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What 26 owners told NHTSA about the 2019 Mercedes-benz GLS

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (26)Crash / fire / injury (3)Suspension (5)Engine (4)Engine & cooling (4)Electrical system (3)Airbags (2)Backup camera & sensors (2)Body & structure (2)Brakes (2)Steering (2)Fuel system (1)

2 of 26 complaints match · Steering · clear filters

Oct 11, 2025SteeringSuspensionFire

Just financed vehicle from M Auto group nj they sent my vehicle to Mercedes dealer prior to me taking ownership and the dealership advised them of issues with truck they only fixed the water pump . The problem is that same day I drove home ACTIVE CURVE MALFUNCTION and hydraulic fluid is constantly leaking under my hood and on hot turbo on passenger side which is a safety hazard I advised and drove truck back to dealer and they won't talk about fixing issue and I'm financing this truck which is a less than 30 day issue. M Auto group nj dealership was told and not helping I'm scared to drive and this is a known safety hazard

NHTSA ODI 11692845

Dec 22, 2023SteeringSuspension

Failure of driver side front axle CV assembly. Part #166-330-33-00 with 36,000 miles on the vehicle Noise was heard when driving, pulled over heard noise as moved car forward and made left turn. Car was towed to Highway Tire and Auto near our house on a Saturday morning. Car test driven on their lot and immediately identified as CV axle. Part was only available from Mercedes dealership, yet all the other axles ( non driver side) were available from several parts distributors. Seemed odd maybe indicating a lot of these were being replaced?? This axle failure while driving at highway speeds could have resulted in wheel lock up causing serious accident and injury. When contacting Mercedes they seemed more interested in telling me it wasn’t covered under warranty, and there was nothing they could do about it since I didn’t have the repair done at their shops…. I asked them if they thought it was normal for an axle to go out at 36,000 miles and they said no. I asked them if they thought it was concerning and potential safety issue. And they never gave me an answer. After about 20 phone calls and 4 emails was finally able to escalate it to Mercedes Corporate office and a lady there Andrea, indicated she was executive referral manager and she would check with their engineers. She called back next day and said since I didn’t get it repaired at Mercedes, and since last time it was in a Mercedes shop was 15 months earlier there was nothing they could do about it. She said they might have found leaking fluid etc and could have fixed it. I told her I personally saw it up on the lift and there was zero leaking fluid or indications of wear on the outside. The car had also just recently gotten new tires and passed state of NC vehicle inspection. She said she was sorry but best she could do was offer $400 credit toward a future service at any Mercedes dealership. I think this has potential for serious parts defect and consideration for safety recall

NHTSA ODI 11561518

Working with the data? Download all 26 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 20, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2019 Mercedes-benz GLS verdict →