This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Got in my car and turned on my seat warmers and proceeded to drive. After driving for 5 minutes I noticed a smell, though it was the fumes from the car in front of me. I kept driving and then I felt some discomfort on my lower left upper hip area. Felt like something was biting me. By this time I was a major highway and kept feeling discomfort....got to my destination and proceeded to get out of the car and my coat was stuck to the seat. I turned around and to look at the seat and there was a hole in the seat and my coat. The discomfort I felt was the burning from the seat.
The contact owns a 2007 Mercedes-Benz R350. While operating the vehicle, a burning odor was present inside the vehicle. The driver later noticed that the driver side lumbar area of the front driver seat became extremely hot and burned through the leather seat and the clothing worn by the driver. There were no injuries. The cause of the failure was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 104,000.
I noticed I was getting burned on my upper hip when the seat heater was on. Thought it was the metal trim on my jeans getting too hot but discovered the seat heater had burned a hole through the seat and smelled like a fire. I turned it off and now do not use the seat heaters. It got hot in a few minutes after starting.
I turned on the seat warmer and a minute later I smell something burning and I look to the side and there was smoke coming out of my jeans and I got out of the car and I see smoke coming out the drivers side seat. I immediately turned off the car and it open a small hole in the drivers seat.
My wife was driving our Mercedes R350 with two of our children and noticed a burning smell in the vehicle. After stopping the vehicle, she soon realized that the heat warmer on the seat had burned a hole in the seat and singed her sweater leaving a black mark. She turned off the seat warmer to avoid any further issues, including the potential of a fire or an injury to her. The dealership said that because the car was out of warranty the repair would be $1,200. When we passed on the item and said we simply would stop using the warmer, they offered 2/3 assistance (1/3 from the dealership & 1/3 from Mercedes) with us paying the remaining 1/3. we accepted the offered and had the seat repaired. However, the situation could have been very dangerous had a fire occurred, had she been burned or had she lost Focus on the road causing an accident. I am appreciative that the dealership is doing what they can to help address the issue, however, I believe the manufacturer needs to take responsibility in this situation - especially since I've read multiple accounts of very similar incidents in Mercedes vehicles.
- Hagerstown, MD, USA
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The contact owns a 2007 Mercedes Benz R350. The contact stated that while driving 75 mph, she began to smell a burning odor. The contact stopped the vehicle and noticed that her coat was on fire. Upon further examination, the contact noticed that the backing of the front driver's seat was burned due to the seat warmer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and the contact was awaiting a response. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 100,000.
What I thought was a bug biting my rear side, ending up being the seat on fire! I had turned on the seat warmer and not even a minute or two later, the wire in the seat was on fire when I pulled over and left a hole in my seat. Car is not under warranty anymore and I feel as though I should not have to pay for this. It could've caused an accident, had I been on a major highway or on a road that I couldn't pull over on. Children in the car very worried. After searching online, I see that this is a common problem of Mercedes owner, all happening on the lower left side. Any recalls? not wear and tear!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Phila, PA, USA