Total Complaints
3 filings
MERCEDES-BENZ C204 · model year
3 NHTSA complaints for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2011MERCEDES-BENZC204 carries 3 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2011 C204 is engine with 1 filings, followed by steering (1) and electrical system (1). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability.
NHTSA currently has 15 investigation files overlapping the 2011 C204. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
3 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| ENGINE | 1 |
| STEERING | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 |
ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 MY VEHICLE WAS NOT STARTING IN ORDER TO TAKE ME HOME AT 9:40 PM. DUE TO THE FAILURE OF THE ESL IN THE STEERING COLUMN I AM NOW FORCED TO WAIT HERE UNTIL A TOW TRUCK COMES. I DO NOT FEEL SAFE IN THIS LOCATION AND WISH MY VEHICLE WOULD START KNOWING THAT IT HAS THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF VOLTAGE AT THE BATTERY.
Mileage: 105,000
THE ESL STEERING LOCK MALFUNCTIONED. THIS CAUSES THE CAR NOT TO START. I HAD THE AIRBAGS REPLACED DUE TO RECALL ABOUT 3 WEEK SALES EARLIER. THE CAR WAS WORKING PROPERLY THE DAY BEFORE AND THE NEXT MORNING THE CAR WON'T START AND A MESSAGE COMES UP ABOUT REMOVING THE KEY.
Mileage: 6,000
THE ESL STEERING LOCK MALFUNCTIONED. THIS CAUSES THE CAR NOT TO START. I HAD THE AIRBAGS REPLACED DUE TO RECALL ABOUT 3 WEEK SALES EARLIER. THE CAR WAS WORKING PROPERLY THE DAY BEFORE AND THE NEXT MORNING THE CAR WON'T START AND A MESSAGE COMES UP ABOUT REMOVING THE KEY.
Mileage: 6,000
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.