Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class: which model years to avoid

Complaint and recall totals for every Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class model year we track, ranked by severity.

Model year	Complaints	Recalls	Crashes	Fires	Severity	Most-reported system
2012	24	0	1	0	83.3 Medium	FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
2019	20	0	0	0	0.0 Low	WHEELS

Across 2 model years, the 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class carries the highest severity index (83.3, driven by fuel/propulsion system), while the 2019 is the cleanest at 0.0.

Source. NHTSA public complaint and recall APIs. Complaint counts are not normalised by units sold; a high-volume seller will attract more filings than a rare trim.