2012 Mercedes-Benz GL450 problems
Owners have filed 55 complaints with NHTSA about the 2012 Mercedes-Benz GL450. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 40% of complaints. Next are brakes (15%) and suspension (13%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 55 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 40% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 3 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 53,000 miles 22 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 5 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 2 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 5 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 4 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 3 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 3 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 22 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 53,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 3 complaints mention a crash; 2 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2012 ranks 3rd most-complained-about out of 7 model years of the Mercedes-Benz GL450 with enough data (25 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
On 01/08/14, a female driver of a 2012 gl 450 was stationary, in the garage, with engine running. Before she exited the vehicle to check on her child in the rear of the vehicle, she pressed the park button on the drive select electronically-controlled column shifter. As she exited and walked around to her child, the transmission suddenly shifted into reverse, the vehicle travelled backwards and pinned her between the open driver's door and the garage wall.
On january 8, 2014, the owner of the 2012 mercedes benz gl450 was inside her vehicle within the garage of her residence, preparing to leave to perform errands. Realizing she need to attend to her young children, she put the vehicle's electronic transmission into park and was exiting the vehicle when the gl450 suddenly began moving rearward in reverse.
The contact owns a 2012 Mercedes-Benz GL 450. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed but failed to stop the vehicle causing him to crash into the vehicle in front. There were no warning lights illuminated. Both air bags under the steering wheels deployed. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The police arrived on the scene and filed a report. The front of the vehicle hood, bumper, and radiator was destroyed. There were no injuries or medical treatments.
Car just reached 90k miles with limited driving. The airmatic suspension has been acting oddly for the past month - I would find it low in the rear in the morning after being parked in a flat garage. The next day the entire car would be lowered. Whe is turn off the car, you would hear air being released. Today, when parked, there was a loud explosion, the car shook for a few minutes and then the entire thing sank to the wheel wells.
The rear suspension became soft after the dealer did an intial check after I complained about the vehicle feeling unstable after speeds of 70MPH. I had both air shocks changed in the rear. After two (2) months the front suspension on the passenger also started to leak causing the vehicle to suspension to automatically adjust in the front while driving or parked. This occured whether the vehicle was parked or in motion, highway or city streets.