as filed.
How this is worked out: each year is compared with a typical year of the same model, which takes most of the difference in sales out of it, and its share of serious failures is compared with every other car of the same model year, because older cars were complained about differently. A year needs 25 complaints to be judged at all. Complaints are unverified owner reports. Full method →
Every Mercedes Benz S500 model year compared
Complaints per year| Year | Complaints | Relative volume | Recalls | Fires | Crashes | Most reported | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | 3 | — | — | Service Brakes | Routine | |
| 2021 | 1 | 7 | — | — | Engine and Engine Cooling | Routine | |
| 2007 | 2 | 0 | — | — | Electrical System | Routine | |
| 2006 | 13 | 0 | — | — | Electrical System | Routine | |
| 2005 | 11 | 0 | — | — | Electrical System | Routine | |
| 2004 | 12 | 0 | — | 1 | Electrical System | Routine | |
| 2003 | 10 | 0 | — | — | Seat Belts | Routine | |
| 2002 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Electrical System › Instrument Cluster/Panel | Routine | |
| 2001 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Electrical System | Routine | |
| 2000 | 55 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Electrical System | Routine | |
| 1999 | 2 | 0 | — | — | Service Brakes | Routine | |
| 1996 | 1 | 0 | — | — | Electrical System | Routine | |
| 1995 | 4 | 0 | — | — | Electrical System | Routine | |
| 1994 | 2 | 0 | — | — | Electrical System | Routine | |
| 1993 | 2 | 0 | — | — | Electrical System | Routine |
Data: NHTSA complaint and recall files, October 2026. Complaints are unverified owner reports.