Model years Mercedes-Benz C-Class
2017 Mercedes-Benz C-Class
This year drew an ordinary 504 complaints for a Mercedes-Benz C-Class — the model's median is 254. What they were about is the unusual part: 13.9% of them mention sunroof, against 4.4% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 504 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 254 |
| Involving a crash | 24 |
| Involving a fire | 6 |
| Recalls | 0 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 26 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- sunroof — 13.9% of this year's complaints, against 4.4% across the model's other years (3.2×). Owners wrote it as: sunroof, glass, panoramic, structure.
- belt — 14.3% of this year's complaints, against 5.7% across the model's other years (2.5×). Owners wrote it as: belt, seat belt, belts, seat belts.
- panel — 11.5% of this year's complaints, against 3.9% across the model's other years (2.9×). Owners wrote it as: panel, roof, however vin, roof panel.
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
both the front driver’s side seat belt and front passenger's side seat belt had failed to retract as needed. There was no warning light illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that the seat belts buckles would unintendedly lodge under the seats. The vehi…
upon arriving at his destination and exiting the vehicle, the driver’s side seat belt retracted and became stuck in the retracted position. As a result, the contact was unable to use the driver's side seat belt. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle…
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 2017 Mercedes-Benz C-Class? What happened to yours?
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