2018 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class — reported problems

What owners report: issue areas

Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 66 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.

• Electrical system12 (18.2%)Official recall records for this system: 12, covering model years 2014–2021.
• Engine10 (15.2%)Official recall records for this system: 5, covering model years 2015–2017.
• Air bags (restraint system)9 (13.6%)Official recall records for this system: 15, covering model years 2014–2020.
• Body & structure6 (9.1%)Official recall records for this system: 8, covering model years 2014–2026.
• Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)4 (6.1%)Official recall records for this system: 2, covering model years 2016.
• Fuel system3 (4.5%)Official recall records for this system: 1, covering model years 2020.

Other / uncategorized: 10 classifications (15.2%) were not assigned to a specific system by the source. They are counted but not treated as an issue area.

These are counts of records held by CarFaultIQ, not a failure rate. More records can simply mean more vehicles were sold or more owners reported. No vehicles-in-service figure exists in this data, so no reliability or risk score can be derived from it.

What the records are about, by source

Each source is kept separate: owner complaints, recalls, manufacturer communications and investigations are different kinds of record and are never added together. All model years.

• Owner complaints (932 records, model years 2014–2025) are most frequently classified under: engine, electrical system and air bags (restraint system).
• Safety recalls (99 records, model years 2014–2023) are most frequently classified under: electrical system, air bags (restraint system) and equipment & accessories.
• Transport Canada recalls (115 records, model years 2014–2026) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), body & structure and steering.
• Manufacturer communications (2,468 records, model years 2014–2026) are most frequently classified under: electrical system, engine and equipment & accessories.

"Most frequently classified under" reports how the records are filed by the source. It is not a finding about causes, and a record can be filed under more than one system. Read the individual records

Evidence by model year

Records held per model year. Select a year to narrow this page to it.

1. 2014 326 records for 2014 326
2. 2015 206 records for 2015 206
3. 2016 193 records for 2016 193
4. 2017 162 records for 2017 162
5. 2018 180 records for 2018 180
6. 2019 193 records for 2019 193
7. 2020 362 records for 2020 362
8. 2021 288 records for 2021 288
9. 2022 236 records for 2022 236
10. 2023 204 records for 2023 204
11. 2024 190 records for 2024 190
12. 2025 68 records for 2025 68
13. 2026 53 records for 2026 53

Counts are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold in each year, so a taller year is not necessarily a worse year.

Reports mentioning outcomes

• 2mention a crash
• 1mention a fire
• 2mention an injury

These are counts of records whose report mentioned the outcome. They are not a severity rating and not a safety assessment of this vehicle.

Official records held

• Safety recalls NHTSA 10
• Manufacturer communications NHTSA 112
• Investigations NHTSA 2
• Transport Canada recalls Transport Canada 10
• Owner complaints NHTSA 46

Explore the underlying evidence records