2006 MERCEDES-BENZ C230 Complaints

"ATTEMPTING TO SPEED UP FROM STOP TO 45 MPH AND RPMS ROSE ABOVE 5000 TO 6000 AND CAR WOULD NOT SPEED UP PAST 35 MPH. I TRIED FLOORING THE ACCELERATOR BUT NOTHING HAPPENED. NO RESPONSE AT ALL PAST 35 MPH". MY CAR DOES NOT ACCELERATE AS IT SHOULD. I WENT TO A AUTO SHOP AND THEY SAID I HAVE AN INTAKE MANIFOLD PROBLEM. *TR

ATTEMPTING TO SPEED UP FROM STOP TO 45 MPH AND RPMS ROSE ABOVE 5000 TO 6000 AND CAR WOULD NOT SPEED UP PAST 35 MPH. I TRIED FLOORING THE ACCELERATOR BUT NOTHING HAPPENED. NO RESPONSE AT ALL PAST 35 MPH. I PULLED OVER AND TURNED OFF THE CAR FOR 5 MINUTES. THEN I STARTED THE CAR AGAIN AND THE ACCELERATION PERFORMED AS IT SHOULD. *TR

MOMENTS AFTER EXITING THE FREEWAY AND REDUCING SPEED AT AROUND 35 MPH MY CAR DID NOT ACCELERATE AND CONTINUE AS IT WOULD IN NEUTRAL. FAMILY IN THE CAR PANIC AND FOR MY FORTUNE LIGHT TRAFFIC ON AN USUAL BUSY STREET. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT DID NOT TURN ON AT THE MOMENT OF DAYS AFTER THE INCIDENT. A WEEK LATER WITHOUT A WARNING THE VEHICLE ENGINE LIGHT TURN ON AND LOST SPEED IN THE FREEWAY. THIS INCIDENT COULD EASY CAUSE MY FAMILY AND OTHER DRIVERS A FATAL ACCIDENT AND PREVENTABLE INJURIES. I HAVE FOUND MANY SIMILAR INCIDENTS DESCRIBING WHAT HAPPEN TO ME AND ITS AWFUL THAT NOTHING IS BEING DONE TO FIX IT. I WILL CONTACT MY LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATOR TO DEMAND ACTION AND A FORMAL INVESTIGATION ABOUT THIS ISSUE. *TR

ON NOV 27, 2013, I WAS IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA ON HIGHWAY 14 TRAVELING AROUND 70 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY W/ MANY CARS AND MY SPEED DROPPED TO AROUND 50 MPH IN SPITE OF MY FOOT DOWNING THE ACCELERATOR TO THE FLOOR. I HAD TO TURN ON MY EMERGENCY LIGHTS AND MOVE OVER TO THE SLOW LANE FOR SAFETY. RETURNING HOME THAT SAME DAY ON THE SAME FREEWAY, THE CAR WOULD NOT ACCELERATE OR TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT DOWNSHIFT TO COMPENSATE FOR THE UPHILL ON THE FREEWAY IN SPITE OF STEPPING DOWN ON THE ACCELERATOR- AGAIN I HAD TO FLASH MY EMERGENCY LIGHTS ON AND MOVE TO THE SLOW LANE. THERE IS NO SENSOR LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD FOR BOTH INCIDENTS. MY MECHANIC REPORTED IT WILL BE HARD TO DIAGNOSE THE TRANSMISSION PROBLEM SINCE THERE IS NO SENSOR LIGHT ON. ON NOV 29, 2013, I TRAVELED TO LAS VEGAS AND THE TRANSMISSION REPEATED THE DECELERATING INCIDENT AND FAILURE OF THE ACCELERATOR TO INCREASE ENGINE OR TRANSMISSION SPEED. THIS IS DANGEROUS. *TR

ZERO ISSUES WITH THIS CAR UNTIL NOW. THIS WEEK, JUNE 2013, THE CAR HAS 78,000 MILES ON IT. I PULLED UP TO A STOPLIGHT OFF THE FREEWAY, AND THE CAR STARTED SPUTTERING LIKE NEVER BEFORE. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON - FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. THE CAR STALLED AND ENGINE DIED. IT RESTARTED, BUT WHEN I PRESSED THE GAS THERE WAS NO POWER, TRAFFIC WAS COMING UP THE OFF RAMP FAST, I HAD TO FLASH MY BRAKES TO GET THEM TO NOTICE SOMETHING WAS WRONG BUT IT WAS A CLOSE CALL. THE CAR SPUTTERED INTO THE MIDDLE OF A BUSY FREEWAY OVERPASS INTERSECTION WITH MY FAMILY ON BOARD AND EAGER TRAFFIC BEHIND ME. IT WAS A VERY SCARY MOMENT BECAUSE THE CAR WENT FROM COMPLETELY RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY TO COMPLETE LOSS OF POWER AND INSTABILITY. I SPUTTERED BACK HOME, CREATING THE SAME DANGEROUS CONDITIONS AT EVERY INTERSECTION. I TOOK THE CAR TO A MERCEDES BENZ SHOP THE NEXT MORNING. AFTER A LOT OF TESTING IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE INTAKE MANIFOLD NEEDED TO BE PULLED TO LOOK DEEPER INTO THE ENGINE. HOURS LATER THEY FOUND THAT THE PROBLEM WAS CAUSED BY A DEFECTIVE PLASTIC BUSHING OF THE INTAKE MANIFOLD WHICH BROKE AND WAS SUCKED INTO CYLINDER #4 AND #3. THIS CAUSED THE VALVES TO BEND AND COMPROMISED THE INTEGRITY OF THE CYLINDERS AND VALVES, ACCORDING TO THE MERCEDES QUALIFIED TECHNICIAN. THERE IS EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE VALVES, AND THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT ALL THEY'RE GOING TO FIND ONCE THEY PULL THE HEADERS OFF. THE COST TO REPAIR THE CAR IS $4,400, BUT IT MAY EVEN BE HIGHER. THE CYLINDERS HAVE TO BE SENT TO A MACHINE SHOP TO SEE IF THEY HAVE ANY OTHER ISSUES AS A RESULT. WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY'LL FIND. THE MECHANICS STATED THAT MERCEDES BENZ IS AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM, THAT THOSE MOVING PLASTIC PARTS IN THE INTAKE MANIFOLD ARE KNOWN TO CRACK AND CAUSE PROBLEMS AND SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN MADE OUT OF PLASTIC, BUT I DON'T SEE RECALLS ON THIS OBVIOUS ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING DEFECT. *TR

WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT BEGAN TO FLASH RAPIDLY, THE ENGINE BEGAN TO RUN EXTREMELY ROUGH, HAD LITTLE POWER, AND WAS NO LONGER DRIVABLE. LUCKILY, THIS HAPPENED ON A SURFACE STREET AND NOT ON THE FREEWAY WHERE, I BELIEVE, IT COULD HAVE RESULTED IN HARM TO ME OR OTHER DRIVERS. THE PROBLEM WAS CAUSED BY A DEFECTIVE PLASTIC BUSHING IN THE INTAKE MANIFOLD WHICH BROKE AND WAS SUCKED INTO VALVE #4 WHICH THEN BURNED THE VALVE. AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT, THE VEHICLE HAD APPROXIMATELY 84,000 MILES ON IT. I WAS INFORMED BY THE MECHANIC WHO PERFORMED THE REPAIR ON MY VEHICLE THAT THEIR MB PARTS SUPPLIER STATED THAT MB IS AWARE OF THIS DEFECTIVE PLASTIC BUSHING. HOWEVER, THE PARTS SUPPLIER WAS APPARENTLY NOT PERSONALLY AWARE OF IT CAUSING THE TYPE OF EXTENSIVE DAMAGE I EXPERIENCED. MB REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE, AT LEAST TO ME, THAT THEY ARE AWARE OF PAST INSTANCES INVOLVING THIS DEFECTIVE PLASTIC BUSHING OR TO EVEN CONSIDER THAT IT IS A PROBLEM THAT THEY SHOULD TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR BEFORE IT RESULTS IN HARM. I HOPE SOMEONE WILL TAKE THIS PROBLEM SERIOUSLY AND INVESTIGATE ITS POTENTIAL FOR HARM. *TR

MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON SO I WENT TO MECHANIC TO CHECK. THEY PERFORMED A COMPUTER CODE TEST TO FIND PROBLEM. THE CODE INDICATES THAT THE BALANCE SHAFT IS STARTING TO FAIL. I RESEARCHED ON-LINE AND DISCOVERED THIS IS A KNOWN DEFECT WITHIN THIS ENGINE. APPARENTLY MERCEDES IS UNWILLING TO ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS DEFECT. REPAIRING THIS PROBLEM IS EXTREMELY COSTLY AND THE BUYER SHOULDN'T BARE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR FAULTY PARTS. I UNDERSTAND THERE IS A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT FILED, BUT I CAN'T FIND OUT THE CURRENT STATUS OF IT. THIS DEFECT CAN CAUSE IMMEDIATE ENGINE FAILURE WHEN DRIVING CAUSING THE AUTO TO STOP IN TRAFFIC. BEING THAT THOUSANDS OF MERCEDES VEHICLES HAVE THIS DEFECT I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THE NTSB ISN'T STEPPING IN. *TR

I WAS DRIVING HOME AND NOTICED THAT WHEN I WOULD ACCELERATE AFTER COMING TO A STOP THE CAR WAS EXTREMELY SLUGGLISH. I WOULD HAVE TO ALMOST FLOOR THE GAS PEDAL IN ORDER FOR THE CAR TO BEGIN MOVING. I PULLED OVER AND THEN PUT THE CAR IN NEUTTRAL. THE JERKED VIOLENTLY AND SHIFTED VERY HARD AS I THEN TRIED TO PUT IT IN REVERSE AND THE INTO PARK. I TRIED TO PUT THE CAR BACK INTO DRIVE AND IT WOULD NOT ACCELERATE AT ALL. I HAD TO TURN THE CAR OFF AND THEN BACK ON AGAIN IN ORDER TO GET IT MOVING. THE GEARS CONTINUED TO SHIFT VIOLENTLY. HOWEVER, WHEN I FINALLY GOT MOVING AGAIN, THE CAR WOULD NOT GO OVER 35 MPH. THE CAR WAS INSPECTED AND AN ERROR CODE FOR THE INTERNAL SPEED SENSOR CAME UP, WHICH IS PART OF THE VALVE BODY FOR THE TRANSMISSION. MY CAR ONLY HAS 59,000 MILES ON IT. MERCEDES IS VERY AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM ON 2006-2007 C230 MODELS! IN FACT, THEY ARE HAVING A DISPUTE WITH THE MANUFACTURER OF THE VALVE BODY BECAUSE IT IS POOR QUALITY AND DEFECTIVE. I HAVE SEEN NUMEROUS OTHER COMPLAINTS RELATED TO THIS ISSUE. MY LOCAL MERCEDES DEALERSHIP QUOTED ME $2,400 TO REPAIR THIS DEFECTIVE PART. I WAS LUCKY IN THAT I WAS NOT DRIVING AT 60 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY WHEN THIS MALFUNCTION OCCURRED. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS ISSUE AND A RECALL SHOULD BE ISSUED FOR THIS PART. *TR

I WAS MAKING A RIGHT TURN STOP AT A LIGHT, WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO ACCELERATE THE CAR TOOK OFF AS IT WAS AT A HIGHER GEAR. WOULD NOT PICK SPEED AND HIGH RPM. THERE WAS A PEDESTRIAN RIDING HIS BIKE AND MADE A RIGHT TURN AND BECAUSE HIS VIEW WAS BLOCK MY THE SUN HE ENDED UP REAR ENDING MY CAR AND FEEL OFF HIS BIKE. THE REASON I AM FILING THIS COMPLIANT IS IF MY CAR WAS NOT HAVING THIS ISSUE THE ACCIDENT COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED BC THERE WAS NO CAR IN FRONT OF ME. THANK GOD THE RIDER WAS NOT BADLY HURT AND JUST HAD A FEW SCRAPES AND MY CAR WAS OKAY SO WE WENT OUR SEPARATE WAYS. THERE ARE SO MANY COMPLIANT ABOUT THIS SAME ISSUES ABOUT THE CAR NOT ACCELERATING AND GEARS GETTING STUCK IT IS BECOMING RIDICULOUS. I AM SURE THERE HAS BEEN CASES WHERE PEOPLE ARE SEVERELY INJURED OR PASSED AWAY BC OF THIS ISSUE BUT ONES THAT DIDN'T SURVIVED ARE NOT HERE TO FILE THEIR COMPLAINTS. THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER AND A RECALL NEEDS TO BE DONE BEFORE BODIES ACTUALLY START PILING UP. MERCEDES.BENZ ARE KNOWN TO BE HIGH END LUXURY CARS AND THEY NEED TO ACTUALLY DRIVE LIKE ONES.. THE MANUFACTURER NEED TO STEP UP AND ACKNOWLEDGE THIS IMPORTANT MATTER AND DO THE RECALL. *TR

VEHICLE WOULD NOT SHIFT OUT OF 3 GEAR WHEN DRIVING 25 MILES PER HOUR. RPM'S WENT TO 4,000 AND I HAD TO STOP VEHICLE AND RESTART. RIDICULOUS BECAUSE NO PROBLEMS WERE "FOUND" WITH VEHICLE BUT SOMETHING IS OBVIOUSLY WRONG. I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER MERCEDES BENZ WHAT A LEMON. *TR