7.4
pretty bad- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 7,190 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.
1- vehicle (2003 Mercedes-Benz E55) was traveling at 65-70 mph on garden state parkway (NJ). I was approaching exit 109 when a car entering from the right decided to cross three lanes of traffic, cutting me off. 10086185 2- when I took my foot off the gas quickly, the dash lit up red, a warning beep came on and a malfunction message told me "brake malfunction-stop vehicle" (a bit ironic, huh?). the brake pedal was soft to the floor. I downshifted two gears and tried pumping the brake pedal, but finally had to stop the car by downshifting the transmission again and applying the parking brake. I pulled the car onto the shoulder. The dash showed two malfunctions, brakes and esp (traction control), and the warning beep continued until I removed the key. I restarted the vehicle several times as instructed by the instrument panel, until finally the dash advised "no malfunctions, " and the pedal regained its normal feel, at which point I drove slowly home. About 1/4 mile from my house the failure repeated itself. I pulled into a parking lot and tried to slow the car from a walking pace using only the brake pedal. With both feet on the pedal and considerable force applied, the brakes could barely stop the car from even that speed. I stopped the car again using the parking brake and repeated the turn it on/turn it off sequence until getting the "no malfunction" screen again and drove the rest of the way home. Upon entering my driveway, I got the failure message again, slowed the car in the same manner as before and parked it. 3- the dealer picked up the car on a flatbed and brought it in for service. I also contacted the NHTSA prior to allowing the car to be towed away in case any investigation needed to be performed. Ultimately, the ABS/esp cpu was replaced under warranty and the car was returned on July 27, 2004. Copies of the repair order have been faxed to scott yon at NHTSA for review. The car has performed properly since the repair.
- Ocean, NJ, USA
- San Diego, CA, USA