5.3
fairly significant- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 17,821 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.
Rear subframe corrosion/damage leading to rust/holes and unsafe driving. This issue can cause the bottom of the vehicle to collapse. Mercedes Benz across many countries acknowledge this as a recall and repairs free of charge except USA. USA should acknowledge this defect as well.
- Ashburn, VA, USA
Rear subframe corrosion causing rear subframe failure/rusting which is a huge hazard. Mercedes Benz in several countries have recalled the rear subframe and are replacing free of charge. Mercedes Benz USA is not acknowledging this recall, it is a major issue and thousands are impacted.
- Ashburn, VA, USA
Rear subframe is rusting out. I reported about a month or two ago and have not heard back from you.
- Wilmington, DE, USA
There is a hole rusted through the vehicle's rear subframe assembly and it is dangerous to drive. My car is an E350 Mercedes with 78,000 miles and garage-kept. Mercedes knows of this issue and is not helping anyone with this problem. The job costs about $5000 to fix.
- Orefield, PA, USA
I do not know what component or system failed or malfunctioned, and my vehicle has been inspected. My safety and the safety of others were put at risk, because my vehicle was speeding in reverse and not responding to my multiple braking. The Dealership informed me that they did not find or detect any malfunction at all. Mercedes Benz performed a "full inspection on my vehicle". There were no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the incident.
- Cincinnati, OH, USA
Just been told by the Mercedes Benz Service/Dealership that on my 2011 E-350 which has only about 73,000 miles that rear subframe of the car is so badly rusted that it is a serious safety hazard to drive this car, and it wouldn't pass the PA State Safety inspection. For safety reasons, the MB Service Manager has advised not to drive the vehicle until the issue is fixed. The cost to fix/replace the sub-frame and associated labor charges is quoted is $5400. The car has been serviced regularly as recommended by the manufacturer exclusively at the same Mercedes Benz dealership. It is hard to imagine that a company such as Mercedes Benz would make parts that would be rusted and damaged so easily and quickly. This ought to be a flawed part and/or poor-quality material to rust and become a safety hazard. I have now seen many postings on the BenzWorld.org forum who are experiencing this issue. I strongly believe, Mercedes Benz should be held liable and accountable to replace and/or repair the issue at their own cost - there should be a safety recall. Over the years, I have driven many cars for much longer time (over 15 years) and many more miles (over 150,000 miles) but never had such a rusting issue, and such expensive repair/replacement to rectify the issue. It is unfair to the consumers to subject them such safety hazard to themselves and others on the road.
- Audubon, PA, USA
We took our car into the local Mercedes Benz Dealership at Ft. Washington, PA for a routine service and PA inspection. Our vehicle is a 2011 MB E 4 matic and has ~70K miles. We received a call stating that the rear subframe of the vehicle had failed and was not considered safe and therefore did not pass the PA state inspection. We authorized the dealership to replace the component, which was done. The dealership suggested the corrosion may be caused by salt used for removing snow. The car was garaged routinely, washed including undercarriage routinely and the google search suggested that the amount of snow since 2011 was lower than normal. I explored the internet and it appears that this issue has been documented by others for this and other models of MB vehicles. I also found a police inquiry which suggests failure of this component could cause the vehicle to lose control during driving. I spoke with the MB USA people and they did not think there was a significant issue and that this was not a recall or warranty issue currently. I wanted to report this to you for reference.
- Lansdale, PA, USA
Panoramic roof area is constantly popping loudly during driving across unlevel and uneven surfaces. The sound is very loud and startling causing me to abruptly swerve or break. The repair shop is able to reproduce the noise and stated: "Origin of noise 42180-42185, noise from center panoramic roof; cross support mounting bar bolts loose, headliner needs to be dropped and bolts tightened). I was also warned the sunroof could loosen to the point that the glass could fall out causing a dangerous road hazard!
- North Hollywood, CA, USA
My 2011 E350 soft convertible top is leaking hydraulic fluid from the pistons and the flexible tubing running through the soft top roof (drivers side) to the locking mechanism which secures it to the windshield is developing a serious kink that will likely fail soon and leak fluid into the interior of the vehicle. Definitely a poor design as the lines do not have a flex joint at the hinge point to allow for repeated bending during operation of the top. I believe it to be a bad design / premature failure and should be a recall item paid for my Mercedes Benz.
- Sarasota, FL, USA
Transmission will not shift into park intermittently after driving.vehicle in stationary
- Long Beach, CA, USA
Gas odor from left rear wheel,
- Bangkok, AL, USA
Oil cooler leaking.repaired on January 2018, vehicle had 66724 miles, at Mercedes-Benz of West houston, even after repair the vehicle still has oil cooler leak. Timing chain rattle, incorrect signal from camshaft hall sensor. Ad-blue tank with heating element code 20B91B. Smell diesel on vehicle. The vehicle has now just 88566 miles.
- Katy, TX, USA
Cpsc: My 2011 Mercedes E-class sedan has a design flaw that causes the clip on the rear seatbelts to rub against the belts and eventually wear them away.
- Bradenton, FL, USA
While driving my 2011 Mercedes Benz E coupe on October 23, 2017 on the highway, the panorama roof exploded and shattered with nothing hitting the roof glass. It was a terrifying experience and almost lost control of the vehicle. Luckily I nor my passenger were hurt. I have been reading online that such incidents are happening quite often. What is being done by the dealerships? they are telling me that repairs are not covered. I only have 31,000 miles on the vehicle and this should not be happening on any car, especially on a $62,000 dollar car.
- Mission, TX, USA
The vehicle intermittently shifts itself from drive to park while moving forward while decelerating at slow speeds (approximately under 5 mph.) there is a sudden jerk, and everyone / everything in the car is thrown forward as the vehicle jumps to a dead stop. This is quite dangerous and further, can probably cause rapid deterioration of the vehicle. The issue was first presented in January 2017 to the Mercedes dealership in reno, nv who could not duplicate the problem, but charged ~$140 for the analysis. They stated that there was no record with mb of such an issue. They also stated that if the issue was later found and repaired, the dealership would credit the evaluation costs. During a trip to salt lake city this week the problem reoccurred several times and I scheduled an appointment at the slc Mercedes dealership (ken garff). At today's appointment (3/29/17), the assistant service manager told me that they couldn't duplicate the problem. However, they found a description of this exact issue in the mb database and have a recommended fix. Unfortunately, that fix is over $800 and Mercedes will not take and financial responsibility for repairing this, as it is not a "recall." This is most upsetting, as I view the sudden stopping and transmission change while moving as a safety and a longevity issue for the vehicle. I am planning on taking the vehicle in this week to mb slc and having the prescribed repairs completed. Further, I believe that Mercedes-Benz should be responsible both ethically and financially for resolving this engineering defect.
- Reno, NV, USA
While entering onto the southern state parkway in long island N.Y., going about 45 mph, for reasons not known my sunroof completely shattered. My sunroof was completely closed at the time.
- Washington, DC, USA
- Oldsmar, FL, USA