I was driving down the road in a heavy rainstorm and the passenger side main wiper arm detached from the mechanism and went under the driver side wiper. It is no longer controlled by the wiper motor.

- Gainesville, TX, USA

On 1/11/14 at approximately 5:45 P.M. amidst a very heavy downpour with the wipers in use, I was traveling eastward on I-95 at about 60 mph approaching new haven, with my wife and son as passengers, when I heard a noise and immediately saw that my wipers had interlocked and stopped functioning, leaving me with almost zero visibility. I slowed down, put on flashers, and was able safely to reach the next exit and come to a stop on a local street. The passenger side wiper mechanism had come apart. I disengaged the blade so that the driver side wiper was able to function. I took the car on 1/14/14 to the Mercedes dealer in white plains, NY. The service rep upon seeing the disengaged arm said he's seen it happen before, and he immediately concluded that the "screws" had come loose due to use of the wipers during the recent severe cold weather/snow without scraping the windshield before use, and that the loosening of the screws was "better" than burning out a $700 wiper motor. I find the rep's statement troubling, to say the least, in light of the risk of a serious accident when suddenly and without any warning I had almost no visibility at night in a heavy downpour doing 60 mph on an interstate highway. I picked up the car that evening and the wipers are fully functioning again.

- Bedford, NY, USA