Mercedes Benz Gle Class
Problems & Worst Years

Two widely spaced model years appear in the GLE-Class data set — 2016 and 2020 — and neither carries a safety-severity complaint, though both raise items worth a closer look. The 2016 year logs 63 total occurrences across eight distinct problems, led by battery and electrical issues at 18 occurrences, rated high severity, and steering system failure described as causing loss of control at 11 occurrences, also high. Suspension and wheel liner issues, sunroof failure, and headlight dimness each account for 8 occurrences, spreading the remainder of the year's complaints fairly evenly.

By 2020, total volume drops to 50 occurrences, though spread across a wider 16 distinct problems, suggesting a more varied but individually smaller set of concerns. Engine misfire paired with cylinder head failure leads at 10 occurrences, rated high, followed by electrical system failure causing power loss (6 occurrences), engine stalling at idle attributed to the stop-start system (6), an air conditioning refrigerant leak (4), and transmission issues leading to limp mode (2).

No recall campaigns are listed against either year in this data set. The steering complaint in 2016, described in terms of loss of control, stands out as the single item most worth raising directly with a mechanic during a pre-purchase inspection, regardless of which year you're considering; the 2020 engine misfire and stalling complaints are worth a similar look given the car's newer age and comparatively low volume of reports.

Neither year here should be read as clearly worse than the other in absolute severity, since both avoid safety-rated complaints. As always, these figures reflect what owners chose to file with NHTSA, and a newer model year like 2020 has naturally had less time on the road to accumulate reports — a full inspection and service history tell you more about a specific car than the model year does.