AutoUtility currently tracks 10 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2021 Mercedes-Benz A-Class. Electrical System issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 4 complaints (40% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 1 filing cites a crash, 1 reports one or more injuries.

Key Problem Findings
  • • Total NHTSA Complaints: 10 reports
  • • #1 Reported Problem Area: Electrical System (4 reports • 40% of submitted complaints)
  • • Secondary Problem Areas: Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (4), Powertrain & Transmission (2)
  • • Crash-Citing Complaints: 1 filings
  • • Fire-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
  • • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 1 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
10
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
1
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
0
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
1
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2021 Mercedes-Benz A-Class

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 40% of complaints

Electrical System

4 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#2 Problem Area 40% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

4 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#3 Problem Area 20% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

2 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#4 Problem Area 10% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

1 owner complaint submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#5 Problem Area 10% of complaints

Air Bags & Restraints

1 owner complaint submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 1 crash report 🩹 1 injury report entry
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2021 Mercedes-Benz A-Class

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Visibility, Wipers & Glass NHTSA ODI ID: #11717944
Filed: 02/13/2026

"Sunroof shattered unexpectedly. Was driving and gun shot sound was the was top sunroof shattering. Was on smooth road going 45 mph with no other vehicle in front or behind."

Incident Date: 02/13/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: VISIBILITY/WIPER
Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11714047
Filed: 01/28/2026

"this is a formal notification regarding my vehicle that I purchased at House Of Imports on February 27, 2021. A Mercedes Benz A-Class 220 year 2021, VIN #[VIN REDACTED]. Shortly after purchase I experienced several safety concerns about the vehicle. The first and main concern are while driving..."

Incident Date: 01/19/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11660206
Filed: 05/10/2025

"While driving my lease vehicle on two separate days, it completely shut down while in motion with no prior warning. The first incident occurred while crossing a MAX train intersection in downtown Portland. The engine stopped mid intersection, emitted a strong mechanical odor, ticking noises began,..."

Incident Date: 04/28/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11590984
Filed: 05/28/2024

"Rear view camera says it is inoperative when I put it in reverse. I understand that a number of Mercedes models have been recalled due to a software issue but the dealer tells me my car is not on the list. The problem I have is identical to the other models. My car should be on the list"

Incident Date: 05/21/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: BACK OVER PREVENTION
Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11500556
Filed: 01/07/2023

"there’s a recall, and I need it fixed asap, i called mercedes and they said they don’t know when they’ll be able to do it, that it could take “years” ??????"

Incident Date: 12/29/2022 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Mercedes-Benz A-Class

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2019–2022)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2019 Mercedes-Benz A-Class 45 0 14 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class 21 2 10 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Mercedes-Benz A-Class Current Page 10 1 4 Current
2022 Mercedes-Benz A-Class 3 0 2 View 2022 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2021 Mercedes-Benz A-Class

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 9 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,BACK OVER PREVENTION 2 0 0 0 0
Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 0 0 0 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS 1 1 0 1 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (10). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.

Related Official Reports for 2021 Mercedes-Benz A-Class

Cross-reference safety recalls, crash test safety ratings, and EPA fuel economy for this model year

Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.