AutoUtility currently tracks 29 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2016 Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Wheels & Tires issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 4 complaints (13.8% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 1 reports one or more injuries. The 2016 Mercedes-Benz S-Class belongs to the 6th Generation (W222) platform.

Key Problem Findings
  • • Total NHTSA Complaints: 29 reports
  • • #1 Reported Problem Area: Wheels & Tires (4 reports • 13.8% of submitted complaints)
  • • Secondary Problem Areas: Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (4), Visibility, Wipers & Glass (4)
  • • Crash-Citing Complaints: 0 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
29
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
0
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 2016 Mercedes-Benz S-Class

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

#1 Problem Area 13.8% of complaints

Wheels & Tires

4 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#2 Problem Area 13.8% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

4 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#3 Problem Area 13.8% of complaints

Visibility, Wipers & Glass

4 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#4 Problem Area 10.3% of complaints

Air Bags & Restraints

3 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
#5 Problem Area 10.3% of complaints

Body & Structure

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
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 2016 Mercedes-Benz S-Class

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

Steering System NHTSA ODI ID: #11693453
Filed: 10/14/2025

"The contact owns a 2016 Mercedes-Benz S550. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the power steering failure warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the steering wheel seized. The contact stated that he was lucky to have been driving the vehicle in front of the..."

Incident Date: 10/06/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: STEERING
Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11679825
Filed: 08/11/2025

"2016 S550 front roof panel issues. Adhesive issues."

Incident Date: 08/11/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Wheels & Tires NHTSA ODI ID: #11667245
Filed: 06/16/2025

"Started car in parking lot and warming light read zero air in right front tire. No prior warning. Checking tire for any road hazard - nails or other potential punctures but none were present but the tire had a hole just below the wheel that had blown out. The tire is a Pirelli P Zero 245/40R20 Run..."

Incident Date: 06/11/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: TIRES
Air Bags & Restraints NHTSA ODI ID: #11614284
Filed: 09/12/2024

"Rear left seat belt is stuck and won’t retract. Seat has not been used much. Vehicle is a 2016 with 65,000 miles."

Incident Date: 09/12/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: SEAT BELTS
Air Bags & Restraints NHTSA ODI ID: #11604634
Filed: 07/26/2024

"The car's front passenger passenger seat buckle fails to properly secure the seat belt. After inserting the seat belt it fails to latch into the buckle. The Mercedes dealer has examined the seat buckle and determined that it failed. They are recommending a replacement."

Incident Date: 07/21/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: SEAT BELTS
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 S-Class

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

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 51 6 5 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Mercedes-Benz S-Class Current Page 29 0 6 Current
2017 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 22 0 10 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 29 2 12 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 16 1 11 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 7 0 0 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 34 2 16 View 2021 Problems →
2022 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 46 0 9 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 12 1 5 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 6 0 2 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 0 0 0 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Mercedes-Benz S-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 2016 Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 17 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 7 0 0 1 0
Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER 3 0 0 0 0
Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS 2 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 2 0 0 0 0
Tires NHTSA category: TIRES 2 0 0 0 0
Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS 2 0 0 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 1 0 0 0 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
VISIBILITY,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 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 (29). 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 2016 Mercedes-Benz S-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.