2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV Safety and Reliability

The safety of the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV has not been determined by the NHTSA or IIHS in the US yet, so there are no crash ratings. Because such expensive luxury cars are rarely tested, we might never have US results for them. We can draw a few conclusions from the crash test performed by EuroNCAP on the EQS sedan, however, as it uses the same platform. That car achieved a full five stars in Europe and very high scores for the individual test, so we US models should be just as safe.

The EQS SUV is fitted with the whole gamut of safety features expected in this class, albeit with the odd omission. Standard are ABS brakes, stability control, tire-pressure monitoring, and a backup camera, as mandated by local legislation. In addition, the Premium and Exclusive trims have seven airbags. Only the Pinnacle trims have second-row side airbags - a feature that should really be standard on all trims at this price - taking the total number of airbags to nine.

Standard driver assists include adaptive cruise control with stop & go and active and evasive steering assist, automatic emergency braking, pedestrian detection, automatic LED headlights with auto high beams, rain-sensing windshield wipers, crosswind assist, lane-keep and -change assist, blind-spot monitoring, front and rear cross-traffic alert, speed-limit assist, a surround-view camera, and front and rear parking sensors.

There is no JD Power rating of the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV's reliability yet, and at the time of writing, we had not seen any recalls for the car. However, the SUV is essentially the same car as the EQS sedan underneath, and the 2022 EQS suffered no fewer than nine recalls for all manner of issues ranging from software errors and disabled taillights to electrical issues, so we hope that Mercedes has ironed out all those problems and that the new SUV will be free of them.

If anything goes wrong, the warranty coverage of the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV should provide peace of mind. Both the limited and powertrain warranties are valid for four years/50,000 miles, and the coverage on the electrical components runs for ten years/100,000 miles.