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.
While driving in traffinc East along haddonfield berlin road in cherry hill NJ, I was slowing to a stop approaching a red light at evsham road. As I pressed the brake pedal, there was a loud bang and grinding sound from the front end that ended with a loud clank on the ground. After which I saw the spring from my driver's side on the road behind me in my rear view mirror. Driving was not affected, not was steering. However we came to find that the panel containing the driver's side spring perch had rusted and then torn away from the bod, thus releasing the front spring. After doing some research this appears to be a known problem with mbusa, but not a recall issue. My insurance company is refusing repairs due to their view of this as being a "maintenance issue."
The contact owns a 1998 Mercedes Benz E320. The contact stated that while driving 50 mph, the vehicle independently dropped to the ground. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure was 160,322.
Had an inspection on Friday. Found passenger shock tower broken from the body frame, this is an extremely dangerous situation. Looked in Mercedes Benz world website, and saw many many complaints about this typical issue, people must not be reporting this typical rust of the spring tower to body rust issue. Apparently there is a recall for this issue in Canada but not in usa.
Some rust damage has been observed on the body of the car for quite some time, but no Mercedes mechanics suggested it was structural or dangerous. Recently, a loud creaking noise from the front right tire began to occur when driving, especially when subjected to bumps, even at very low speeds. By removing the tire, we discovered that the creaking was from the poorly designed suspension cap, which had rusted and broken partially off, bending the spring against the axle. This damage is extremely dangerous, as no Mercedes mechanics identified the rust at this point, and if the cap snapped off, the entire wheel carriage would break. If the car had been operating at high speeds, this kind of failure, which could occur instantly when subjected to a normal shock impact, could cause a serious or fatal accident. The cap is definitely a very dangerous design flaw, especially as the Mercedes structure rusts (which they claim no accountability for), and many of these cars could easily be on the road today. Thus, we believe that significant danger to the consumer public is completely ignored by Mercedes-Benz, which we feel is an appalling lack of concern and complete oversight on the part of the company.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Mechanicsburg, PA, USA