AutoUtility currently tracks 5 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2021 Mercedes-Benz G-Class. Electrical System issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 3 complaints (60% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 1 filing cites a crash, 1 cites a fire, 1 reports one or more injuries. The 2021 Mercedes-Benz G-Class belongs to the 2nd Generation (W463 2nd Gen) platform.

Key Problem Findings
  • • Total NHTSA Complaints: 5 reports
  • • #1 Reported Problem Area: Electrical System (3 reports • 60% of submitted complaints)
  • • Secondary Problem Areas: Engine & Cooling (2), Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (2)
  • • Crash-Citing Complaints: 1 filings
  • • Fire-Citing Complaints: 1 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
5
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
1
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
1
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 G-Class

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

#1 Problem Area 60% of complaints

Electrical System

3 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 2 official safety recall campaigns 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

Engine & Cooling

2 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#3 Problem Area 40% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

2 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report 🔥 1 fire report 🩹 15 injury report entries
#4 Problem Area 20% of complaints

Brakes & Traction Control

1 owner complaint submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#5 Problem Area 20% of complaints

Suspension

1 owner complaint submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report 🔥 1 fire report 🩹 15 injury report entries
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 G-Class

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

Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11592609
Filed: 06/05/2024

"Shortly after purchasing a new Mercedes Benz 2021 G550 on [XXX], the SUV started having electrical problems. During early 2022 the vehicle shut off while at a red light and would not restart until a few minutes later. No warning light or error message was seen and when taken to the dealership they..."

Incident Date: 03/10/2022 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE
Brakes & Traction Control NHTSA ODI ID: #11566025
Filed: 01/17/2024

"The brakes locked up in the vehicle and computer system nearly causing deadly accident."

Incident Date: 01/17/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: SERVICE BRAKES
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11540970
Crash Cited Fire Cited 15 Injury Entries Filed: 08/27/2023

"Authorization failed Limited access is the reason there recalled I can't pair ⁶"

Incident Date: 08/27/2021 • Raw NHTSA Component: SUSPENSION,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA ODI ID: #11485579
Filed: 09/21/2022

"Driving 2021 Mercedes-Benz G-550 for approximately 8min. Preceding East on a 3 lane South Florida Highway no more than 40 mph. Gas tank 75% full with V-Power From Shell. (filled-3 days prior). Proceeded from the middle lane to the right lane in-order to make a sharp right handed turn onto up coming..."

Incident Date: 09/20/2022 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11421207
Filed: 06/16/2021

"While pulling away from a red light, the vehicle jolted a small amount, then it shut down, only providing power to the dashboard, which produced an array of safety warnings. Power steering and throttle were completely dead leaving me powerless in traffic. I pulled to the shoulder of the road,..."

Incident Date: 06/16/2021 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE
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 G-Class

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

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Mercedes-Benz G-Class 3 0 0 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Mercedes-Benz G-Class 0 0 0 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Mercedes-Benz G-Class 4 0 3 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Mercedes-Benz G-Class 0 0 1 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Mercedes-Benz G-Class 6 0 12 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Mercedes-Benz G-Class 2 0 8 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Mercedes-Benz G-Class Current Page 5 1 7 Current
2022 Mercedes-Benz G-Class 4 0 3 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Mercedes-Benz G-Class 6 0 3 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Mercedes-Benz G-Class 0 0 0 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Mercedes-Benz G-Class 0 0 2 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Mercedes-Benz G-Class 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 2021 Mercedes-Benz G-Class

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 5 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 1 1 15 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 (5). 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 G-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.