Mercedes-Benz S-Class: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class has 2 model year(s) in the federal index and no scored complaint record yet, so this page carries the catalogue entry and the years we hold rather than a verdict.
Year-by-year data table
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 89 | BUY | $6,350 | 0 | 2 |
| 2011 | 89 | BUY | $6,690 | 0 | 2 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the S-Class, through the years →
S-Class sub-models & family
Variants & trims on record
Body, powertrain and trim variants of the S-Class on the federal record. Variants folded into this nameplate are counted in this page's data; the rest have too thin a record for a page of their own yet.
S-Class HybridS550S550 4maticS600
Compare with
Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04