1.9
hardly worth mentioning- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 86,130 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.
Loss of power steering driving on the freeway due to sudden break of idler arm pulley and subsequent shredding of belt. Problem is the pulley is made of plastic and cracked in two, leaving 1/2 the pulley and shredding the belt. This occurred at driving speed of 50 mph and mileage around 169,650 on 2003 ML500. This was very dangerous. I was able to pull off the freeway as I was driving in the lane nearest freeway exits. Almost impossible but able to steer into a parking lot. Lucky it was 'rush' hour and traffic was slow on surface streets. Incredible safety issue due to difficulty to steer without power steering. Car is regularly maintained by german mechanic familiar with repair of mb engines in germany.
- Marina Del Rey, CA, USA
Takata recall. Power steering brake issue, power steering hose became detached during vehicle operation, could not steer vehicle. Transmission and radio drain, car cut off on me during driving.
- Brooklyn, NY, USA
Driving 45mph on highway, car shuts off completely. Towed to closest gas station, who put a computer on it to find out it was the crank shaft sensor. After completely cooling it will start again, but in less than 10 min it cuts off.
- Henrico, VA, USA
Notes taken on phone by bowman, ODI, NHTSA: Vehicle shuts off after impact with irregular road surfaces condition such as pothole, transversing a change road grades / surfaces such as speed bumps, etal. Vehicle can be immediately restarted after shut-off. One incident allegedly occurred when attempting to merging onto interstate.
- Abingdon, MD, USA
- Lake Mary, FL, USA