Total Complaints
4 filings
MERCEDES-BENZ C204.9 · model year
4 NHTSA complaints for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2012MERCEDES-BENZC204.9 carries 4 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 2012 C204.9 is engine with 1 filings, followed by unknown or other (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 2012 C204.9. 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
4 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| ENGINE | 1 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 |
| STEERING | 1 |
MY VEHICLE AND MANY OTHER MERCEDES BENZ MODELS SUFFER A FAILED ELECTRONIC IGNITION SWITCH AND ELECTRONIC STEERING LOCK. THIS IS A KNOWN DEFECT AMONGST MANY MODELS/YEARS OF MERCEDES BENZ VEHICLES AND ONLY A DEALER CAN REPAIR. THE COST OF REPAIR IS $1,900. THE CAUSES THE VEHICLES TO BE UNABLE TO START, AND VERY CLEARLY, A MANUFACTURER DEFECT.
MY VEHICLE AND MANY OTHER MERCEDES BENZ MODELS SUFFER A FAILED ELECTRONIC IGNITION SWITCH AND ELECTRONIC STEERING LOCK. THIS IS A KNOWN DEFECT AMONGST MANY MODELS/YEARS OF MERCEDES BENZ VEHICLES AND ONLY A DEALER CAN REPAIR. THE COST OF REPAIR IS $1,900. THE CAUSES THE VEHICLES TO BE UNABLE TO START, AND VERY CLEARLY, A MANUFACTURER DEFECT.
MY VEHICLE STARTED TO PULL LEFT WHEN BRAKING. HAD ALL BRAKES REPLACED AND PULLING CONITNUED. AFTER FURTHER REVIEW, FOUND OUT THAT THE REAR CROSSMEMBER / SUB-FRAME WAS ROTTED ON THE DRIVER SIDE. WHEN BRAKING, THE REAR DRIVER SIDE WHEEL SHIFTS. YOU CAN SEE THE REAR CALIPER MOVE UP. THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE SUBFRAME IS SO ROTTED THAT IT SHIFTS THE ARMS COMING OFF OF IT (EITHER TRAILING OR TORQUE ARM), CAUSING A DANGEROUS SHIFT IN THE BRAKE/WHEEL. CALLED MERCEDES CUSTOMER SUPPORT AND ALL THEY OFFERED WAS A SMALL DISCOUNT ON THE FULL REPAIR COST, WHICH OF COURSE IS ALREADY OVERPRICED. MY VEHICLE IS 8 YEARS OLD, GARAGE KEPT, ORIGINAL OWNERS, AND ONLY HAS ABOUT 45,000 MILES ON IT. NOTHING ELSE ON THE CAR IS ROTTED. THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A QUALITY CONTROL ISSUE BY THE MANUFACTURER. UPON FURTHER REVIEW, THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM FOR 2008-2015 MERCEDES VEHICLES.
Mileage: 45,000
TIMING CHAIN TENSIONER ALL OIL CHANGES WERE DONE PERFECTLY WITH THE CORRECT OIL AND ORIGINAL FILTER.
Mileage: 69,000
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.