2014 MERCEDES-BENZ C300 Complaints

Takata recall. The contact owns a 2014 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V010000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

During an oil change (11/9/2022), my technician found rust on the rear subframe. He stated that this is a known safety problem caused by defective materials during manufacturing. He stated that Mercedes is aware of this problem but has not issued a recall as of this date. I checked the online Mercedes forums and the problem is very common with the C-class W204 models. The car has been running fine and I received no warnings other than what my mechanic told me. I want to know when Mercedes is going to issue a recall to get this fixed before it's too late.

I purchased my car one year ago from a Mercedes dealership - 8/31/2021. I brought it in for service at the same dealership a week ago and they told me the rear subframe rusted from the inside out and it FAILED inspection. The parts are $5,100 and not available until some time in Q1 2023. There is no way a car rusts from the INSIDE OUT in one year. I have another vehicle in the same driveway, same everything and there is no rust anywhere. We have had all of our cars at least 10 years. This was a "new" car for us. MBUSA said they could do nothing because I own the car and didn't get financing from them. My dealership so far is not helpful. My service guy (he has been for 10 years) says this is common?? My client (a different car manufacturer) says it is not and it is terrible. I don't know why it rusted but this is a defect in the car because we didn't flood it. It's dangerous.

Rear subframe of vehicle is starting to become rotted/rusted out and may fall apart at any time. My Mother has the same body style car as me (2011 c300) & she was recently driving at around 60mph and all of the sudden, went to step on the brakes and the car swerved across the highway uncontrollably. She took it to a mechanic who said the car is not drivable and showed me how badly the subframe was destroyed. This is due to a Mercedes Benz manufacturing issue where they tried cost cutting which turned out very poor quality materials for this very important assembly. My car only has ~55,000 miles and is just about 8 years of age. This issue should never happen for a vehicle with such low miles and such a short life, especially from a prominent and distinguished automotive company. This is a Huge Safety Concern, and I am Scared that this subframe will fail without warning and at a high speed, which can likely cause me to be involved in a major accident where people are killed or seriously injured. I would even consider getting rid of this car, which would be unfortunate since it is gorgeous and seems almost brand new, although I cannot afford to sell this & buy another car at this time. I have researched online about this problem, and turns out, it is Very Common with this body style c300 ('08 - '14). There are hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals within the USA who are having this exact same issue with as little as 60,000 miles. Most are happening around the 90,000 mile mark however. They primarily mention in many online forums how scared they were when it happened and how lucky they are it didn’t cause a major accident…yet. It is astonishing how this subframe was not recalled by now and how Mercedes USA has not taken responsibility for this. This issue needs to be addressed and recalled Immediately before people are killed or seriously injured, and before more of these parts break. Please look into this very soon and contact me with any questions.

Failed component: The subframe on my Mercedes C300 broke on one side and was almost broken on the other. It would be available for inspection as it is sitting in the Mercedes dealer bone yard waiting on the part to be shipped from Germany around September 17th. It also ruined my back tires & now I have to replace them too. I understand that in the UK the Mercedes dealers are fixing this problem free of charge but there seems to be no recalls! Safety: I was entering the freeway on a rainy afternoon. My car was fishtailing very badly. At first I thought is was the highway itself as we had not had rain for quite some time. I tried to accelerate 4 or 5 times with the same fishtailing. I pulled off the busy freeway onto the shoulder & sat for a few minutes to collect my thoughts as I didn't know what was wrong. Then I drove very slowing to the next exit & a few more miles home. I drove very slowly a few miles the next morning to the Mercedes dealership. Inspected: The Mercedes dealer told me the subframe was broken and the car was not drivable! Couldn't find the part in the US so ordered from Germany with at least more than a month to wait. Warnings: There were absolutely no warning lights what so ever! Additional: The dealership did not have any loaner cars. I went for 5 days without a car to drive. I finally purchased another vehicle as I depend on it to do my job. It is going to cost over $4,400 to fix.

My 2014 Mercedes C300 4matic currently has a rusted through rear subframe. I know this has been reported to your Bureau numerous times by various people. This affects all 2008-2014 C Class and E Class Mercedes (as I used to work for a Mercedes dealer). Mercedes is trying to avoid liability at the sheer cost and man hours required to replace these parts. This is a MAJOR safety hazard, and has caused numerous drivers to lose control of their vehicle when they do in fact break off at one of the weld joints. The car is 8 years old with approximately 90k miles. This is a STRUCTURAL part of the car, and should never have to be replaced. Subaru dealt with suspension recalls on their vehicles, and I believe Mercedes should be reliable as well. Thousands of these cars are a ticking time bombs on the road. This issue was confirmed by my personal mechanic, and he stated this will not pass the next inspection (luckily I have 6 months left).

Parked the car, did something, came back and car did not start. Key in, no crank, no start, no steering. No lights on the dash, no gear shifting, can’t roll the windows up. All out of nowhere. Think it’s a problem with the Electronic Steering Lock.

This car has 63,792 miles on it and has been continuously garaged and well cared for. All maintenance has been done timely and by Mercedes-Benz of Tysons Corner (Virginia) since it was purchased there on 01/08/14. All required maintenance was completed as advised and the car was covered under a 7 year 75,000 mile warranty. At the recent regularly scheduled yearly maintenance service completed on 12/28/21 we were advised that the that the "rear sub-frame is beginning to rust through and has a hole on the right rear (RR) and the recommendation was the "replacement of rear sub-frame soon" at an estimated cost of $4,242.40. This car has never been in an accident. In speaking to the MB service representative about this issue, I was advised that this problem has happened to several C300's from the period 2009-2014 and that Mercedes Benz was not accepting any responsibility for the issue in the US but had issued recalls in other countries. He said Mercedes maintains that it is a "wear and tear" issue. This car has not been abused and has been well maintained. This is not an area of the country where you would expect to see this type of corrosion unless the part was defective in some manner. In researching the problem on the internet, several people write about experiencing a failure of this part although the cars were older than ours and had more mileage on them. It appears to be a safety issue should the part rust through as it could puncture the gas tank or cause the rear wheels to buckle or cause a loss of control of the auto from the auto fishtailing. I have never seen this happen to a car before and I am 75 years old and have owned a number of automobiles over the years.

The wheel is not tilting up or down. It's stuck I. Top. It will just go out and in but stuck in the top position. This is a safety issue especially with airbags. The problem have been reported to dealers . It's a defective system

WHILE DRIVING ON 95 HIGHWAY TAKING AN EXIT ( MAKING A RIGHT TURN ROUNDABOUT) THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKED ON ME PREVENTING ME FROM CONTINUING IN THE DIRECTION OF THE EXIT CAUSING ME TO ALMOST CRASH INTO THE METAL RAILINGS; BECAUSE MY WHEELS NOW WHERE LOCKED IN A POSITION THAT WOULD FORCE ME TO CRASH INTO THE RAILINGS HAD I NOT STOPPED. I STOPPED AND TURN THE CAR OFF AND RESTART FOR THE STEERING WHEEL AND SYSTEM TO RESET AND UNLOCK. THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED AROUND 2018 OR 2019. I NOTIFIED MERCEDES OF WHAT HAPPENED AND I RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF A RECALL ON THE STEERING. I HAD THE RECALL CHECKED ON MY VEHICLE AND THOUGHT IT WAS FIXED. HOWEVER, TWICE IN NOVEMBER 2020 MY CAR WAS STATIONARY WHEN TRYING TO START THE CAR, THE STEERING WAS LOCKED AND THE IGNITION WOULD NOT START. THEN AFTER MAKING SEVERAL ATTEMPTS CAR EVENTUALLY STARTED. I CALLED MERCEDES AND I WAS TOLD OVER THE PHONE BY MERCEDES IT COULD BE MY KEY FAUB. HOWEVER, THIS HAPPENED A 4TH TIME ON DEC 24, 2020, NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS TO START CAR AND CAR WOULD NOT START, STEERING WAS LOCKED. CAR HAD TO BE TOWED TO DEALERSHIP. WAS TOLD BY MERCEDES THERES A FAULT IN THE STEERING LOCK MODULAR. THE ELECTRICAL WIRING IS FAULTY AND THE ENTIRE STEERING MODULAR HAS TO BE REPLACED. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE, AND CAN CAUSE ACCIDENTS WHEN IT MALFUNCTIONS WHILE DRIVING. I ASKED ABOUT THE RECALL THAT WAS ON THE STEERING AND WAS TOLD THE RECALL ADDRESSED A DIFFERENT ISSUE WITH THE STEERING.