2011 Mercedes-Benz ML350 problems
Owners have filed 129 complaints with NHTSA about the 2011 Mercedes-Benz ML350. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 46% of complaints. Next are brakes (16%) and electrical system (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 129 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 46% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 13 and 4
- Injuries and deaths
- 12 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 66,000 miles 49 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 | 4 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 10 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 7 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 12 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 9 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 49 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 66,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 13 complaints mention a crash; 4 complaints mention a fire; 12 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2011 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 13 model years of the Mercedes-Benz ML350 with enough data (55 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.
Nearest dealership refused to complete the recall repairs. On March 6, during a moving traffic accident that totaled both cars, the air bags failed to deploy, resulting in injury to the driver (me).
With the gear selector in park and the passenger side front seat occupied, the vehicle rolled backwards from a 4.4 percent grade and overturned as it proceeded downhill. Inspection of the transmission parking gear revealed that the parking pawl had been activated but did not engage a parking gear slot. This incident was attributed to excessive angle on the parking gear slot sides, an underpowered pressure spring in the park interlock mechanism, or a combination of both of these conditions.
I was in a car accident in march 2016 and it was a front end collision. I almost went through the windshield however my seat belt didn't stop me or lock in place at all. I also contacted mercedes in april 2016 about my driver airbag that was recalled due to safety concerns and I still haven't been contacted for a resolution as I have reached out to them multiple times for options because it's unsafe to drive my vehicle
The car was on an incline in my driveway. It has the transmission shift lever on the column, and I had been backing down the driveway. I stopped placed the car in park and got out with the engine running to move something. The car sat in place for approximately 10 seconds and then spontaneously took off at approximately 5miles/hour.
Was driving to work on the highway in the rain and the truck jerked over to the right without me doing it. Its happened three more times since then. The dealership cannot duplicate the problem so therefore there is no problem. My ignition switch needed to be replaced at 20,000 miles. My keys would not start the truck for an entire week straight on the 1st or 2nd attempt. Finally on the 3rd try the truck would start. Its a year and a half old.