RoadVitals

2013 Mercedes-Benz S400 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.
1
Latest May 7, 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 May 7, 2025

What this page shows

Our database holds 1 NHTSA owner-reported complaint for the 2013 Mercedes-Benz S400. 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 1–1 of 1

ElectricalPowertrain (other)
Filed May 7, 2025

-Combustion engine sporadically fails to start. -Combustion engine can no longer be started. -Start/Stop function is sporadically unavailable (READY displayed in yellow in instrument cluster). -Start/Stop function fails to function properly in dangerous road conditions - e.g., when pulling into an intersection, in stop & go traffic, when proceeding at a stop light, etc. -This is the second time this major incident has occurred; this was repaired in December 2020 under manufacturer warranty. The Power Electronics (Electric Motor) Control Unit was replaced. It is clear this is a recurring failure affecting this vehicle. ***Campaign No. 2012080004, November 2012 addresses this exact issue - for this exact car (i.e., Mercedes-Benz S 400 (221.195) V6-3.5L (272.974) Hybrid. However, that Recall Campaign is covers Model Years 2010-2012, but fails to cover MY 2013, which is exactly the same as the covered vehicles. This Campaign instructs to Check/Replace the Power Electronics Module, which is the part that my local Mercedes-Benz dealership has advised has failed and needs to be replaced.

NHTSA ID
11659547
Incident
May 4, 2025

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 .