Mercedes-Benz SL 550

Owners filed 66 complaints across 13 model years of the Mercedes-Benz SL 550. The 2013 drew the most (17).

Model years13
Complaints66
Recalls22
Fires4
Deaths0

Which Mercedes-Benz SL 550 years should you avoid?

Not enough of the record to single a year out. Fewer than 4 Mercedes-Benz SL 550 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 SL 550 model year compared

Complaints per year
YearComplaintsRelative volumeRecallsFiresCrashesMost reportedStatus
20201
3—1EngineRoutine
20190
4———Routine
20180
2———Routine
20174
1——SteeringRoutine
20160
1———Routine
20152
3——EngineRoutine
20144
4——Air BagsRoutine
201317
3—1SteeringRoutine
20112
0—1Air BagsRoutine
200915
01—Service BrakesRoutine
20084
0——Engine and Engine CoolingRoutine
200716
13—Service BrakesRoutine
20031
0——Service BrakesRoutine

Data: NHTSA complaint and recall files, October 2026. Complaints are unverified owner reports.