MERCEDES-BENZ Complaints

On January 19, 2026, my neighbors / daughter noticed smoke was coming from under the van that had been parked for over 3 hours. Shortly after, he confirmed the van had caught fire. I asked him to call the fire department.

Windshield Wiper Collision & Breakage Issue Vehicle: 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE350 While driving in heavy rain with the windshield wipers activated, the left and right wiper arms move at inconsistent speeds due to uneven friction on the windshield. The two wiper blades repeatedly crash into each other during every sweep cycle. Constant hard impact from the colliding wipers eventually snapped one of the wiper assemblies. This creates a severe safety hazard: broken wipers cannot clear rainwater from the windshield, leading to drastically reduced forward visibility while driving. This is not isolated damage from misuse, accident, or aftermarket wiper parts. Factory OEM wiper linkage, motor limit calibration and weak wiper arm springs are the root cause. Multiple other GLE owners have reported identical wiper collision problems on vehicle forums and dealer service records, confirming this is a widespread manufacturing/software calibration defect of the GLE platform. No collision or rough handling occurred prior to the failure; the issue started gradually with loud clattering noise during rain, then progressed to permanent breakage of the wiper arm.

Make & Model: 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE350 Complaint Details: My driver side and passenger side , both sun visor’s factory plastic pivot hinge snapped apart under regular operation. The plastic arm split into two fragments, rendering the sun visor unusable — it droops down constantly and blocks part of my forward driving vision, creating a safety hazard while driving. There was no accident, no heavy items hung on the visor, and no forced or rough manipulation to cause damage. The original OEM pivot component is made of low-strength thin plastic with no internal metal support. Prolonged exposure to high heat inside the car from outdoor parking accelerated plastic embrittlement, resulting in early failure within just 2 years of vehicle ownership. This is a clear design and material quality defect from the manufacturer. The weak plastic pivot structure cannot sustain normal repeated folding of the sun visor. Photos of the broken plastic parts and the failed sun visor assembly are uploaded as supporting evidence.

While driving down a busy neighborhood street 2 lanes with cars on both sides making it a 1 lane road pulled over to the side a little to let cars pass. All of a sudden ALL electrical and engine stopped and turned off. Only thing that was powered was instrument cluster with multiple warnings like SRS Malfunction, Steering Malfunction, SOS Inoperative, Parking Brake and more. We believe the car had also shifted to park on its own. No power to anything not even hazard lights. Nothing electrical had any sort of power. Could not even turn car off completely could not get the instrument cluster to turn off with ignition button. When I say everything electrical had no power I mean everything except instrument cluster. Hazard lights power locks, lights of any kind, ignition switch, gear selector, windows, sos feature, nothing had power. I could not imagine having this issue driving on the interstate and having the car completely loose ALL electrical power and what could happen to specially with a SRS malfunction and issue with steering. Had to have a wrecker come with wheel dollys because car could not be put in neutral and towed to Mercedes dealer. Upon their inspection they found the Circuit 30T relay to be stuck in the open position which killed power to everything so the technician replaced the engine compartment pre-fuse panel. It is such a unsafe and very hazardous issue to have a relay failure to where all power is lost especially if you were driving on interstate especially at night with traffic to loose everything electrical even hazard lights and headlights, SRS maltunction, Steering. Mercedes needs to figure this very unsafe issue out.

Sunroof glass exploded without warning while driving at highway speed. Glass shards poured throughout the vehicle including on the driver, potentially putting the vehicle and other vehicles in danger.

I was driving around and my [XXX] daughter was complaining that the seat was getting super hot . I told her to stop playing with the seat warmer she then replied she was not . I kept driving and then she again told me it was burning her so i pulled over and saw that her leg was super red and i saw the seat was pretty melted . I called mercedes care center and they adviced me to take it to my local mercedes dealer . They are quoting me almost 4000 dollars and also replied with this message, “Good afternoon [XXX] we heard back from Mercedes Benz CAC and they have advised us they are not offering any assistance towards the seat repair. Please contact me when you have a moment. Thank you.” INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2025 Mercedes-Benz GLC350E 4MATIC. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V281000 (Electrical System); but the recall repair failed to prevent a failure. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the instrument panel display was inoperable. The failure was a recurring failure. The dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 12,540.

The engine-driven vacuum pump and turbocharger boost-control vacuum system malfunctioned. The vehicle developed insufficient vacuum to the boost-control system, resulting in a P0299 turbocharger underboost fault and reduced engine power. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. The vehicle experienced a noticeable loss of peak power and reduced acceleration. Although it did not enter limp mode, unexpected reduced acceleration could create a safety risk while merging onto a highway, passing another vehicle, entering or crossing traffic, or attempting to avoid a collision. An authorized Mercedes-Benz dealership scanned the vehicle, confirmed fault code P0299, and documented that vacuum supplied to the turbocharger boost-control system was too low. The dealership recommended replacing the vacuum pump and retesting the vehicle. The vehicle was inspected and diagnosed by an authorized Mercedes-Benz dealership. Mercedes-Benz USA reviewed the case and the dealership’s diagnosis as part of a goodwill-assistance request, but Mercedes-Benz USA did not physically inspect the vehicle. The vehicle has not been inspected by police or insurance representatives. The check-engine light illuminated, and the vehicle stored a P0299 turbocharger underboost fault. I also noticed reduced peak engine power and weaker acceleration. The vehicle did not enter limp mode. These symptoms first appeared at approximately 42,000 miles on or around June of 2026. Mercedes-Benz has issued an extended warranty for vacuum-pump failures on certain M157-powered vehicles that identifies the same vacuum-pump part number used in my M276-powered GLC 43 and describes similar symptoms, including low boost, a check-engine light, and P0299. Although my vehicle is not currently included in that extension, the use of the identical component and substantially similar failure raises concern that the affected population may extend beyond the listed M157 models.

The contact owns a 2023 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 3500. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35-40 MPH, the vehicle went into LIMP Mode. The contact was able to shift to neutral and restart the vehicle. The failure reoccurred at approximately 40,000. The failure became more frequent and was recurring every 3,000 to 4,000 miles. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed the vehicle with an inoperable air charger for the turbo charger. The failure persisted, and the vehicle was returned to another dealer, Mercedes-Benz of Arrowhead (9260 W Bell Rd, Peoria, AZ 85382) to be diagnosed and the vehicle was diagnosed with engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The engine was replaced, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was informed of the failure, and a case was opened to discuss a buy-back offer. The failure mileage was approximately 33,000.

The contact owns a 2023 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 3500. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, there was an abnormal metal grinding sound coming from the rear of the vehicle. While driving at various speeds, the vehicle went into LIMP Mode. The transmission was shifted into neutral(N) and the vehicle was restarted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed the vehicle with pinion bearing failure and the LIMP Mode failure causing an Emissions issue. The rear axle, air charger GPS, turbo, and oil sensor were all replaced. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and was diagnosed with the same failure. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and a case was opened to discuss a buy-back offer for the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 9,600.