2013 MERCEDES-BENZ C300 Complaints

I noticed that my car was pulling heavy to the left when I stop and strange noise in the rear of the car, after taking the car to the mechanic he told me that the car rear subframe on my 2013 Mercedes Benz c300 was rotted, the control arm bracket completely broke off on the left side and the right side is also cracked. it appears that this is a common issue in areas of heavy road salt usage during winter months, the dealer told me that the car has a rotted rear subframe problem and the subframe could break out in months.

I bought my c300 Mercedes-Benz in 2013 from the Euro Motorcars dealership in Germantown, MD. On about February 15, I heard some clanking/banging in the rear of my car. I thought it was the rear driver side break. I took the car to my local mechanic and he indicated the rear sub-frame had rusted though and it was banging on the gas tank (see attachments). Very dangerous, I should not drive.

Sudden steering pull when braking . Mechanic found rotten left rear suspension cross member .part number 2043500141 Mechanic reports very Common issue with this model . Mercedes Benz is aware but will not repair or supply replacement parts . Note the replacement part is not available in US currently . Stuck with unsafe auto lacking support from Mercedes Benz . Some one is going to be injured / killed as the manufacturing defect shows rust failure from inside out and not detectable during routine maintenance . Hard braking pull is first indication that the defective part failed . Should this occur at highway speed the auto can flip resulting in major injury or death .

2013 MB C300 4matic with 63K miles. It was taken to an MB dealership for yearly maintenance (Service A). A certified maint. tech provided me with an inspection video of the underneath of the car outlining an issue with the rear subframe. The right side has a hole rusted through it and the left side is rusted, but not rusted through...yet. Replacement is recommended, as it will not pass state inspection in it's current condition because it's a safety issue. They also advised that they have seen a few instances of this problem and have contacted Corporate. This is a 8-9 yr. old vehicle with low mileage and has had consistent maintenance at an MB dealership. The car was inspected in May 2021. There was no indication given at that time, that the subframe was rusting, could be a safety issue, and result in a replacement totaling over $5K. Once the information was provided during the recent service, I did research and found that this is an issue going back a few years. Some owner's have had this part break while driving causing a dangerous and potential life threatening situation. I then contacted MB customer advocacy to go over the issue and cost involved. I was advised that MB does not assist in repairing the vehicle. However, they would investigate and get back to me. I supplied information to them on 2/9/22 and am waiting for a response. I purchased this vehicle because of the quality of the brand, MB's reputation and longevity. I will not drive the car due to its diagnosis and other owner evidence that the subframe could potentially break while I am driving. It is unacceptable that a major structural component could fail on a vehicle of this age. This requires a recall of the subframe and MB's responsibility for the cost of the repairs.

This is a 2013 Mercedes-Benz C300 4matic Luxury model, with about 110K miles. It started making beating noise and pulling to the right when brakes were applied. Driving became quite dangerous especially at a higher speed, and the driver had to steer the car very carefully to compensate the fish-tailing. It also affected braking as well. There was no warnings from the car, but the noise, the fish-tailing and uneven braking were really bad. A M-B certified mechanic inspected the car, and identified the problem as the rear sub-frame that has rusted out, and lost 1 of the 4 anchors. The whole sub-frame will have to be replaced. Estimated costs will be USD4k-5k, and may take a month due to shortage of parts. For a major structural part on a premium-brand car to rust, within 10 years, to the extent that driving is rendered dangerous, it is not acceptable. A safety recall should be issued on this, and M-B should bear the costs.

Rear Cross Member Sub frame rusted through and broke in half causing lack of control of the car when braking. It is very difficult to control the car at low speed (25mph or less) and would be virtually impossible at highway speed. Had this component failed under a highway speed situation, the loss of control could have resulted in loss of life and property. Component has been removed from vehicle and is available for inspection. Video of the removal available for review as well. Mercedes dealership was contacted. They were unwilling to discuss the failure and referred us to the corporate office who have not responded to calls. There were no indications that the part was in danger of failing. Car had passed inspection in November. After the failure we conducted research online and found that this is a common and known problem on this model car. It is time for it to be addresses. Under no circumstance should a car that is 8 years old have a structural component of that nature fail.

I’ve had 2 c300 Mercedes models in the past 8 months both used and were driving fine until rain water and car washes caused electrical damage there is a water leaking issue that goes into the floorbeds of the vehicle that causes the car to malfunction

COMPONENT FAILURE - Broken rear cross member driver side. Total and Complete failure and separation of rear mount from cross member due to corrosion of components. Passenger side rear cross member at same location found to be "near-failure" state at same location during replacement. (Rear cross member is physically available for inspection and photos are also available). Overall condition of the cross member is excellent other than at the TWO locations where the mounts connect to the cross member which have extensive corrosion, rust thru and failure at driver's side. SAFETY - Safety was put at risk as the car would pull to left when brakes were applied and it continued to get worse, fortunately we limped the car to a repair location before a fatal accident occurred. The worse part of this whole situation is that Mercedes has encountered this issue before (per research on web sites) and has chosen to not address in the United States. Per research, they have recalled this issue in both the UK and Canada as well as specific dealers in Germany have reimbursed owners for repairs of this issue. This vehicle had recently been to the dealer for services and Firestone for tires and alignment and nobody had noticed the severity of rust. WARNING - No warning lamps, the only advance notice was the vehicle starting to pull toward the left which is what prompted us to seek out repair service. Once, the repair service (Firestone) immediately saw the total failure of the mount disconnected from the subframe they immediately diagnosed the problem with the car pulling to the left.

While driving at low speed, there was a sudden imbalance in the steering wheel and the car started to pull to the right. The problem was more exaggerated while breaking with significant fishtailing. I immediately took the vehicle to Mercedes-Benz dealership who diagnosed the problem as severely rusted subframe with corrosion and structural instability especially near the rear passenger side wheel. The car is Mercedes C300 4Matic 2013. The incident happened on November 24, 2021. Mileage is 77,000 miles. Should I have waited longer, there was a very high probability of complete breakdown of the subframe which would result in rollover posing high risk of injury and death to the driver and other people on the road.

The contact owns a 2013 Mercedes Benz C300. The contact stated that while driving at highway speeds and depressing the brake pedal, the rear of the vehicle started fishtailing with extreme vibration making the vehicle very unstable. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who discovered the rear passenger’s side subframe was severely rusted causing a section near the rear passenger’s side wheel detaches. The cause of the corrosion was not determined. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were not yet notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 107,500.