Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC is recalling certain 2026 CLA 350 4MATIC and CLA 250+ vehicles

May 01, 2026 — Recall Campaign #26V278000

Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (MBUSA) is recalling certain 2026 CLA 350 4MATIC (EV) and CLA 250+ (EV) vehicles. The front passenger seat belt retractor may have been manufactured with a defect that prevents the deactivation of the child seat safety function (Automatic Locking Retractor). As a result, the seat belt may remain in a locked position and cannot be extended.

The recall was influenced by the manufacturer with about 15 units affected.

See recall notice

NHTSA Safety Recall Notice

26V278000

Manufacturer:	Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC
Recall date:	May 01, 2026
NHTSA Campaign #:	26V278000
Units affected:	15

Description:: Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (MBUSA) is recalling certain 2026 CLA 350 4MATIC (EV) and CLA 250+ (EV) vehicles. The front passenger seat belt retractor may have been manufactured with a defect that prevents the deactivation of the child seat safety function (Automatic Locking Retractor). As a result, the seat belt may remain in a locked position and cannot be extended.
Consequeces:: A passenger who is unable to fasten their seat belt is not properly restrained, increasing their risk of injury in a crash.
Corrective action:: Dealers will replace the front passenger seat belt, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 24, 2026. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning May 8, 2026.

Affects the following:

2026 MERCEDES-BENZ CLA 250+ (EV) Complaints
While driving at 50mph, the vehicle came to a full stop in 2 seconds by auto breaking (to avoid collision) when there was no object or vehicle in front of the car. I almost got rear-ended as stopping from 50mph to 0 mph on a highway was extremely dangerous but luckily the car behind me was able to use the lane to my right to avoid the collision. When the vehicle was taken to the service center, the computer systems showed no record of this incident. However, I do have a dashcam footage of it. In the video, you can clearly see a stopped car on the left turn lane (the break lights of the car is visible and the car is stationary when the video is analyzed frame by frame.) The driving lane is curving to the right and the vehicle is also turning to the right following the lane. (this is verified by following the double yellow line - then the single solid white line and vehicle's motion to the right.) Despite all this, the car slammed the breaks and stopped. The video is seen by the service center workers as well. They updated the software on the car at the time of service. An escalated ticket was also created with Mercedes corporate office with case number: 23763407. At the very least, the cars should be keeping records of collision avoiding breaking administered by the car's system so when you're at the service center, there's a record of what happened. This incident could have resulted into a high-speed collision with severe injuries to the people in both vehicles and one pet. And if it did, the car would have shown zero record of functions performed and the drivers would have been blamed.;