Mercedes-Benz C-Class Complaints

3,817 consumer complaints on file.

#11496328December 6, 2022
AIR BAGS
Collision and airbags didn’t go off but should of cause recall and now totaled [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11496018December 5, 2022
SUSPENSION, SERVICE BRAKES, STEERING
Discovered a severely "rotted/rusted" rear subframe and one of the passenger side suspension/control arm of the rear passenger side wheel is completely "detached/disconnected" from the rear subframe. During a hard brake, the car will "swing/drift" to the right and is very dangerous and prone to accident/catastrophe. Also, many other 2008-2014 C300 owners already have reported/complaints over the internet. This defect needs to be recalled by the manufacturer. The contact paid for the replacement and service repair of the rear subframe. The contact was informed by a technician that the detached rear control arm may "puncture" the gas tank because of how close it is to it. The vehicle is not recommended to be driven until the repair is made.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11496038December 5, 2022
STRUCTURE
The contact owns a 2015 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V197000 (Structure) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11495866December 3, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
During service B maintenance, a technician found rear subframe rusted through. Reportedly, there has been a large number of Mercedes C300’s with this very same problem, and Mercedes has a widely acknowledged the issue with rotted sub-frames. It’s a serious safety issue which led to recalls in other countries.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11495900December 3, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES
With no prior warning indicator on braking issues with my 2014 C250, I travelled from Ormond Beach FL to Savannah GA, on I-95 with one stop in Kingsland GA. I still had no warning indicator on breaking issues as I took the off-ramp to Savannah. A failure occurred with the braking system as I exited I-95, with no vehicle warning indicator shown before or after I came to a stop. I had to exert maximum pressure on the brake to stop, requiring an expansion clear length of off-ramp to do so. An elderly, weaker person or even my wife wouldn’t have had the strength to stop over the distance I stopped it in. Luckily there was no vehicles stopping in front of me, otherwise I would have hit them at high speed. At Savannah Mercedes they found a Faulty Vacuum Pump, & like me were perplexed that no prior warning indicator showed up on my vehicle. This issue has obviously caused me great concern & indicates an inherent dangerous & life-threatening condition with my, & I assume other 2014 C-250’s, if not other years and models. If this dangerous failure had occurred on I-95 as traffic slowed to a stop, I would have run into the vehicle in front of me & my wife & could have been killed. More menacingly, it would most probably have been reported that I wasn’t paying attention & it was my fault rather that a catastrophic dangerous manufacturer failure with my vehicle. It sadly seems to me that this scenario may actually have happened with some MB vehicles and the driver/s are not around to say.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11495617December 1, 2022
SUSPENSION, STEERING
Rear Sub Frame Assembly failure. It is available for inspection upon request. Vehicle rear end begins to wobble at speeds above 40 mph. The issue causes steering to become more complicated and the vehicle veers sharply while braking. This issue makes all C Class vehicles with this Sub Frame Assembly extremely unsafe, especially at highway speeds. Vehicle has been inspected by the authorized Mercedes Benz dealership in Indianapolis, IN. Service Advisor stated it's "amazing" that there hasn't been a recall issued yet. Based on this body style there have been roughly 320,000 of these C-Class vehicles sold. If the NHTSA truly cares about safety, they will launch an investigation into this matter. There are no warning lamps or messages that appear prior to this failure.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11495110November 28, 2022
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
The contact called on behalf of her daughter who owned a 2016 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact stated the vehicle had an abnormally strong fuel odor coming from the inside and outside of the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact had not taken the vehicle to the dealer. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 72,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11495125November 28, 2022
SUSPENSION
My car had new brakes installed in the last few months. All of a sudden the car "fishtailed" when applying the brakes. I brought it into my mechanic, Johns Mercedes of Wakefield, Massachusetts, for some routine service and he noticed once he put the car up on the rack that the subframe is completely rotted out due to rust. The brakes were fine. He strongly recommended not driving the car until the part can be replaced. The part is very hard to come by. I called my Mercedes dealership (Herb Chambers Mercedes in Lynnfield, Massachusetts) and Rennan told me that he has seen quite a number of problems lately with rotted subframes in C300s. He said it would cost $5000 to repair IF you could find a part. The parts are incredibly hard to find. In doing research in Mercedes forums, I read that in Germany Mercedes replaces the subframes free of charge, recognizing it is a major safety issue. My mechanic is going to take pictures of the damaged part in question. My car is at his shop now so I don't have pictures to upload at this time. I am going to have him find the part and fix the car at a cost of $4000+.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11495006November 27, 2022
ENGINE
Cylinder 1 misfire initially, after taking it to an independent shop it was a piston 1 failure and required the small block to be replaced at 80,000 miles with a cost of $7000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11495007November 27, 2022
SUSPENSION, POWER TRAIN, SERVICE BRAKES
The subframe and the brake lines are very faulty in this car when it comes to its design. The subframe and brake lines rust easily and are cheaply made for this car. My car break down while driving making it hard to have pressure on the brakes. My incident was around the school area. There were no accidents or collisions Involved. It could happen to adults and children. The dealer never confirmed this problem before selling it to me. Another manufacturer told me about this problem. The car showed warning signs like the braking system and brake fluid. The brake fuel was leaking. The problem appeared when I started the car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11494857November 25, 2022
SUSPENSION
I sensed the rear wheels going into a skid as I braked at low speed. I noticed it first on downhills as I drove on a mountain road which was curvy. It seemed that the car was going to go into a skid. No warning lights came on. I checked the tires were all at the same accurate level which did not change the occurrence. It happened again on flat terrain coming to a quick stop. Like one tire was responding differently than the other in the rear. I asked my mechanic to put it up on the lift so I could make sure I was safe and not causing further damage by driving it until they could fix it. Had the arms cracked off the frame from the wheels while I was driving on a winding mountain road, my life would have been in danger. He came out and said "you need to see this, this car is going nowhere and its lucky that you came in. He pulled back a black cover that was blocking view of the rear sub-frame. One both sides, there was significant rotted through holes. He looked up about a possible recall and came across many people complaining for years on this Model C car having the same issue. It was noted that this issue was a recall and manufacturer repaired issue in Europe. Not here is the US. After reading numerous complaints online from owners, I called the Mercedes Benz dealer (Keeler Motors, Latham, NY) and asked about issues. There are very aware of this issue and quoted me $1400 for the sub-frame and not including many parts that will likely need replacing. With labor at $189 hourly rate. This car is in very good condition, serviced regularly at the Keeler Mercedes Benz dealer department and when we checked it over prior to purchase it was noted how little to no rust there was on the car. Mechanics can easily miss the damage occurring by the black cover over the subframe.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11494920November 25, 2022
ENGINE
Crankcase (pcv) problem of the 2015 Mercedes Benz C300 Diagnosis code p052e pcv regulator valve replacement/crankcase replacement. The code keeps coming back with check engine light on dashboard. To replace part, the engine has to be taken down since the crankcase is inside the engine. This is a malfunction during assembly/manufacturing, it is impossible to damage part while under usage. Mercedes benz should be held responsible for part replacement and labor. This is a common defect and should be recalled.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11494713November 23, 2022
ENGINE
Crankcase Ventilation Regulator Valve
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11494627November 22, 2022
ENGINE
The crank case ventilation valve is bad. This part should be easily changed but the dealer wants over $3000. Happened at 62,000 miles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11494520November 22, 2022
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Car cabin continuously smells like gas after several repairs to the AC. AC was repaired because of mold issue a few months back, however, issues with the AC is always a problem with this car and model.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11494456November 21, 2022
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
The contact owns a 2016 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact stated after starting the vehicle with the heater running, there was an abnormally strong gasoline odor coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted or informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 90,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11494459November 21, 2022
STRUCTURE:FRAME AND MEMBERS
The contact owns a 2013 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact stated that upon depression of the brake pedal, the vehicle independently swayed to the left without warning. The contact notified the independent mechanic who instructed her to bring the vehicle in for an inspection. The mechanic discovered severe corrosion on the subframe; however, the part to repair the vehicle was on backorder. The contact then had the vehicle towed to a second independent mechanic who kept the vehicle for three weeks before the vehicle was repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 68,026.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11494292November 20, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I purchased a 2012 Mercedes C300 AWD from a local dealer and have had it serviced annually. Last week I took it in for the annual servicing and was told by the dealer that the rear subframe had corrosion /rust and the car was not safe to drive. I asked if it was covered under a recall and they said not by Mercedes at this time.They provided a repair estimate that is quite high and close to the appraised value of the car. I asked if there were any options available through Mercedes or the dealer and they confirmed not at this time. I have read many articles related to this problem and imagine there are many complaints on file at NHTSA. This is obviously a serious safety issue and currently Mercedes is not taking responsibility and directing the costs to their customers. In addition there is a subframe parts shortage and it could take weeks to fix. I'm requesting that this be listed as a recall item by Mercedes.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11494104November 18, 2022
STRUCTURE:BODY
Rear sub frame failure due to corrosion. Failed part causes vehicle to lose control when applying breaks. Further broke sub frame has high risk of fire due fuel tank breach. Vehicle was inspected by Mercedes Benz technicians several times up to the point of failure, no advanced warning. Technician stated no lights, no warning signs until total failure occurs.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11493971November 17, 2022
SUSPENSION
The Rear Subframe is rusted through and cracked making the car almost undriveable. This is a known problem at Mercedes Benz. Nothing else on the vehicle is rusted and has a perfect undercarriage. The vehicle is available for inspection and has been inspected by a reputable German repair facility. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms There's a Mercedes Benz recall for the rear subframe in Canada.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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