Mercedes-Benz C-Class Complaints
3,817 consumer complaints on file.
- #11446466January 6, 2022UNKNOWN OR OTHER, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The sunroof on the vehicle jams and either stays partially open or won’t close in the rear completely. I finally got it to close but it will not open again. I know multiple mercedes owners who have this issue with the sunroof and if the sunroof will continue to not lock properly this could be a hazard on the highway if the brackets were to break and the glass slides off.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11446532January 6, 2022SERVICE BRAKES
Mercedes C300 4Matic 2019 model, active brake assist malfunction (not working )
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11446535January 6, 2022TIRES
I got my Mercedes C300 4Matic 2019 model car back in 2019 August and since the purchase, I have unfortunately visited the service center more times than I would ideally want and lack of product safety (tires) endangers my life on the road. I'm listing out all the visits for your reference. 10th Feb 2020 (at 3,683 Miles) Left front tire. 23rd Mar 2021 (at 14,002 Miles) Left front, also change Right front to balance the car. 13th Nov 2021 (at 19,984 Miles) Right front tire. 28th Dec 2021 (at 21,084 Miles) Left front tire. "Front Tire Details: Continental 225/40R19 Y XL"
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11446555January 6, 2022ENGINE
Without any warring or indication my engine would start making bad noise then light comes on to check engine as the motor fails and car shuts off. This is while driving and has happened two times now. Both times I find it’s due to spark plug failure and pieces of the plug go throughout the engine and severely damage. First time this happened at 82,000 miles and was covered by warranty. Now this has happened again on the new engine with 81000 miles on it. I seen many forums on this issue. This time it’s not under warranty and it’s $18000 to fix. Mercedes Benz w205 engine seems to be notorious for spark plug failure in cylinder 1 as well as piston cracking. The first time this happened was October 12th 2019 and the warranty work was done at fletcher Jones Mercedes Benz of Newport Beach
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11446178January 4, 2022ENGINE, POWER TRAIN, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
CYLINDER 1 SPARK PLUGS IS DAMAGED DUE TO PISTON DAMAGE, HOLE IN PISTON. IF EXTRA DAMAGE IS FOUND ON TEAR DOWN, COMPLETE ENGINE REPLACEMENT. This is direct from the repair facilities reports. While driving my 2018 C-300 there was smoking out of tail pipe, a rough vibration, hard to control the vehicle and it was starting to lose power. Not a good situation, had to pull over and have vehicle towed to the dealership. Worst part is this is a vehicle used to transport my 5 children to and from school and activities. My 16 year old also drives this vehicle, had he been driving this with this happening to him, the outcome could have been catastrophic. Vehicle has been inspected by 2 facilities; first was a certified Mercedes Benz repair facility and the second was the service dept. of the Mercedes Benz dealership I have serviced at for over 10 years. Mercedes refuses to cover repair costs or even acknowledge the major vehicle malfunction and safety issue this presents. , which is in my view ridiculous as cracked piston is not something that normally happens as the result of normal wear and tear, especially in a 3 year old luxury car. I have read several blogs on this same issue, Mercedesworld.org with over 400K members, reddit.com, benzworld.org, metrisforum.org, and numerous others. Please review these there are numerous people dealing with this and Mercedes is refusing to acknowledge. In addition, our Mercedes Benz service rep said these pistons were changed out in the 2019 model and newer due to these issues, he said he continues to see this issue with these models and advised Mercedes is well aware.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11445555December 30, 2021SUSPENSION
The rear subframe rusted through causing mounting point of the torque link to fail. As a result, the car looses control when braking going sideways. Luckily, I discovered it when testing brakes after pad replacement in a safe setting. To my understanding, there are many other W204/W212 cars affected in the US with that issue. Mercedes so far does not want to take responsibility and recall cars for this issue which is a huge concern.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11445095December 27, 2021WHEELS
The wheel is not tilting up or down. It's stuck I. Top. It will just go out and in but stuck in the top position. This is a safety issue especially with airbags. The problem have been reported to dealers . It's a defective system
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11445013December 26, 2021ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, STEERING, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
After parking my car , turned ignition off, did some work for 45 minutes I came back attempting to start the car. The car won’t start, I am not hearing any of the normal sound that usually takes place when I place the key in ignition. Message on dashboard telling me to remove the key. Car will not start. After checking battery and calling mechanic they tell me the my steering wheel lock is bad. The ESL went bad out of nowhere. Car won’t start, steering wheel is locked and the only way to fix it is to take it Mercedes’ dealer and pay over $2000. I search on google and found out that this is a common issue with my 2010 C300. This is a manufacturing defect and Mercedes should recall it and pay for repair. In my case I parked my car in my garage, imagine if I was traveling on highway way and the steering wheel locks or failed on the side of busy interstate hwy. the worst part is that Mercedes dealer did nothing t warn me when I bought the car about this issue especially since it is know since 2008, and they will not allow after market parts to be installed by other mechanics. So this is defective and Mercedes should be forced to recall and replace for free. We should not wait for someone to die before this is fixed. This happened without any warning PLEASE FORCE MERCEDES TO RECALL AND FIX THE ESL NOW.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11444920December 24, 2021ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
During maintenance of vehicle, completely bare wires were discovered. While researching replacement options, I became aware that this is a known issue ignored by the manufacturer and that no cost effective solution exists. This is a car my son has recently purchased on his own and I am assisting in the maintenance of this "German Engineering Turd" You would have thought they learned a lesson on arrogance from the past.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11444818December 23, 2021STRUCTURE:BODY
COMPONENT FAILURE - Broken rear cross member driver side. Total and Complete failure and separation of rear mount from cross member due to corrosion of components. Passenger side rear cross member at same location found to be "near-failure" state at same location during replacement. (Rear cross member is physically available for inspection and photos are also available). Overall condition of the cross member is excellent other than at the TWO locations where the mounts connect to the cross member which have extensive corrosion, rust thru and failure at driver's side. SAFETY - Safety was put at risk as the car would pull to left when brakes were applied and it continued to get worse, fortunately we limped the car to a repair location before a fatal accident occurred. The worse part of this whole situation is that Mercedes has encountered this issue before (per research on web sites) and has chosen to not address in the United States. Per research, they have recalled this issue in both the UK and Canada as well as specific dealers in Germany have reimbursed owners for repairs of this issue. This vehicle had recently been to the dealer for services and Firestone for tires and alignment and nobody had noticed the severity of rust. WARNING - No warning lamps, the only advance notice was the vehicle starting to pull toward the left which is what prompted us to seek out repair service. Once, the repair service (Firestone) immediately saw the total failure of the mount disconnected from the subframe they immediately diagnosed the problem with the car pulling to the left.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11444651December 22, 2021UNKNOWN OR OTHER, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Mercedes-Benz comes with ECO Start/Stop feature. This feature automatically activates when you start the vehicle and have your seat belt fastened with the door closed. When this function is activated, your vehicle’s engine will shut off when you are at a complete stop, like at a stoplight or in standstill traffic. Once it’s time to start moving again, the vehicle’s engine will automatically restart as soon as you lift your foot off the brake. Randomly experiencing an issue with this feature, vehicle will not restart or it will shutdown in the middle of the road, on the busy road or freeway, it is very unsafe or dangerous. In last two years, we experienced this issue for at least 10 times, at least 5 times vehicle was towed to Mercedes Benz service center in Pleasanton, CA. They replaced the battery, starter, relay but issue still exists and service center also do not have any clue on how to resolve this issue. Reported this issue to Mercedes Benz Customer Support but response has not been favorable. I am not the only one facing this issue, several people reported this issue on online blogs, online channels and discussion boards. Mercedes Benz is ignoring the issue and not serious on addressing it. I request NTSB to investigate this issue, it is risky and dangerous. I personally had couple of close calls with other vehicles rear ending, and I am sure others must have found in this situation. Appreciate your help. Thanks, [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11444474December 20, 2021FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
The contact owns a 2015 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact stated that a strong fuel odor could be smelled from both inside and outside the vehicle. The vehicle had to be serviced for the failure; however, upon inspection, the contact believed that the source of the odor was from the engine fuel lines. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed him that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 102,000.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11444326December 19, 2021FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Constant fuel smell coming from the engine, you can see gas coming out of the high pressure line. When I park in the garage the whole house smells like gas. Even while driving gas smell coming through the vents constantly
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11444351December 19, 2021ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
2016 MB 300 C, AWD at 87000 miles started giving gas fuel smell when parked in our garage after driving. I took to a local Foreign Car Repair facility and they found a fuel leak at the fuel injector pump. The mechanic changed the Fuel Injector Pump (Bosch) at a total cost of $745.31. Since the change in the pump, the smell has stopped and I feel safe. Who is responsible to reimburse this cost to me?
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11444200December 17, 2021ENGINE
The contact owns a 2015 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50-60 MPH, the #1 piston cracked. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving, the vehicle was shaking and smoking. The check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the #1 piston was cracked, engine cooler, P0301 cylinder #1, P219 solenoid failure. The vehicle was taken to another independent mechanic and the engine was replaced. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 105,102.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- Yes
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11443966December 16, 2021AIR BAGS, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
3 signal Signal light comes one saying abs, another SRS MALFUNCTION, also crushed control inoperable. Car will come one as normal next day car comes on no lights not 1 button work turn signals didn’t work then my car fan came on in the engines the also the when they the electric isn’t working i have to manually shift the gear
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11443558December 13, 2021SUSPENSION
Rear subframe failure of left lower control arm mount bracket at weld that rusts prematurely from improper treatment at time of manufacturing After failure while braking at low speed 10mph rear end of vehicle fish tails left and front end of vehicle moves right There are numerous reports around the world with this specific model and identical safety hazard on the left side of vehicle in almost all cases Mercedes Benz refuses to acknowledge a defect in craftsmanship of the specified part and in many cases offer a $1000 credit towards a new vehicle As 1 of millions of Americans that owns this vehicle in question I believe it is necessary that the NHTSA steps in to assist with this issue as millions of American lives are at risk even if they do not own or operate this vehicle
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11443648December 13, 2021STRUCTURE:BODY
The contact's wife owns a 2012 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact stated that upon taking the vehicle to the dealer to be serviced, he was informed that the subframe was severely corroded and could fracture. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and advised the contact that they could not assist as the vehicle was out of warranty. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 43,000.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11443661December 13, 2021ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Electronic Steering Lock (ESL) fails and your key fob nor your keyless go button will function, rendering your car unable to start...! Usually it's the cheap toy motor that engages the moving tab that locks and unlocks the column and communicates to the ignition to start the car... You get only a message to "remove your key" and the dash lights will not come on nor can you start the vehicle... Mercedes is aware of this, as there are thousands of complaints on this ESL issue... Mercedes needs to issue a recall and do away with this faulty ESL module...!!!! Oh by the way, they charge $1500+++ to fix it...🤬🤬🤬
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11443670December 13, 2021SUSPENSION
The contact owns a 2011 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact son stated while driving at various speeds, the rear of the vehicle would sway while braking. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and was diagnosed with needing the subframe to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that to take the vehicle to an authorized dealer for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 119,000.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0