RoadVitals

2017 Mercedes-Benz GLS 550 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.
6
Latest Aug 5, 2025
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.
0
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 Apr 5, 2017

What this page shows

Our database holds 6 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2017 Mercedes-Benz GLS 550. 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 1–6 of 6

Fuel system
Filed Aug 5, 2025

Feel unsafe fuel rails and more where recalled in April 2022 Not all gls550 were recalled at the time due to no reason Drive to Florida with my wife and kids and car gave up on the side of a bridge hwy over the ocean We were stuck car smelt like gas and wouldn’t turn on we had nowhere to get out on a 25ft bridge with no ac no emergency lanes with 5 kids all under age of 6

NHTSA ID
11678641
Incident
Aug 2, 2025
Engine
Filed Dec 18, 2021

We had our Mercedes GLS550 2017 with 59,295 overheat and call for immediate shut down on the Massachusetts Turnpike with my wife and child in the car. It was quite a dangerous situation because the failure caused by hose assembly 166-830-15-00 clamp (as described by the dealer as the reason for the loss of fluid and hose failure) caused almost an immediate overheating. The service advisor stated that it is "a quite common failure". I was quite suspicious, because just 11 days prior and 138 miles prior they had performed an Oil Change (Service B9), and thought their mechanic must have damaged the hose fitting they claimed broke. When I looked at the schematic, the fitting is quite close to the Oil Filter Cap, so I assumed that the mechanic accidentally knocked the plastic clamp and broke it. However, they said this was a "normal failure" on these cars. I am a data scientist and have requested failure rates for similar autos in the data cohorts of 50,000, to 60,000 miles and 4 to 5 years old. It woudl be also nice to see if there was data available that included Post B( service visits for the same failures. I was surprised they tracked this data since I was told it was a common failure of this part. Looking at the design of where the host runs, it is certainly exposed to a mechanics tools removing the Oil Filter wrench. If this is common, I would like to help other families with young children being stranded by the side of a busy highway. In this case, I told my wife to drive to the closest safe point even though the engine warning system said to stop immediately. The engine seems to survive fine. I dont know if you record other data on this type of hose assembly failure, but a redesign with non-plastic clamp might be more durable and more appropriate.

NHTSA ID
11444249
Incident
Nov 27, 2021
Filed Mar 12, 2021

MY WIFE AND I WERE DRIVING FROM ARIZONA TO COLORADO. WE WERE TRAVELING AT ABOUT 85 MILES/ HR PASSING ALBUQUERQUE. ALL OF A SUDDEN WE FELT AND HEARD AN EXPLOSION. MY WIFE AND I BOTH DUCKED AND FORTUNATELY I KEPT MY HANDS ON THE WHEEL. WE LOOKED UP AND THE SUNROOF HAD SHATTERED AND BLOWN OUT. THE ONLY THING THAT SAVED US FROM BEING SHOWERED WITH GLASS WAS THE SHADE OF THE SUNROOF WAS CLOSED BECAUSE THE SUNROOF WAS CLOSED AT THE TIME. WE HAD T DRIVE THE REMAINING 400 MILES WITH THE BROKEN SUNROOF. WHEN WE GOT BACK HOME , WE CONTACTED MERCEDES AND ASKED THEM ABOUT THE SUNROOF. THEY BASICALLY DID NOT ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING EVEN AFTER WE TOLD THEM THAT AFTER GOOGLING ( MERCEDES EXPLODING SUNROOF) A TON OF ITEMS CAME UP INCLUDING SEVERAL LAWSUITS. MERCEDES DOES NOT SEEM TO WANT TO ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE SUNROOF. MY WIFE AND I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED. WE WERE LUCKY THAT THERE WAS NO CAR AROUND US AND THE FACT THAT I KEPT MY HANDS ON THE STEERING WHEEL. I DO NOT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO ANY ONE ELSE BECAUSE THEY MIGHT NOT BE AS FORTUNATE AS US.

NHTSA ID
11402698
Incident
Mar 7, 2021
Mileage
54,000 mi
Powertrain (other)
Filed Jul 21, 2020

REAR AXLE LOCK UP BRIEFLY MADE A SOUND LIKE SOMEONE REAR ENDED THE CAR AND SNAP THE LEFT SIDE REAR CV AXLE. VEHICLE IS AWD AND DOES NOT MOVE ON ITS OWN POWER.. SHOP TOW SUV AND ON THE AIR FOUND THE AXLE INNER JOINT JUST SPINS BUT CAR DOES NOT MOVE, THEY PULLED THE AXLE AND THE IS METAL BURNT INTO THE AXLE SHAFT SEEMS REAR DIFF LOCK UP, OIL WAS CLEAN ON THE DIFFERENTIAL.

NHTSA ID
11340655
Incident
Jul 17, 2020
Mileage
105,110 mi
Filed May 8, 2018

I PURCHASED A 2017 GLS 550 IN JANUARY 2018 FROM LOEBER MOTORS IN LINCOLNWOOD ILLINOIS. THE STICKER ON THE VEHICLE REPRESENTED THAT THERE WERE 'ALL SEASON' TIRES ON THE VEHICLE. AFTER NUMEROUS GUARANTEES FROM THE SALESMEN, I WAS ASSURED THAT THE VEHICLE WOULD BE 'SAFE' ON THE FACTORY TIRES AS THEY WERE REPRESENTED AS ALL SEASON. IT WAS NOT UNTIL I FOUND MYSELF DRIVING THROUGH A SPRING SNOWSTORM IN WISCONSIN THAT I REALIZED THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING TERRIBLY WRONG WITH THE WAY THE VEHICLE WAS HANDLING IN THE STORM. I WAS CONCERNED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS GOING TO END UP ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, OR IN A HORRIBLE ACCIDENT, AS THE VEHICLE WAS ALMOST UNABLE TO CONTROL. ALMOST EVERY OTHER CAR ON THE ROAD SEEMED TO BE UNFAZED BY THIS STORM, YET MY $100,000 VEHICLE WAS DRIVING LIKE A ROLLER SKATE.AFTER MUCH RESEARCH, NUMEROUS CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DEALER AND CONTINENTAL TIRES, IT HAS COME TO LIGHT THAT THE TIRES ON ALMOST ALL GLS 550'S ARE ACTUALLY THE CONTINENTAL CROSS CONTACT UHP'S. CONTINENTAL HAS VERBALLY CONFIRMED(ON A RECORDED LINE) AND THROUGH EVERY BIT OF LITERATURE ONLINE, THAT THE TIRES ARE ACTUALLY SUMMER TIRES AND SHOULD NOT BE DRIVEN IN WINTER/SNOW CONDITIONS.WHILE THE TIRES MAY HAVE AN M AND S ON THE SIDEWALL, THIS WAS A DESIGNATION REQUESTED BY MERCEDES TO DEFINE THESE TIRES AS 'ALL SEASON' AS THEY MEET THE TREAD DESIGN FOR THE MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR ALL SEASON. CONTINENTAL HAS STATED THE EXACT OPPOSITE AND DOES NOT EVEN PROVIDE SAFETY DATA FOR THESE TIRES IN WINTER CONDITIONS, AS THEY ARE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED AS A SUMMER/PERFORMANCE TIRE. THE MISREPRESENTATION ABOUT THIS ISSUE IS OF EPIDEMIC PROPORTION. MERCEDES NEEDS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS MISREPRESENTATION AND NOTIFY/RECALLS THE UNSAFE TIRES THAT ARE CURRENTLY ON THESE VEHICLES.THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST DISTURBING BREACHES OF DISCLOSURE AND MISREPRESENTATION I HAVE EVER SEEN.

NHTSA ID
11092420
Incident
Mar 7, 2018
Mileage
11,000 mi
Filed Apr 5, 2017

I LOWER THE PASSENGER CAR WINDOW WHEN I ENTERED THE CAR IN A VERY HOT DAY AND THE WINDOW GLASS EXPLOTED. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER AND THEY SAID IT WAS NOT A CAR DEFECT. HOWEVER, THE CAR WINDOW GLASS JUST EXPLOTED JUST BY LOWERING IT.

NHTSA ID
10970780
Incident
Apr 2, 2017

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 .