2017 Mercedes-Benz Gle-Class Safety Report

The 2017 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class presents a mixed safety picture based on NHTSA data. While it has a respectable 4-star rollover rating, frontal and side crash test ratings are not available, making a comprehensive assessment of its crashworthiness challenging. The vehicle has accumulated 73 total complaints, with a concerning 10 crashes and 4 injuries reported. A significant pattern emerging from the complaints is unintended acceleration, with multiple reports describing the vehicle accelerating on its own, sometimes leading to crashes, even at low speeds or after stopping. This is a critical safety concern that warrants further investigation. Beyond unintended acceleration, other notable complaint patterns include issues with exterior lighting (8 complaints), particularly insufficient headlight illumination, and problems with the fuel/propulsion system (5 complaints), including stalling and water intrusion affecting the fuel pump. Steering issues, specifically power steering malfunction and loss of assistance, also appear with 5 complaints. The vehicle has no open recalls, which is positive, but the nature and frequency of some complaints suggest potential underlying design or manufacturing flaws that may not have been addressed by a recall. The lack of comprehensive crash test data from NHTSA is a significant gap in evaluating the overall safety of this model. However, the recurring reports of unintended acceleration, coupled with other critical failures like power steering loss and stalling, indicate areas of concern. While Mercedes-Benz vehicles are generally perceived as safe, the specific complaint data for the 2017 GLE-Class highlights several serious safety risks that potential owners should be aware of.

Our recommendation: Given the concerning reports of unintended acceleration, power steering failures, and stalling, potential buyers should exercise caution and thoroughly inspect any 2017 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class, ideally with a pre-purchase inspection by a trusted mechanic, and be aware of these critical safety patterns.