10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 3 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 69,480 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.
The contact owns a 1999 Mercedes ML320. The contact stated that while turning a corner, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The vehicle did not respond to the brakes and did not stop until crashing into a boulder. There were no injuries from the accident. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic where the cruise control was replaced. The VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was 144,000.
- Westland, OR, USA
The contact owns a 1999 Mercedes Benz ML320. While backing out of the driveway at approximately 5 mph, the engine revved and the vehicle accelerated in reverse. The contact placed the gear in drive and the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated again, nearly crashing into his front door. He took the vehicle to the dealer and they could not find anything wrong. The vehicle is currently at the dealer. The current and failure mileages were 14,800.
- Rye, NY, USA
The contact owns a 1999 Mercedes Benz ml 320. While driving 35 mph on a secondary road the throttle locked, there was loud engine noise, and the vehicle accelerated to 65 mph. Attempting to stop the vehicle with both feet on the brake pedal didn't work, the vehicle continued to accelerate. The contact shut the engine off. The technician stated that the throttle cable bushing failed which caused the brakes to fail. A complaint was filed with the manufacturer, and a factory representative was present to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer stated that there were notes listed per the investigation, they were unable to share the details with the contact and that the case was closed. The current and failure mileage were 85115.
- Van Nuys, CA, USA
I and my 7 year old daughter and her friend were entering my driveway on Aug 14,2006, paused to open my garage door from the car and I was slowly moving in. All of a sudden car went out of my control in a flash that I did not even have time to react. It went and hit our other parked car in the garage with such a huge force that the second car literally went and tore the bedroom wall. Our second car is badly damaged on the front, back and one side (scraping a pole in garage) and wall needs fixing too. I truly suspect there is some mechanical problem for the sudden/unintended acceleration that led to this unexpected behavior. So far we found the ignition got jammed (could not start and had to be towed in), other than the bumper/front damages. Car is still in the body shop for repairs, once finished it will be taken to the dealer for further analysis and check up.
- Portland, OR, USA
1.sudden acceleration without depressing gas pedal. Making right turn at @ 5 M.P.H. in parking lot. Momentary pause in engine power immediately followed by unassisted acceleration. 2. impact parked car and concrete median "curb". no injuries. Damage left driver side fender and bumper of ml 320. Damage left driver's side of other car's fender and bumper. 3. towed car by valley towing to schmacher european in scottsdale AZ.
- Phoenix, AZ, USA
Cruise control stalk is too long, making accidental activation of cruise control likely when activating the right turn signal. Hitting the cc stalk when making a righr turn activates the "accel" portion of the cruise control. There is no visual indication (dash lamp, etc.) that the cruise control has been activated.
- Towson, MD, USA
- Van Nuys, CA, USA