AutoUtility currently tracks 10 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLS. Brakes & Traction Control issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 4 complaints (40% of submitted records). Zero crashes, fires, injury reports, or fatality reports are cited across these complaint records. The 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLS belongs to the 3rd Generation (X167) platform.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 10 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Brakes & Traction Control (4 reports • 40% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (3), Engine & Cooling (3)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 0 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
0
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
0
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
0
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLS

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

#1 Problem Area 40% of complaints

Brakes & Traction Control

4 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#2 Problem Area 30% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

3 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#3 Problem Area 30% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

3 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#4 Problem Area 20% of complaints

Fuel & Propulsion System

2 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
#5 Problem Area 20% of complaints

Electrical System

2 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
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 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLS

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

Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11724792
Filed: 03/16/2026

"AT 0730 on 16 March, 2026 I was traveling northbound on XXX in [XXX] . Temp was 55 degress Farenheight and the wind was in excess of 20 knots. I was going 60 MPH. Suddenly a large "gun shot" sound echoed through the car startling me excessively. I thought the engine had blown up or all the vehicle..."

Incident Date: 03/16/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11654449
Filed: 04/14/2025

"The car recently underwent a software update at the dealership for a backup camera issue. When I was driving home on the highway, the car suddenly braked and the seat belts automatically tightened up. This happened 3 additional times on the highway about 5 days later. I had turned off the automatic..."

Incident Date: 04/13/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
Body & Structure NHTSA ODI ID: #11635014
Filed: 01/09/2025

"Rear door window trim on driver's side detached from vehicle while traveling at highway speed."

Incident Date: 12/16/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: STRUCTURE
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11617794
Filed: 10/02/2024

"There have been 3 incidents where the car responded to unknown stimuli by braking hard. 3 months ago it happened while making a left turn through an intersection, driving about 10 mph the brakes unexpectedly locked up, luckily the person behind me took evasive action and didn't hit me; 2 weeks..."

Incident Date: 10/02/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11609931
Filed: 08/21/2024

"when coming to a stop and applying the break, the transmission stalled. a warning was issued around lane keeping assist and a second warning. Then the transmission light was on. It was not at risk in the moment because no one was behind me and I was coming to a stop sign. If it prevented me from..."

Incident Date: 08/21/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE,LANE DEPARTURE
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 GLS

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2017–2026)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2017 Mercedes-Benz GLS 41 1 8 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Mercedes-Benz GLS 22 1 4 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Mercedes-Benz GLS 27 1 3 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Mercedes-Benz GLS 38 3 24 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Mercedes-Benz GLS 37 2 12 View 2021 Problems →
2022 Mercedes-Benz GLS 15 2 10 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Mercedes-Benz GLS Current Page 10 0 5 Current
2024 Mercedes-Benz GLS 0 0 0 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Mercedes-Benz GLS 0 0 0 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Mercedes-Benz GLS 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 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLS

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
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
Fuel System NHTSA category: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE,LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
WHEELS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 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.
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.