2011 MERCEDES-BENZ C300 Complaints

On July 1, my daugther who is driving the car since about 8 months noticed a strange noise coming from the rear of the car. Since I was in Europe at that time I could not give her any assistance. On July 16 we both took a drive to Rhode Island to visit a college. I was the one driving, and I could also hear the noise coming from the rear. On the highway there was a back-up developing and I had to hit the brakes a littler harder. In doing so. the car was very unstable and it look like if the rear was going to overtake the front of the car. I was very scary even for myself who is a long time experience driver. After returning home I took the car to a mechanic and have him look at it. The resulting diagnosis revealed that the subframe was completely rusted out and was about to get disconnected from the under carriage of the car at any moment. The mechanic had a hard time to find a replacement part, and was finally able to locate an OEM subframe in California, the only one in the US. The price for the part alone was $1,500. I had no choice other than to have the car repaired at the mechanic since it was at that time undrivable. The total repair was almost $3,200. I took 2 pictures of the replaced subframe (see attached). The car is a 2011 MB C300-4-matic with just 100,800 miles on it. The was purchased used, with about 12,000 miles, in Febr. 2012 from Mercedes Benz of Westford, MA, which had used the car as a loaner/company car. The car was well maintained, used up until 2020 by my daughter's mother. She then bought herself another, newer C300 (2017 model) and decided to gift her older car to the daughter instead of trading it in. We thought, we knew a lot about the car and considered it a low risk transfer for a new, still learning driver. I will also file a formal complaint with Mercedes Benz if I have figured out the correct contact point. The internet shows, other people have experienced similar situations. And eventually, see also your ID-# 10504684 and 11023618.

The rear tail light housing harness melted due to an electrical issue. This caused my rear tail light & break lights not to function.

2008-2011 Mercedes models were manufactured with cheap electronic steering locks that fail often. While I haven’t experienced a failure while driving, the system is and has been extremely problematic and unreliable. It is highly plausible that the system could fail while driving due to the cheap components and unreliable and faulty programming. I urge the NHTSA to look into this and require Mercedes to replace these ESL’s with a safer, more reliable steering component that doesn’t have the potential to suddenly lock or unlock due to a unforeseen failure.

The rear sub-frame of my Mercedes failed and resulted in a dangerous situation due to left rear suspension attachment point breaking free. Braking became uncontrollable. This seems to be a common problem in the 2008-2014 C300 Mercedes based on a quick scan of the internet.

THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 MERCEDES BENZ C300. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING, THERE WAS A CLUNKING SOUND COMING FROM THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS EXAMINED BY AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO DISCOVERED THAT THE PASSENGER'S SIDE REAR SUB-FRAME HAD CRACKED AND SEPARATED. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS NOT DETERMINED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT YET REPAIRED. THE LOCAL DEALER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT YET CONTACTED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 138,000

I WAS DRIVING MY 2011C-CLASS ON I-95 NORTH OF PHILADELPHIA WHEN I HAD TO SLOW DOWN DUE TO TRAFFIC. WITHOUT WARNING THE REAR OF THE CAR STARTED FISHTAILING ALMOST CAUSING A MULTI-VEHICLE ACCIDENT WHICH WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN INJURIES OR WORSE. I EXITED THE HIGHWAY AND TOOK SMALLER STREETS TO GET TO MY MECHANIC WHO HAS SERVICED THE CAR SINCE THE MERCEDES EXTENDED WARRANTY EXPIRED. UPON INSPECTION HE NOTICED THE REAR SUBFRAME WAS ROTTED OUT COMPLETELY AND THE TOE ARM WAS NOT ATTACHED. I HAVE OWNED THIS CPO CAR SINCE JUNE 2012. THE CAR IS GARAGE KEPT AND THERE ARE NO OTHER ISSUES OR RUST ON THE CAR. IT HAS APPROXIMATELY 129,000 MILES. THIS SEEMS TO BE A DEFECT AS OTHER OWNERS WITH THIS MODEL HAVE EXPERIENCED SIMILAR PROBLEMS.

WHILE DRIVING, I HIT MY BRAKES AND IT WERE AS IF AN INVISIBLE HAND GRABBED THE STEERING WHEEL AND TURNED SHARPLY TO THE RIGHT. I NEARLY WENT OVER A MOUNTAIN. I DROVE SLOWLY HOME BUT EACH TIME I WOULD HIT MY BRAKES THE SAME WOULD HAPPEN. LONG STORY SHORT, MY 2011 C300 WITH 80K MILES, BOUGHT FROM THE SHOWROOM AND GARAGE KEPT HAS A RUSTED AND BROKEN SUBFRAME. MY VEHICLE IS NOT DRIVABLE. I WOULD LIKE TO MENTION ALSO THAT THE AIR CONDITIONER HAS A TERRIBLE MOLDY ODOR.

REAR SUBFRAME HAS ROTTED THROUGH. THE CONTROL ARM CONNECTION HAS COME LOOSE. NO OTHER RUST ON THE CAR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 MERCEDES BENZ C300. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING 25 MPH, WHEN THE MULTIPLE "LIGHTS OUT" WARNING LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO DRIVE TO HER RESIDENCE. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE INSPECTING THE VEHICLE SHE NOTICED THE BROWN WIRE WAS MELTED AND BURNED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO LOCAL DEALER MERCEDES-BENZ OF CHERRY HILL (2151 NJ-70, CHERRY HILL, NJ 08002:(856) 663-3200), WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED WITH NEEDING THE "LIGHT ASSEMBLY UNIT" TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN REPAIRED AS OF YET. UPON INVESTIGATION, THE CONTACT ASSOCIATED THE FAILURE WITH NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 14V177000 (EXTERIOR LIGHTING), HOWEVER THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED. THE MANUFACTURER HAD BEEN INFORMED OF THE FAILURE AND INFORMED THE RECALL WAS COMPLETED WITH PRIOR OWNER OF THE VEHICLE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 115,000.

CAR INTERIOR SMELLS OF FUEL AFTER FILLING UP THE TANK. THE SMELL IS ALSO NOTICEABLE WHEN PARKED IN THE GARAGE. MY MERCEDES E350 ALSO HAD THE SAME ISSUE AND IT WAS DETERMINED THAT IT WAS A DEFECTIVE FUEL CELL SENDING UNIT.