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.
The contact owns a 2000 Mercedes Benz E320. While driving 40 mph, the contact heard a noise underneath the vehicle. Upon inspection, the contact noticed that the driveshaft of the vehicle fractured. In addition, the contact noticed smoke coming from the side curtain air bag, but the air bag failed to deploy. The air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The failure mileage was 163,000.
Driving normally at 40 mph when the car gave out a loud grinding noise, and started to slow down on its own. Car stopped in the middle of a busy road and needed to be towed for service. A new front driveshaft was needed.
On turning the key in the ignition with foot on brake pedal, car started, immediately red-lined, and started shaking as the RPM limiter kicked in. The brake pedal was depressed, not the accelerator. Removed foot from brake and visually confirmed correct foot placement before reapplying pressure to the brake pedal. During removal of foot from brake pedal to visually confirm, car continued to redline. Turned engine off via key within 5-10 seconds of occurrence. Verified that floor mat was not between the floor and the accelerator. Engine restarted without incident. Mentioned the occurrence to local mb dealership but no codes were found when car was taken in for routine service a few months later. It is possible that the accelerator was actuated slightly via the all weather mb floormats that had recently been installed in car migrating forward and getting wedged between the floor of the car and the bottom edge of the accelerator. The included alligator clips had not been installed with the floor mats. However, with the engine on and car in park, manually wedging the floor mat between the floor and the pedal did not duplicate the engine redlining. Regardless, the clips were promptly installed after this occurrence and the floor mat has not migrated forward under the gas pedal since. It is unclear if the unintended redlining on starting the engine was due to the pressure of the floor mat between the floor and the accelerator or some other issue. Either way, the unintended redlining has not recurred since. Note: The web interface insists on offering "headlight lens" as the only option under equipment. The above has nothing to do with the headlight lens.
- Webster Groves, MO, USA
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- Loves Park, IN, USA