Home · 2022 Mercedes-benz CLA · Complaints

What 4 owners told NHTSA about the 2022 Mercedes-benz CLA

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 (4)Crash / fire / injury (2)Body & structure (1)Brakes (1)Visibility & wipers (1)

Newest first · 4 complaints

Jan 5, 2025Visibility & wipers

I was driving on the highway at 9:30 AM in about 65 degree whether in a 2022 Mercedes Benz CLA equipped with a panoramic sunroof. I got on the exit ramp which was directly under a highway bridge when suddenly I heard a single, loud bang. I look up and realized that my sunroof had completely shattered and I all could see was the bare sky above the windscreen. Luckily, there was no one in the passenger seat and no other drivers around me because I suddenly swerved due to the shocking nature of the incident. My vehicle is only 2.5 years old, and I bought it brand-new. In addition, I keep it maintained at a local Mercedes-Benz dealership. There was absolutely no indication that this was going to happen. The sunroof is not used often, and there were no signs of weakness or cracking.

NHTSA ODI 11634212

Apr 2, 2024

While traveling on the highway (approximately 70mph) the panoramic sunroof exploded into countless tiny pieces of glass. Nothing hit the sunroof (no visible damage from any falling object on the sunscreen under the sunroof), nor did the vehicle hit anything. Completely random. This is apparently a common issue.

NHTSA ODI 11580730

Jul 6, 2023Body & structure1 injury

Sunroof shattered and exploded while driving

NHTSA ODI 11530730

Nov 10, 2022BrakesCrash1 injury

I was driving on the 210 interstate freeway at about 60mph. I saw that the cars around 0.25 miles in front of me had stopped due to traffic jam so i started braking. The second I started braking my boyfriend in the passenger seat realized the car wasn't slowing down so he told me you need to brake. So I started pressing the brakes hard and when I was around 10 cars away, I realized that I have already pressed the brake pedal all the way down and couldn't go any further but the brake still wasn't braking and didn't work. So I hit the car in front of me. Therefore the accident was caused by the brakes not functioning. My passenger and I was put in danger because of this as well as the person I hit. Luckily it was only minor injuries. Only I had bruises on my leg. I have found several articles stating that the same exact make and model have been recalled because of their brakes also failing. Before the accident, I realized that the brakes would make noise when I braked sometimes, so I brought the car to Mercedes dealership and mentioned to them to see if there was a problem, but they took a quick look at the inside of my car and told me everything is fine. There was no warning lamps messages or any other symptoms before the problem.

NHTSA ODI 11492997

Working with the data? Download all 4 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 19, 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 2022 Mercedes-benz CLA verdict →