RoadVitals

1991 Mercedes-Benz 500SL Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
3
Latest Oct 29, 2009
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
1
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
0
Reports on file since Feb 7, 2007

What this page shows

Our database holds 3 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 1991 Mercedes-Benz 500SL. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–3 of 3

Electrical
Filed Oct 29, 2009

ENGINE WIRING HARNESS FAILURE, MULTIPLE SYSTEMS AFFECTED. CAR WILL SPUTTER, STALL, NOT RESTART. HAPPENS WHILE GOING DOWN THE ROAD, TURNING CORNERS, COMING TO A STOP, WHILE TRYING TO ACCELERATE FROM A STOP.... THE ENGINE WIRING HARNESS HAS BARE WIRES ALL OVER THE PLACE. MB REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THERE ARE PROBLEMS WITH THESE CARS, ALTHOUGH I'VE SPOKEN WITH MANY MERCEDES OWNERS WHO HAVE THE SAME TYPE OF PROBLEMS. CALLS TO MERCEDES BENZ NEVER GET ME ANYWHERE. THEY ARE RUDE AND ONLY SAY THAT THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF ANOTHER BENZ WITH AN ENGINE WIRING HARNESS PROBLEM BEFORE. I CANNOT DRIVE THIS CAR, PERIOD. I WOULDN'T DRIVE IT TO THE CORNER FOR MILK EVEN IT WOULD START AND RUN CONSISTENTLY. THE WIRING HARNESS WAS MADE WITH "BIODEGRADABLE" INSULATION ON ALL THE WIRES. WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE AIR BAGS ON MY NEWER MERCEDES TO FAIL DUE TO SOME TYPE OF "BIODEGRADABLE" MATERIALS BEING USED? *TR

NHTSA ID
10290278
Incident
Aug 27, 2009
Mileage
212,000 mi
Driver assistance
Filed Aug 5, 2007

WHILE DRIVING, MY 1991 500SL CONVERTIBLE FOR NO APPARENT REASON WILL NOT ACCELERATE AND THE ASR LIGHT COMES ON. IF I SHUT DOWN AND RESTART IT GOES AWAY BUT WILL COME RIGHT BACK IF I GOOSE THE GAS AT ALL. THIS HAPPENS A LOT! LOOKS LIKE THE SAME PROBLEM MANY PEOPLE ARE HAVING WITH 91-96 VARIOUS MODELS WITH THEIR WIRING HARNESSES. *TR

NHTSA ID
10198540
Incident
Jun 25, 2007
Mileage
138,000 mi
Electrical
Filed Feb 7, 2007
Fire reported

TERRIBLE CRACKING OF MAIN WIRE HARNESS!!!!!!*JB

NHTSA ID
10181872
Incident
Dec 28, 2006
Mileage
98,000 mi

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .