10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 2 / 3
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 3 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 43,200 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
As I was driving to come to a stop at a light, the engine light came on and the engine stopped in the middle of road. Luckly I wasn't on major highway or else it would have been a major accident. After reading farther reports this incident has happened numerous of time for the same issue and as what happened to me. Mercedes did not do any recalls or put out any safety notices to customers. This is major safety violation and I feel that they did not think about the safety of the customers. I contacted the Mercedes headquarters and notified them of this issue and they had no answer for this problem. I felt my life was in jeopardy because of the problem with the manufacturing of the Mercedes engines as well as the other customers that have brought up this complaint. They would not fix the problem instead offered a lousy incentive of $1000 toward new vehicle or $500 toward a certified preowned vehicle. Then they also charged me $800 to diagnose the problem. Then to tell me after that that it might not fix the problem and recommend a new engine. Why should I pay for a engine that goes out at only having 110000 miles on it. A top class car dealer and their engines go out at 110000 miles. Totally unacceptable.
- Leander, TX, USA
The contact owns a 2013 Mercedes Benz C250. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the check engine light suddenly illuminated and the vehicle would not properly accelerate. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the engine camshaft adjusting gear was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 92,000.
- Lathonia, GA, USA
I was experiencing an engine stall when starting my vehicle and a rattling like noise coming from the engine as well in early January 2018. My engine light sensor came on about 2 days later. I took my car to mb long beach and was advised that I needed to have the camshaft adjusted which would cost me approximately $4K+. it was further explained that this issue was due to a crack in the shaft and the oil is not being properly dispersed. After further investigation on my own behalf, this is an engine manufacturer defect and there are several consumer complaints regarding this same issue. After calling mb usa several times, I finally received a call back stating, I could receive a "1-time, 10% off the total cost of the repair. If this was a consumer related vehicle repair negligence then the consumer covering the expense would be the right thing to do, but when this is a defect from the manufacturer and mb is aware of it then this expense should be one that should cover.
- Long Beach, CA, USA
85000 miles, regular oil changes and maintenance, did not drive for 8 months, after 1 month of driving, engine would not start at times and sounded strange when cranking engine would eventually start and run O.K., took vehicle to dealership after 2nd occurence, acceleration has always lagged since purchased-turbo lag "?" dealership said problem was internal with cam tensioner possibly
- Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
The contact owned a 2013 Mercedes-Benz C250. While driving 30 mph, a foul odor entered the cabin of the vehicle and smoke was seen. The contact exited the vehicle and the engine caught fire. A police report was not filed. The fire department extinguished the fire. The contact suffered smoke inhalation that required medical attention. The vehicle was towed to an unknown Mercedes-Benz dealer in palm beach, Florida and deemed destroyed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 50,200.
- Miramar, FL, USA
My car has 47K mileage and the check engine light was on a few weeks ago. The error code was P0340 camshaft position sensor circuit malfunction. The Mercedes Benz dealer technicians checked the check and found that the issue was caused by timing chain and they had to replace it. I did research online and found lots of mb C250 2012 and 2013 cars with similar mileage (40K to 60K) had exact same issue as mine. It can cause cranky start, failure to accelerate while driving and losing power. It can be extremely dangerous when car with this issue on the road, especially on highways.
- Chicago, IL, USA
I was on I-95 and the car just started shaking and would not accelerate, very dangerous. The car also has a dangerous lag when trying to accelerate. I was trying to accelerate making a U turn to on coming traffic and the car wouldn't accelerate nearly causing a catastrophic life threatening accident. I have had my car at the dealership for 3 months trying to fix the problem and to date every time I get it back the same thing happens. My paperwork is with my car that has been at the dealership since for 3 months.
- Lake Worth, FL, USA
My car burnt yesterday morning on my way to work, no warning, nothing noted. Just started smoking and then flames came up and burn the whole front end
- Fort Lee, NJ, USA
Mercedes released a bulletin to their dealerships that stated the radiator has a component that bursts and causes the heater, and all most engine parts to clog. The issue was told to me to be "rare". the reason that it is not considered a recall because it has not happened enough. See attached reports from when I took my car for a basic a service N 1.16.17 and less than two weeks later my heat stopped working, I took my car back to Mercedes in doing so, the advisor stated that the radiator has the issues that are known by Mercedes. I was told by the advisor that during my a service that the fluids were not checked. I don't understand because on the report it has that it was checked. Why are we as consumers being ripped off by these large dealerships and their legal price gauging I was quoted a price for 3K, which is unrealistic when I just purchased my car less than 5 months ago. In addition prior to me purchasing my car I took it to the dealership to have a pre purchase inspection done, and was told that the car was immaculate condition. This is a disgrace and im extremely irritated with this issue, please help me.
- Stone Mountain, GA, USA
Intermittent "inoperable mode" illuminated since mileage 41974. Car decelerated on the highway from 75mph to 10mpl nearly causing an accident. Pulled over, turned off vehicle, was completely shaken up. Waited about 5 minutes, restarted and it was normal. This has happened 13 times in the 6 months of ownership. Dealer was unable to duplicate issue. Vehicle again duplicated the same problem, I made a left turn, attempted to accelerate on a city street and it began showing the "inoperable mode" and check engine light again. A month later, the engine was making a loud noise like rocks in a dryer. Pulled over immediately away from traffic. I contacted the dealer, they said to "drive it in". on the way, the car broke down. Called Mercedes customer care, they sent a tow truck. Car is under warranty until 50K, and is at 49404. While my 2013 C250 is in the shop, they issued me a 2016 C300 with less than 550 miles on it. After driving for only 5 days, it also has the check engine light and says "collision prevention assist plus inoperative". I notified the service advisor and he will not return my messages to have another vehicle issued. This is clearly a manufacture defect that Mercedes is blatantly ignoring. This is stressful and heartbreaking that I have owned the vehicle 6 months, with a mountain of "manufacturer warranty" issues, they are asking me to pay the $2500 if it is deemed "not warrantable". so I am supposed to trust Mercedes to be honest at this point? the only contact I have received since is that they will be charging me $2595 in labor to disassemble my engine so that they have a "concrete answer" as to if my vehicle will be warrantied. It is under warranty and all services have been done as Mercedes advises. For Mercedes to not warranty it would be a direct violation of the manufacturer warranty and further prove their negligence.
- Denver, CO, USA
When accelerating at highway speeds (mostly) check engine light comes on and car shakes. If you pull over and restart the car most of the time the check engine light goes away. The engine error code (from Mercedes) is P03001 which is a cylinder misfire. I purchased this car brand new and have had it at the dealership 8 times now for the same problem. They have replaced the fuel pump and injectors and problem still persists. Mercedes dealer is telling me there is nothing wrong with the car and they can't duplicate the problem after a week with the vehicle. The car is very dangerous to drive. This has happened to me no less than 20 times in 2 years of owning the vehicle. My son has been in the car with me several times when this has happened and it is a safety hazard to be at highway speeds and the car can no longer accelerate and starts to decelerate. Mercedes needs to do something about this before someone (namely me) dies because of this known issue. They have known about this with an internal document since October 2012 yet they continue to ignore the problem.
- Gainesville, FL, USA
The contact owned a 2013 Mercedes Benz C250. While driving approximately 15 mph, the contact crashed into another vehicle. As a result, the front of the vehicle caught fire. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed and there were no injuries reported. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 29,500.
- Houston, TX, USA
Long pause when trying to accelerate from a stop. Not normal turbo lag, it's too long.
- Tacoma, WA, USA
Constant issues with vehicle acceleration. For example when try to accelerate from a stop the car hesitates for several seconds even with significant pressure on gas pedal then suddenly accelerates in a very jerky fashion. This is very dangerous when trying to pull out into traffic or make a left hand turn crossing multiple traffic lanes. Have also had similar problems when car is traveling on highway and need to accelerate quickly, the car hesitates for several seconds and then jerks into gear and speeds up. I don't drive my car that much because I work from home and take cabs on weekends when going out but had a friend drive the car with me to see what they thought and they said they definitely noticed the issue. I am taking my car to the dealership to see if they will make repairs but I have a feeling like others who have submitted a complaint I will be told nothing is wrong. I just happened across this website and thought I would see if the problem was just my car but 11 of 13 complaints are the exact same issue as mine. Why hasn't the ntsb issued a recall" does someone or a bunch or people have to die first?"
- Atlanta, GA, USA
While driving to grocery store attempted to accelerate from a stop and vehicle bogged down (decelerated before accelerating) and the violently took off.. have taken vehicle 8 times to different Mercedes Benz dealerships in the atlanta area only to be told that its the way vehicle is and to live with it. On many occasions while attempting to turn across traffic vehicle just stays in place when accelerator pedal is depressed and then it just bolts wanting to let the rear end loose. Very unsafe characteristic of this car. Regret this purchase tremendously. Also many many complaints about the 2012-2014 C250 and nothing is being done.
- Smyrna , GA, USA
On 8/26/14 I was stopped at a light. When I went to take-off, the car would not accelerate. It finally did but very slowly. This occurred two more time at the next two stop lights. I was then in a center turn lane to turn across three lanes of traffic & when I tried to accelerate, the car died and the electronic display gave a yellow error message that the car was inoperable due to an issue with the braking system. I immediately put the car in park, turned it off & then started it back up. Fortunately it re-started, the error message was gone & I was able to drive into my office parking lot. My Mercedes service dept. Said no codes registered on the computer, probably because I turned the car off so quickly it didn't have time to. Today, 8/17/14, I am having the same issue. My car is back at the Mercedes service department. This is, in my opinion, a dangerous & life threatening problem.
- Altamonte Springs, FL, USA
2014-08-04: Engine light came on, vehicle would not accelerate past 80 km/H and the engine shut off - driving in traffic. 2014-08-05: Brought vehicle to 550 terminal avenue. They said it was just the fault-pump and that it was safe to drive. They advised me that they had to order the part from germany. Vehicle was later returned the same day. (23505 km) 2014-08-06: The vehicle engine shut down while driving out the drive way, so I had it towed to 550 terminal avenue. (23514 km). They replaced a throttle actuator. 2014-08-12: Vehicle was ready for pick up. Vehicle would not start. Battery replaced. 2014-08-14: Picked up vehicle. Then experienced a low accelerating after braking. Went with the foreman for a road test and he agreed that there was a delay when accelerating and that it felt like its going to stall while in "drive". 2014-08-20: They said it was caused by 13 % ethanol in fuel/ software. There's a pinging sound. But I buy the same gas every time 94 octane from chevron. I had a verbal agreement saying that my car was safe to drive and for me to come back to Mercedes Benz with a new tank of gasoline to see if I would still have the same issues as it was stated that the issue may have been cause by using gas with 13% ethanol/software.
- Vanvouver , Bc Canada V6p1p9, AK, USA
- Miami, FL, USA