1998 Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class — reported problems

What owners report: issue areas

Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 42 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.

• Lights15 (35.7%)Official recall records for this system: 4, covering model years 2000–2016.
• Body & structure6 (14.3%)
• Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)5 (11.9%)
• Engine3 (7.1%)Official recall records for this system: 2, covering model years 2007–2016.
• Air bags (restraint system)2 (4.8%)Official recall records for this system: 8, covering model years 2007–2014.
• Electrical system2 (4.8%)Official recall records for this system: 4, covering model years 1998–2016.

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 (666 records, model years 1998–2016) are most frequently classified under: lights, air bags (restraint system) and electrical system.
• Manufacturer communications (997 records, model years 1998–2016) are most frequently classified under: electrical system, engine and powertrain (transmission & drivetrain).

"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. 1998 47 records for 1998 47
2. 1999 75 records for 1999 75
3. 2000 41 records for 2000 41
4. 2001 85 records for 2001 85
5. 2002 47 records for 2002 47
6. 2003 34 records for 2003 34
7. 2004 40 records for 2004 40
8. 2005 83 records for 2005 83
9. 2006 96 records for 2006 96
10. 2007 101 records for 2007 101
11. 2008 83 records for 2008 83
12. 2009 66 records for 2009 66
13. 2012 74 records for 2012 74
14. 2013 85 records for 2013 85
15. 2014 81 records for 2014 81
16. 2015 80 records for 2015 80
17. 2016 100 records for 2016 100

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 fire

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

• Manufacturer communications NHTSA 11
• Investigations NHTSA 1
• Transport Canada recalls Transport Canada 1
• Owner complaints NHTSA 34

Explore the underlying evidence records