Model years Mercedes-Benz C-Class
2013 Mercedes-Benz C-Class
This year drew an ordinary 570 complaints for a Mercedes-Benz C-Class — the model's median is 254. What they were about is the unusual part: 21.2% of them mention c250, against 0% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 570 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 254 |
| Involving a crash | 22 |
| Involving a fire | 7 |
| Recalls | 0 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 23 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- c250 — 21.2% of this year's complaints, against 0% across the model's other years (106.1×). Owners wrote it as: c250, mercedes-benz c250, c250 contact, benz c250.
- subframe — 23.7% of this year's complaints, against 6.3% across the model's other years (3.7×). Owners wrote it as: subframe, rear subframe, rusted, rust.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
THE REAR SUBFRAME RUSTED THROUGH RISKING THE CONTROL ARMS FROM DETACHING FROM THE FRAME. THIS COULD CAUSE THE CAR TO BE UNCONTROLLABLE WITH THE RIGHT, REAR WHEEL AND CONTROL ARM FROM DETACHING FROM THE VEHICLE.
Mercedes dealership mechanic found rear subframe rusted through on 5/20/21 during oil change. Mechanic advised car is unsafe to drive, subframe can break apart while driving and cause accident. Dealership also advised this is a known issue with my model/year v…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2013 Mercedes-Benz C-Class? What happened to yours?
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