2009 MERCEDES BENZ C300 — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 571 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: AIR BAGS (159 complaints · 27.9%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 14
  • Fires 18
  • Injuries 13
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2008 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution AIR BAGS appears in 159 of 571 owner complaints (27.9%) in this vehicle snapshot. AIR BAGS: 159 complaints, 27.9% of reports AIR BAGS 159 · 27.9% · 10 crash reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 106 complaints, 18.6% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 106 · 18.6% · 1 crash reports 14 fire reports STEERING: 100 complaints, 17.5% of reports STEERING 100 · 17.5% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 82 complaints, 14.4% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 82 · 14.4% · 4 fire reports STRUCTURE: 21 complaints, 3.7% of reports STRUCTURE 21 · 3.7% SUSPENSION: 21 complaints, 3.7% of reports SUSPENSION 21 · 3.7% ENGINE: 16 complaints, 2.8% of reports ENGINE 16 · 2.8% · 1 crash reports SEAT BELTS: 7 complaints, 1.2% of reports SEAT BELTS 7 · 1.2% · 1 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 7 complaints, 1.2% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 7 · 1.2% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 65 complaints, 11.4% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 65 · 11.4% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
AIR BAGS 159 27.9% 10 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 106 18.6% 1 crashes · 14 fires
STEERING 100 17.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 82 14.4% 0 crashes · 4 fires
STRUCTURE 21 3.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 21 3.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 16 2.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 7 1.2% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 7 1.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 65 11.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Apr 2010. 2010-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2011-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2013-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2013-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2013-Q3: 20 owner reports 20 2013-Q4: 18 owner reports 18 2014-Q1: 26 owner reports 26 2014-Q2: 18 owner reports 18 2014-Q3: 18 owner reports 18 2014-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2015-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 2015-Q2: 23 owner reports 23 2015-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2015-Q4: 40 owner reports 40 2016-Q1: 24 owner reports 24 2016-Q2: 19 owner reports 19 2016-Q3: 21 owner reports 21 2016-Q4: 17 owner reports 17 2017-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 2017-Q2: 20 owner reports 20 2017-Q3: 15 owner reports 15 2017-Q4: 66 owner reports 66 2018-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 2018-Q2: 18 owner reports 18 2018-Q3: 13 owner reports 13 2018-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2019-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2019-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2019-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2019-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2020-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2020-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2020-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2021-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2021-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2021-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2021-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2022-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2022-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2022-Q3: 12 owner reports 12 2022-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2023-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2023-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2023-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2023-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2024-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2024-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2024-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2025-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2025-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2026-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2026-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Apr 2010 Apr 2026 Investigation PE13026 ● Investigation PE13026 Investigation EA13008 ● Investigation EA13008 Investigation EA21002 ● Investigation EA21002
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2010-Q2 Owner reports 2
2010-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q4 Owner reports 4
2011-Q2 Owner reports 1
2011-Q3 Owner reports 2
2011-Q4 Owner reports 1
2012-Q1 Owner reports 2
2012-Q4 Owner reports 4
2013-Q1 Owner reports 3
2013-Q2 Owner reports 7
2013-Q3 Owner reports 20
2013-Q4 Owner reports 18
2014-Q1 Owner reports 26
2014-Q2 Owner reports 18
2014-Q3 Owner reports 18
2014-Q4 Owner reports 6
2015-Q1 Owner reports 10
2015-Q2 Owner reports 23
2015-Q3 Owner reports 10
2015-Q4 Owner reports 40
2016-Q1 Owner reports 24
2016-Q2 Owner reports 19
2016-Q3 Owner reports 21
2016-Q4 Owner reports 17
2017-Q1 Owner reports 13
2017-Q2 Owner reports 20
2017-Q3 Owner reports 15
2017-Q4 Owner reports 66
2018-Q1 Owner reports 13
2018-Q2 Owner reports 18
2018-Q3 Owner reports 13
2018-Q4 Owner reports 8
2019-Q1 Owner reports 7
2019-Q2 Owner reports 5
2019-Q3 Owner reports 5
2019-Q4 Owner reports 2
2020-Q1 Owner reports 4
2020-Q2 Owner reports 5
2020-Q3 Owner reports 4
2020-Q4 Owner reports 3
2021-Q1 Owner reports 2
2021-Q2 Owner reports 10
2021-Q3 Owner reports 6
2021-Q4 Owner reports 4
2022-Q1 Owner reports 2
2022-Q2 Owner reports 5
2022-Q3 Owner reports 12
2022-Q4 Owner reports 6
2023-Q1 Owner reports 5
2023-Q2 Owner reports 1
2023-Q3 Owner reports 3
2023-Q4 Owner reports 3
2024-Q2 Owner reports 2
2024-Q3 Owner reports 4
2024-Q4 Owner reports 2
2025-Q1 Owner reports 2
2025-Q2 Owner reports 1
2025-Q4 Owner reports 1
2026-Q1 Owner reports 1
2026-Q2 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 PE13026
Defect investigation 1 EA13008
Defect investigation 1 EA21002
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 571 complaints · page 1 of 23

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources