Total Complaints
4 filings
MERCEDES-BENZ SL550 · model year
4 NHTSA complaints, 3 crash reports. A VIN lookup is required to determine whether a specific vehicle has an unrepaired recall.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2011MERCEDES-BENZSL550 carries 4 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 3 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.
The most frequently selected component label in reports for the 2011 SL550 is air bags with 1 filings, followed by structure:body (1) and engine (1). Complaint categories reflect owner reports and intake categorization; they do not establish a defect pattern or cause.
NHTSA currently has 15 investigation files overlapping the 2011 SL550. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should read the complaint-by-year trend as report volume, not a causal diagnosis. Use the related-complaint feed and the official recall lookup when researching a specific vehicle.
Total Complaints
4 filings
Crashes Reported
3 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| AIR BAGS | 1 |
| STRUCTURE:BODY | 1 |
| ENGINE | 1 |
| WHEELS:RIM | 1 |
The contact owns a 2011 Mercedes-Benz SL550. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the dashboard suddenly illuminated red indicating that the tire air pressure was alarming. The contact also felt an imbalance with the weight of the vehicle as if one side of the vehicle was lower than the other. The contact discovered that the rims had fractured. The failure had occurred while driving on roads with rough surfaces. The contact had taken vehicle to a body shop to repair the rims by welding the fractures a total of 4 times. The contact was told that the fractures occurred due to the factory rims being fragile, causing the rims to fracture easily. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 39,000.
Mileage: 39,000
ON JULY 10, 2015 DURING 5 PM TRAFFIC MY WIFE WAS MAKING A LEFT TURN FROM THE TURNING LANE INTO OUR COMPLEX WHERE WE LIVE, UPON MAKING HER LEFT TURN, SHE HAD TO CROSS TWO LANES OF TRAFFIC, BOTH LANES HAD STOPPED TO ALLOW HER THROUGH SAFELY, AS SHE WAS CLEARING THE SECOND LANE LOOKING AS SHE PROGRESSED, NO ONE WAS IN THE OUTER LANE TURNING INTO OUR COMPLEX, A MAN PULLED OUT OF LINE AND ATTEMPTED TO ALLUDE TRAFFIC BY GOING AROUND IT AND STRUCK HER CAR IN THE PASSENGER DOOR, HE NEVER HIT HIS BRAKES TO STOP AND WAS ATTEMPTING TO DRIVE THROUGH A TURNING LANE WHICH ENTERS OUR COMPLEX ONLY, THERE IS A SIGN STATING THAT THIS LANE IS FOR ENTERING THE COMPLEX AND HAS MARKINGS ON THE ROAD THAT SHOWS WHERE THE LANE BEGINS FURTHER PAST OUR TURN IN ENTRANCE, INSTEAD HE WAS GOING TO DRIVE OVER THE MARKINGS TO AVOID WAITING IN TRAFFIC. MY WIFE'S CAR WAS HIT HARD ENOUGH TO BREAK BOTH MOTOR MOUNTS AND CAUSE THE ROLL BARS TO POP UP, BUT THE AIRBAG NEVER DEPLOYED, THE OTHER DRIVER'S BAGS ALL DEPLOYED UP F
Mileage: 19,000
ON JULY 10, 2015 DURING 5 PM TRAFFIC MY WIFE WAS MAKING A LEFT TURN FROM THE TURNING LANE INTO OUR COMPLEX WHERE WE LIVE, UPON MAKING HER LEFT TURN, SHE HAD TO CROSS TWO LANES OF TRAFFIC, BOTH LANES HAD STOPPED TO ALLOW HER THROUGH SAFELY, AS SHE WAS CLEARING THE SECOND LANE LOOKING AS SHE PROGRESSED, NO ONE WAS IN THE OUTER LANE TURNING INTO OUR COMPLEX, A MAN PULLED OUT OF LINE AND ATTEMPTED TO ALLUDE TRAFFIC BY GOING AROUND IT AND STRUCK HER CAR IN THE PASSENGER DOOR, HE NEVER HIT HIS BRAKES TO STOP AND WAS ATTEMPTING TO DRIVE THROUGH A TURNING LANE WHICH ENTERS OUR COMPLEX ONLY, THERE IS A SIGN STATING THAT THIS LANE IS FOR ENTERING THE COMPLEX AND HAS MARKINGS ON THE ROAD THAT SHOWS WHERE THE LANE BEGINS FURTHER PAST OUR TURN IN ENTRANCE, INSTEAD HE WAS GOING TO DRIVE OVER THE MARKINGS TO AVOID WAITING IN TRAFFIC. MY WIFE'S CAR WAS HIT HARD ENOUGH TO BREAK BOTH MOTOR MOUNTS AND CAUSE THE ROLL BARS TO POP UP, BUT THE AIRBAG NEVER DEPLOYED, THE OTHER DRIVER'S BAGS ALL DEPLOYED UP F
Mileage: 19,000
ON JULY 10, 2015 DURING 5 PM TRAFFIC MY WIFE WAS MAKING A LEFT TURN FROM THE TURNING LANE INTO OUR COMPLEX WHERE WE LIVE, UPON MAKING HER LEFT TURN, SHE HAD TO CROSS TWO LANES OF TRAFFIC, BOTH LANES HAD STOPPED TO ALLOW HER THROUGH SAFELY, AS SHE WAS CLEARING THE SECOND LANE LOOKING AS SHE PROGRESSED, NO ONE WAS IN THE OUTER LANE TURNING INTO OUR COMPLEX, A MAN PULLED OUT OF LINE AND ATTEMPTED TO ALLUDE TRAFFIC BY GOING AROUND IT AND STRUCK HER CAR IN THE PASSENGER DOOR, HE NEVER HIT HIS BRAKES TO STOP AND WAS ATTEMPTING TO DRIVE THROUGH A TURNING LANE WHICH ENTERS OUR COMPLEX ONLY, THERE IS A SIGN STATING THAT THIS LANE IS FOR ENTERING THE COMPLEX AND HAS MARKINGS ON THE ROAD THAT SHOWS WHERE THE LANE BEGINS FURTHER PAST OUR TURN IN ENTRANCE, INSTEAD HE WAS GOING TO DRIVE OVER THE MARKINGS TO AVOID WAITING IN TRAFFIC. MY WIFE'S CAR WAS HIT HARD ENOUGH TO BREAK BOTH MOTOR MOUNTS AND CAUSE THE ROLL BARS TO POP UP, BUT THE AIRBAG NEVER DEPLOYED, THE OTHER DRIVER'S BAGS ALL DEPLOYED UP F
Mileage: 19,000
Data vintage: August 2026. 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.
Every figure on PlainCars is rendered directly from NHTSA complaint and safety data, no number is typed in by an editor. This year-specific record is rendered from NHTSA ODI, recall, and NCAP rows for the 2011 MERCEDES-BENZ SL550; no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.