AutoUtility currently tracks 51 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2019 Mercedes-Benz CLA. Powertrain & Transmission issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 13 complaints (25.5% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 4 filings cite a crash, 4 report one or more injuries. The 2019 Mercedes-Benz CLA belongs to the 1st Generation (C117) platform.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 51 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Powertrain & Transmission (13 reports • 25.5% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Fuel & Propulsion System (7), Engine & Cooling (6)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 4 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 4 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
51
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
4
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
0
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
4
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2019 Mercedes-Benz CLA

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

#1 Problem Area 25.5% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

13 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report 🩹 1 injury report entry
#2 Problem Area 13.7% of complaints

Fuel & Propulsion System

7 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#3 Problem Area 11.8% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

6 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#4 Problem Area 11.8% of complaints

Air Bags & Restraints

6 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 2 crash reports 🩹 3 injury report entries
#5 Problem Area 9.8% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

5 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 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%.

Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2019 Mercedes-Benz CLA

Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis

AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.

Fuel & Propulsion System 5.9% of complaints

Fuel Pump Failure / Fuel Leak & Odor

3 complaint narratives describe this symptom
Symptom Identification Method: A complaint may describe more than one symptom, so percentages may sum to more than 100%. Symptom identification reflects text contained in consumer-submitted complaint records and does not establish a confirmed mechanical diagnosis.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2019 Mercedes-Benz CLA

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

Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA ODI ID: #11723718
Filed: 03/11/2026

"To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to file a formal safety complaint regarding my 2019 Mercedes-Benz CLA250 involving a leaking fuel rail that caused the vehicle to shut down and become unsafe to operate. The failure of the fuel rail resulted in a fuel leak and engine shutdown. A failure within..."

Incident Date: 03/06/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11719214
Filed: 02/19/2026

"The sunroof is off the track. There seems to have been a recall for my make and model and year of vehicle (2019 Mercedes CLA 250) though Mercedes tells me that my vin # is not among those that were recalled. However, they told me that if I could reach out to NHTSA, that it would be possible that my..."

Incident Date: 02/07/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11718332
Filed: 02/16/2026

"JUST PAID $4,154.67 TO HAVE MY 2019 MERCEDES CLA 250, WITH JUST 46,222 MILES, ENGINE REPAIRED. * REPACE FUEL INJECTOR SEALS/ORINGS $1,462.80 *REPLACE ALL 4 FUEL INJECTORS $2,512.62 SO, PLEASE TELL WHY THERE IS NO RECALL ON MY CAR????? MARK BOULTINGHOUSE [PHONE REDACTED]"

Incident Date: 01/21/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Air Bags & Restraints NHTSA ODI ID: #11710573
Filed: 01/13/2026

"The emergency braking system keeps coming on every time I go to drive, my car automatically shifts into neutral gear when driving and I have an error message saying that I can’t reverse. My seat will Not go further back and I have an air bag issue light"

Incident Date: 01/12/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: STEERING,AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11708296
Filed: 01/02/2026

"The contact owns a 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLA 250. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission inadvertently shifted to neutral(N), causing a loss of drive power. The check engine warning light was illuminated, and the message "See Dealer" was displayed. The vehicle..."

Incident Date: 12/31/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN
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 CLA

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Mercedes-Benz CLA 158 9 7 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Mercedes-Benz CLA 66 5 9 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Mercedes-Benz CLA 27 2 10 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Mercedes-Benz CLA 46 2 10 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Mercedes-Benz CLA Current Page 51 4 6 Current
2020 Mercedes-Benz CLA 24 1 13 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Mercedes-Benz CLA 8 1 6 View 2021 Problems →
2022 Mercedes-Benz CLA 4 1 0 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Mercedes-Benz CLA 6 2 1 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Mercedes-Benz CLA 0 0 0 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Mercedes-Benz CLA 1 0 0 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA 0 0 0 View 2026 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 2019 Mercedes-Benz CLA

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 30 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 10 0 0 0 0
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 4 0 0 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 3 1 0 2 0
Fuel System NHTSA category: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 3 0 0 0 0
Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS 3 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,COMMUNICATION 2 0 0 0 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY 2 0 0 0 0
Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 1 0 0 0 0
Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,AIR BAGS,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 1 0
POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,AIR BAGS 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,STRUCTURE 1 1 0 0 0
STEERING,WHEELS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
Tires NHTSA category: TIRES 1 0 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 1 0 1 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 (51). 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.
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.