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ProblemsByVin Index / 2018-MERCEDES-BENZ-GLS-CLASS / COMPLAINTS
Full complaint record · NHTSA

2018 Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class owner complaints

21 complaints filed with NHTSA on this vehicle , including 4 reporting a crash, fire, injury, or fatality. Showing the 300 most recent — grouped by category for scanning.

brakes 5 complaints shown

5 total in this category · severe · avg repair $450 · see brakes cluster analysis →
12/05/2025 Fire ODI #11703281.0

January 2023 - Airbag suspension failed. Replaced by Mercedes dealership. December 2024 - Airbag suspension failed. Replaced by Mercedes dealership. April 2024: First brake failure. The brakes stopped while driving. Repaired. April 2025: Second brake failure. Brakes failed again. Repaired. The mechanic stated the line was too close to the wheelbase, resulting in a pinpoint-sized hole. No warning lights. July 2025: Engine failure - the vehicle experienced a complete shutdown while driving with no warning lights. Vehicle in shop for 6-8 weeks for engine replacement by certified Mercedes mechanic. Post-engine replacement (July - Nov 2025) - Severe oil leaks at left cylinder head, small leaks at right cylinder head. Coolant warnings and overheating despite adequate coolant. Radiator and v

10/21/2021 ODI #11437633.0

Took vechicle for warranty repair of the frozen and suck both front calipers to Rallye mercedes dealer, repair was refused, car was noty drivable since brakes were stuck, still was kicked out of the dealership

09/08/2020 Crash ODI #11353649.0

I was already 90% in parking line which is handicap's. About to stop right front of handicap sign, suddenly vehicle start moving forward while my foot was in brake so I push little hard to complete stop but vehicle suddenly accelerate forward smashing into the building glass entry wall and door. I am so certain that my foot was in brake. I want to know that is there any way someone call or visit where body shop to inspect the vehicle so I can ask manufacture to replace my vehicle.

08/26/2025 ODI #11683217.0

Brake brakes are terrible. They have other years that they’ve acknowledge that the break are spongy and at times does not break the GLS has that defect. Also smell of gas fumes inside the vehicle. Please direct me the right way and help me with this issue. The brake issue almost have caused me two major accidents car doesn’t stop mechanic says this is a Mercedes issue You may contact me at [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

08/19/2021 4,500 mi ODI #11429716.0

The contact owns a 2018 Mercedes Benz GLS550. The contact stated that when the brake pedal was depressed there was an abnormal noise detected. The brake warning indicator light was illuminated. The contact stated that the brake pad on one side of the disc was completely worn, and the other side of the disc was like new with a full thick pad. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and the contact was informed that the brake rotor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure however, no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 4,500. Consumer stated problem lies with the unevenness of the brake pad on both sides of the front wheels.

other 3 complaints shown

12/27/2022 ODI #11499082.0

Third row seat will not lock. Warning message came on several months ago. I brought the vehicle in for service in may of 2022 to Mercedes Benz of Westwood MA. They neglected to repair the issue with the seat and returned the car back to me with the safety issue still unresolved. I spoke with the dealer and Mercedes Benz USA and they refuse to repair the vehicle under warranty even though it was still covered under the factory warranty. [XXX], the service manager at the dealership informed me that the third row seat motor needs to be replaced in order for the seat to lock. He said it is a very common problem with my model vehicle and that is the reason why the manufacturer wont cover the cost of repairing this safety issue. The dealer says the cost for this repair is 1750.00. We are worried

11/29/2018 7,000 mi ODI #11154785.0

I was driving in a rural area when all of a sudden I heard what sounded like an explosion. My first instinct was that I had blown a tire because it was so loud. However, the car was handling fine and no warning messages came on. My husband and I both said "what was that?" everything on seemed fine mechanically so we kept driving, but a bit shaken by the sudden loud noise. I few hours later we stopped for gas. As my husband went to clean the windshield he noticed the shatter of the glass roof panel. We thought back to the incident earlier and realized that must have been the sound me heard. The weird thing was at the time no one was around us. No car had been in front of us to be throwing up rocks. We were on a rural highway. The speed limit on that stretch of road was 80 MPH

03/10/2024 ODI #11576448.0

Water collects at the front row floor at driver and passenger sides

suspension 3 complaints shown

3 total in this category · moderate · avg repair $900 · see suspension cluster analysis →
04/22/2025 ODI #11656041.0

When attempting to rise/lower the automatic suspension, the compressor cooling notification pops up, followed by a malfunction. After this occurs, the vehicle is incredibly bumpy, to the point of it being unsafe to drive. The vehicle has been repaired twice already by the dealership under extended warranty and the condition has occurred a third time in less than three weeks. This is our family vehicle, and we cannot drive it due to the risk of shaken baby syndrome for our infant because of how much it bumps. Videos are available to show just how bad it is.

04/14/2025 ODI #11654511.0

This 2018 gls 450 has issues with suspension system. Bought this car in 2023 and using since Jna 2023 and suspension system failed like 3 -4 times. Mechanic changed the air compressor , valves and others and still the car has same issue. It used to lift the car to adequate height but the compressor keeps on pushing it to cause teh compressor to fail.

01/14/2020 8,000 mi ODI #11299367.0

I took the car to the service 3 times in 4 months. There are many problems with the car. The first problem was that the left rear shock was leaking which made a squeaking noise when driving. There was also an odor problem with the car that was coming from the ventilations. These two problems were fixed. I took the car another time. There was another problem with the eco start/stop function and a problem with the car trunk only closing halfway. The eco start/stop function was fixed but they said that they didn't detect a problem with the trunk. The third time I took it to the service I provided a video for the trunk only closing halfway and I also had another problem with the blindspot detector. My wife was almost gong to get into an accident as a result of the blind spot not showing up wh

powertrain 2 complaints shown

11/09/2018 ODI #11150448.0

I found out that only on 2018 Mercedes gls models, the car lets you turn off the engine without a warning and puts the car in neutral automatically. It does not put the car to 'p' or gives you a warning saying you need to put the gear to 'p' to stop the car. I have never seen something like this in any car. Basically you brake and stop then turn off the engine with the button. The car shifts to 'n' instead of 'p' and if you release the brake the car slides since it is in neutral. Even older cars do not let you turn off the engine before shifting to p ar never cars just automatically shifts to p when you turn off the engine. Since as drivers we are not used to this, I can say that I had the car slide at least 5 times this week -fter leasing this vehicle. I called Mercedes and they acknowle

06/14/2018 ODI #11101953.0

While in motion on a highway in stop and go traffic, car shifted itself from drive to neutral without any driver input. All indicator lights on dash turned on. Driver unable to shift from neutral back to drive to regain control of vehicle. Driver could only shift to park. Driver shifted vehicle to park and tried to shift to drive, but was unable to do so. Driver turned off ignition and restarted car, at which point driver was able to shift the vehicle into drive. Driver reports no user error (I.e. Did not accidentally hit the shifter, did not hit engine on/off button) and no indicator lights were present prior to incident. Vehicle was brand new: owned for approximately 10 days with 199 miles at the time of accident. Vehicle had been purchased with 6 miles on odometer.

body 2 complaints shown

03/21/2022 ODI #11457706.0

While driving our 2018 Mercedes GLS 450 down Highway 80 just outside Sacramento, CA, the stationary glass panel of our panoramic sunroof spontaneously explpoded. There was no impact by any outside force, it just shattered with the sound similar to a gunshot. Fortunately I did not lose control of the vehicle, and thankfully the sun shade was closed otherwise broken glass would have showered down into my vehicle. this happened in early evening (around 7:00PM and the ambient temperature was 66 degrees outside, so this had nothing to do with temperature either. Mercedes Benz told me that since I am 3 months outside of warranty they would do nothing to help us and I would need to have this repair done on my own. Mercedes Benz of Walnut Creek, CA has inspected the vehicle and we're in the proces

01/06/2021 22,689 mi ODI #11386871.0

Part of my panoramic sunroof spontaneously shattered while sitting at a stoplight. There were no cars or trees around at the time. Nothing touched the car when it happened.

engine 1 complaint shown

10/14/2021 15,000 mi Fire ODI #11436804.0

The contact owned a 2018 Mercedes Benz GLS450. The contact stated that after turning the ignition switch off, the driver suddenly discovered flames were coming from the engine compartment. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. During the incident, the vehicle was destroyed and later towed away. A fire report was taken at the scene. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 15,000.

electrical 1 complaint shown

08/07/2018 Fire ODI #11118382.0

Tl* the contact owns a 2018 Mercedes-benz gls450. While driving 70 MPH, the vehicle lost power and all the warning indicators on the instrument panel illuminated. Also, when the brake pedal was depressed, the vehicle failed to stop. The contact stated that the vehicle finally stopped upon reaching a hill. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to fletcher jones motorcars (3300 jamboree rd, newport beach, ca 92660, (949) 718-3000). The dealer diagnosed that the wiring harness melted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a complaint was opened. The failure mileage was 200.

lighting 1 complaint shown

05/25/2018 8,000 mi ODI #11098025.0

My gls-450 has the 'lighting package' with active LED headlamps including 'corner-illuminating front headlamps, actiated (activated spelled wrong) by the steering wheel or turn-signal use, brighten your way into driveways and garages.' as I live in a very dark rural area, I ordered these lights. I soon discovered that the leds, while superior for forward lighting,provide little or no side lighting for the driver to see when turning onto divided highways with dark islands, etc. This is because the leds are very straight shooting forward. But this LED lighting package was supposed to have "cornering lights" actuated by turn signal or low speed while turning which solves this problem. I had already experienced the advantage of these 'cornering lights' on my wife's 2014 Mercedes-benz glk-250

steering 1 complaint shown

05/25/2018 8,000 mi ODI #11098029.0

This is a complaint about the steering pilot part of the driver assistance package option I have on my 2018 Mercedes-benz gls-450. The steering pilot is so poorly developed it has almost caused me to crash several times, so I have turned it off most of the time. The mbusa website says of steering pilot, ' the steering pilot feature helps the driver keep the vehicle centered between lane markings while cruising on straight roads, or even in gentle curves.' nothing could be further from the truth. When deployed, steering pilot causes my vehicle to wander back and forth in the lane as a drunk driver would, often crossing the center or gutter line, activating lane keeping assist. The vehicle tends to drive toward the left of center, not in the center of the lane. Steering pilot tries to

Showing 300 of 21 total complaints. The full federal record is available at nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2018/Mercedes-Benz/GLS-Class#complaints.
Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) owner complaint database. Last synced 2026-06-14. Complaints are owner-submitted and unverified — the existence of a complaint is not proof of a defect, but a pattern of complaints around the same component is a signal worth weighing. Verify any specific filing at nhtsa.gov.
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