2017 MERCEDES-BENZ SPRINTER 3500 Complaints

The contact owns a 2017 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 3500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the front driver's side tire became deflated. The vehicle was driven to the dealer, where the contact was informed that the front driver's side rim was cracked. The contact was informed that the front driver's side rim needed to be replaced. The contact was informed that the parts were unavailable. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where the contact was informed that the failure had reoccurred due to potholes in the road. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure reoccurred. The failure became a persistent failure. Additionally, the contact stated that the front passenger's rim and both rear rims were all cracked. In addition, the driver's side rear tire was damaged because of the failure. The contact stated that parts were unavailable at the dealer. The contact stated that during the failure, the contact had to search around for replacement rims. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.

The vehicle has swivel seats. When the driver’s seat swivel, it’s severed the wires, the control the SRS system.

The contact owns a 2017 Mercedes-Benz M3CA76 Sprinter 3500. The contact stated while driving at approximately 65 MPH, the diesel purifier, Diesel Exhaust Fluid, DEF system, warning illuminated. The contact stated that the failure of the DEF system had occurred before the recent failure. The contact stated that the first failure had occurred several years ago. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the DEF system again needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 325,000.

The contact owns a 2017 Mercedes- Benz Sprinter 350. The contact stated that while driving at various highway speeds the warning message "DEF Is Low" had suddenly displayed and the vehicle went into "Limp Mode" causing the speed to suddenly reduce to 5 MPH. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the DEF tank was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 44,000.

The contact owns a 2017 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 3500. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 MPH, he had to brake abruptly, due to an animal crossing the roadway. Then he heard a loud sound coming from underneath the vehicle, when he took his foot off the brake. . The contact pulled over to the side of the road and saw the water tank had fallen to the ground. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the water tank was firmly re-attached to the RV. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but has to date denied responsibility for inadequately attaching the water tank to its RVs. The failure mileage was 49,500.

The ESP and ABS warning lights went on suddenly after what sounded like a thud. The car had not run over anything. There was some initial brief chattering of the break pedal, and that subsided. The car was not near a suitable and available repair shop at the time. It was driven to complete a trip. There were several instances of break pedal chattering that led concern about the controllability of the vehicle. During the trip, it was taken to a brake shop, and the technicians felt it was likely safe to drive. Eventually after the servicing dealer first replaced the front speed sensors, the ESP unit was found to be shorted. This event is of concern because the speed sensors on the rear have been replaced on recall and the front speed sensors have been granted an extended warrantee. Both feed into the ESP unit that failed. It seems possible the previously suspect parts may have damaged the ESP unit. There appears to be a safety issue with faulty break performance in this situation. The vehicle only had about 13,000 miles on the odometer. at the time of the event. Service an repair records are available upon request

The front left wheel cover shifted and nearly sheared off the tire valve stem. Had this happened while we were on the road, the tire would have had a very fast deflate/explosion. This would have put the 24ft. RV into an uncontrollable nose-dive and possible crash situation. The nearly-sheared valve stem was discovered by technicians while we were having routine maintenance done at the authorized Mercedes dealership. They removed the tire and replaced the valve stem. We were told by the Service Manager that this usually happens to the rear dual wheels, not the front. We have had zip ties put on to keep the wheel "hubcaps" (beauty rings) on the wheels because they are notorious for flying off. There are no warning lights etc. to indicate any wheel issues. This RV (Sprinter) has been in to authorized Mercedes Sprinter dealership for regular service over the past 4 years and only this time (June 26, 2023) was the problem discovered. The Mercedes Service Dept. in Eugene is the only technicians this RV has been in contact with. They seem to be aware that this "sheering" of valve stems is a reoccurring problem with Sprinters.

I'm getting wheel sensor errors and the vehicle goes into limp mode and disables the cruise control, even after replacing the sensors. Very frustrated with this dangerous situation!

The contact owns a 2017 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 3500. The contact stated that on two separate occasions while driving at undisclosed speeds, the vehicle started shaking and the contact heard a loud sound coming from the vehicle. The contact veered off the roadway and noticed that the hub cap had detached from the wheel. The contact stated that he was not aware that the inside tire had deflated. The contact then stated that he removed the hubcap from the road and continued driving to the nearest tire shop where it was diagnosed that rear driver’s side inside tire was deflated and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that on another occasion the vehicle was taken to the dealer for service, where the two rear passenger’s side tires were rotated, and the contact retrieved the vehicle however, while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to operate as needed. The contact pulled over to the nearest service station where it was inspected and the contact was informed that the two rear passenger’s side valve stem were entangled in the hub caps and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 26,000.

The contact owns a 2017 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 3500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V663000 (Steering) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.