2020 MERCEDES-BENZ GLS 450 Complaints

The dashboard screen stops working randomly. This is not related to extreme outdoor temp conditions. Mercedes dealer could not reproduce the problem and therefore could not offer any solution. Problem has happened 5-6 times over the past 7 months. Please watch video below: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Vehicle would not start. 48v battery light came on. Waited 15 minutes, vehicle started, drove to dealership who did diagnosis. Battery replacement required $1800 + $1200 labor. 2020 vehicle with 61K miles. Bought certified vehicle from MBZ dealership, added a MBZ 3 year or 100K mile extended warranty but this battery is considered a wear and tear item not covered. That would be fine except for the fact that this battery issue is well known to MBZ as it has multiple reported instances of failure on vehicles with 6K to 60K miles.

I have noticed a significant issue with the AC vent system of my Mercedes GLS 450. The vents seem to be distributing mold smell already took my vehicle multiple times to park place Mercedes in Dallas and they performed service but the issue is persistent. I have taken the vehicle to my local Mercedes service center, where they attempted to address the issue. However, despite their efforts, the problem has persisted. This defect is impacting not only the comfort of my driving experience but also the overall value and performance of the vehicle. We had GLE in my family that had the same issue we took it to Park Place and complained about this many times and end up selling the vehicle as they never resolved the issue. Vehicle: 2017 MERCEDES-BENZ GLE350 VIN: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

03/17/2023 driving on US1 coming up to speed after pulling onto highway after cars passed I went 0.2 miles and was looking at my driver side mirror ( no traffic on road ahead of me) when I hit something that pushed my big SUV toward oncoming traffic. I held wheel and muscled car to side of road stopping short of a telephone pole. Car was upright I had trouble loosening seat belt while my wife was hanging forward into hers. Dog harnessed in back seat was ok Got out of car to see a car hauler 30? Footer sticking about 4 feet into the road and travel lane. Investigation by police revealed truck driver backed out of a company driveway into the road with no people helping. With traffic totaled right front tearing wheel off. No air bags deployed, I do not believe accident avoidance nor auto braking employed, MB safety and accident location didn’t activate and not sure passenger seat belt pre tightened. Police report Saco Maine 23-113-AC . MBUSA notified. Car held for them to examine. 4 weeks later have heard nothing other than “ we’re working on it”police and Insurance found 0 fault for me. Car totaled for repair cost

This incident occurred around 5:50pm on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. I was driving on a merge connector between two freeways in San Francisco at about 60mph, when the vehicle threw a series of error codes and warnings on its displays, culminating with “shut down engine immediately”. The first error was a 48V battery system charging failure, and the second was a warning that coolant was too hot. The instrument panel and steering and brakes did not lose power, but the accelerator no longer worked, and the vehicle slowed down to about 35mph. I had to merge across 4-5 lanes of rush hour traffic at this speed (sketchy) to make it to the side of the freeway, and was able to exit safely and stop in a safe spot. Upon turning off the vehicle for a few minutes and then restarting it, a generic check engine light remained on afterwards. I had the vehicle towed to a Mercedes dealer where the fault(s) are currently being diagnosed. According to the dealer, they are in touch with MBUSA Engineering due to the nature of the fault codes. The vehicle had recently undergone a 50,000 mile routine service without any problems being flagged. The safety implications of this incident are clear: with no ability to match the speed of the flow of traffic, I could have been rear-ended or involved in a collision as I limped across the freeway to safety. I am fortunate that the vehicle had enough residual kinetic energy that I didn’t end up stuck blocking a freeway lane in rush hour traffic. Searching online for similar issues, this appears to be a known manufacturing issue with the mild hybrid inline-6 engine in this model of vehicle. For instance, all of the top Google hits for the term “GLS 48V battery failure” yield relevant and similar reports from other drivers, including summaries from consumer lawyers like this one: https://lemberglaw.com/mercedes-benz-gle-battery-electric-problems/

On numerous occasions, when either slowing down or in a slow turn, the engine dies and will not reengage until I have turned off the vehicle, exited, then reentered an started the vehicle. I have had passengers in the vehicle who will attest to this occurring, in fact, the last time it happened, I was almost broadsided when the vehicle stopped in the middle of a left-hand turn, crossing three lanes of oncoming traffic. The vehicle has been to the dealership at least three times and it's either a "software update" requirement or "we can't duplicate" the issue. When I called MB Customer Service, Michael (initial intake) told me "I have seen this issue before."

While driving, vehicle has abruptly stopped/engine turned off causing car to not accelerate and come to a stop. One instance was on a busy freeway, causing our family to pull off the interstate with nearly no curb, risking rear-end collision due to the abrupt stalling of the vehicle. In this instance, the 48 volt battery failure warning, engine overheat warning, engine light warning came on. When MCB dealership evaluated the vehicle, there were no stored associated error codes and MCB service returned the vehicle to me saying that the issue did not occur when they drove it. The same issue occurred again 5 months later, this time in a busy intersection, where the car would not accelerate and I was forced to pull of the road. The check engine light as well as other failure lights came on. THe car was returned to MCB service and again, no error codes were stored and the dealership said they could not find the cause of the problem. This vehicle issue (reported to the NHTSA by several other 2020 GLS owners) is a LIFE-THREATENING DANGEROUS VEHICLE PROBLEM . Both times, the engine abruptly failed and the car would not accelerate in the middle of heavily trafficked roads/freeways, which could easily result in a catastrophic accident. Both times, the vehicle did not store the associated error codes, despite the display illuminating several warning lights, including the check engine light. THe unreliability of this expensive vehicle is particularly concerning to me as it is used to transport young children. Mercedes is taking no accountability for this vehicle failure and claims they have not heard of this issue prior, which is clearly inaccurate given that it has been reported to NHTSA by several other GLS owners. This is an enormous safety liability, not only for the owners of this vehicle, but for innocent bystander drivers who could easily have a rear end collision with the car as it fails to accelerate and the engine abruptly stalls/stops.

MBUX Failure Customer sold MB GLS450 with all season MB Floor matts, Water on shoes drains on floor matts, car is driven and when braking water floods the underneath the front passenger seat and enters the MBUX and shuts down all electronics. This was identified as an issue with Mercedes Benz and they are recommending a part that does not exist for a long term repair. Mercedes not taking responsibility for damage to MBUX. Cost 8350 to repair

The vehicle warnign system displayed "48v Malfunction." Vehicke lost all acceleration in the middle of the highway. The vehicle was just returned3 days ago after undergoing a state inspection at the MB dealership. In looking at the issue on line this appears to be a known problem to Mercedes. They are even facing a class action lawsuit for it in the same model year GLE, which is based on many of the same systems. SOmeone is going to get killed when their vehicle stalls in the middl eof the highway.

Upon starting the car, the screen of the 2020 Mercedes Benz GLS 450 remained blank. This includes the portion of the dashboard that reads speedometer, gas, temperature, RPM. The engine was running and truck could still be driven. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. This is a major safety issue as the driver does not have visibility to the dashboard with all it's important information. The vehicle is currently at Mercedes Benz dealership undergoing diagnostics. The vehicle is being inspected by Mercedes Benz (manufacturer). See prior comment. There were no warning lamps or messages that appeared prior to the problem. Shortly after driving home (with the blank screen) the car was shut off and restarted and the display came back on but then the check engine light was displayed.