Total Complaints
2 filings
MERCEDES-BENZ G500 · model year
2 NHTSA complaints for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2002MERCEDES-BENZG500 carries 2 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 2002 G500 is engine and engine cooling with 1 filings, followed by seats (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 2002 G500. 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
2 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | 1 |
| SEATS | 1 |
MY FRONT SEATS RECLINE BUTTONS DON'T WORK PROPERLY. THEY GO OPPOSITE THEN WHAT YOUR DOING. ONE DAY I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGH WAY AND I TRIED TO RECLINE THE SEAT BACK AND IT WENT FORWARD. IT CAUSED ME TO ACCELERATE FASTER AND ALMOST HITTING THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME. THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM. I NOTICED IT ON NUMEROUS OF BLOGS AND FORUMS. *TR
Mileage: 75,000
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 MERCEDES BENZ G500. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE ECT CONTROL UNIT WAS DEFECTIVE. SHE WAS ALERTED TO THE FAILURE WHEN THE VEHICLE COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN WHILE SHE WAS DRIVING 55 MPH. SHE WAS UNABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A REPAIR SHOP WHERE THE MECHANIC EXPLAINED THAT THE UNIT WAS THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. SHE CALLED THE MANUFACTURER WHERE SHE WAS INITIALLY TOLD THEY WOULD REPAIR IT FREE OF CHARGE; THEY LATER STATED THAT THEY WOULD NOT COVER THE COSTS OF THE REPAIR. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE APPROXIMATELY 48,000.
Mileage: 48,000
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.