What 284 owners told NHTSA about the 2014 Mercedes-benz C-class Hybrid

Car has approximately 60,000. miles. Upon it's state inspection Mercedes Benz service center indicated rear subframe is rusted. Service advisory says it is okay now, but will need to be replaced. Searching Mercedes forums, I've noted this is a n oft reported issue. Many do not realize there is an issue until it breaks and car pulls to one side at rear upon braking. Others have experienced rusted brake lines at the same area as the subframe issue. Others have noted damage to the gas tank from suspension parts banging the fuel tank after it breaks. I realize this is a 8 year old vehicle. But the vehicle shows zero signs of rust on the undercarriage except for the subframe. Sure seems like a manufacturer's defect that should be recalled by Mercedes. Because of safety concerns, I now have to decide to repair or trade the car because of safety concerns. But the rusted subframe zaps the value I thought I had in the vehicle for a trade. What is the protocol for manufacturer's to issue safety recalls. Sure seems like this one qualifies.

NHTSA ODI 11501740

Malfunction of rear subframe and control arms due to rust causing the subframe to crack. When breaking the rear wheels swerved almost causing a collision on the highway. My mechanic inspected the car and deemed it unsafe for driving as this can cause injury or death to me and others. The car is currently being repaired. This problem is being ignored by MBUSA, however MB in Europe acknowledges the faulty metal and will repair at no cost. There were no warning lamps or messages that made me aware that the subframe is rusted and cracked.

NHTSA ODI 11500261

On December 14, 2022 at approximately 3:45 pm in rush hour traffic in the high speed lane on i-75 in Bradenton, Fl, the 2014 Mercedes C250 I was driving lost total engine power, traveling from 80mph to 0 in seconds. I had just enough time because of the momentum of the speed I was traveling at to maneuver the car into the breakdown lane adjacent to a median construction site. Had I been traveling in the middle lane there would have been insufficient time to change lanes in heavy, fast traveling traffic and get to a breakdown lane. In other words, we could have been killed. There was no check engine light nor warning lights of any kind. The engine was quiet and there was no engine rattling noise or shuddering prior to the incident during over 7 hours of travel from Marietta, Georgia into Florida. The car had been purchased from a used car dealer in Marietta two days before and had passed the Georgia emissions test on 11/18/22. We had the car towed to a Mercedes Benz dealership 20 miles away in Sarasota. On 12/16/22 Mercedes mechanics deemed the catastrophic engine failure to be due to a broken timing chain (this was confirmed in a conversation12/21 with Mercedes Sarasota Service Manager Jim Foulkrod) and that there was no compression in the engine. Among the codes which came up during Mercedes multi-point inspection was 036562, exhaust cam signal and 34164. Mercedes’ estimate to fix the car was $24,222.13. We declined to move forward with engine repairs. Mercedes was threatening to charge storage fees so the car was donated to the charity, Veteran Car Donations, Heroes on the Water which towed the car on 12/20/22. The car remains with the charity awaiting title transfer information.

NHTSA ODI 11499904

Interior driver door handle not operating. I brought the car to the mechanic and he states this is a common problem and the whole door panel has to be replace for 1000.00. I went home and researched repairs on this and this is a very common issue with mercedes and many mechanics including the one I went to doesn't understand why this is not a recall. This a very serious safety issue. I have to lower the window to get out of my car. If I have to get out quickly it is impossible. If the window stops working I cannot get out of the car. This safety issue affects me and my passengers if I have to get out of my car quick such an accident or fire. The quality is so poor on these plastic parts of the handle and removing the door panel is complicated because it not meant to be removed and taken apart. I am a nurse that was traveling in Nevada when this occurred.

NHTSA ODI 11497597

Collision and airbags didn’t go off but should of cause recall and now totaled [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11496328

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.

NHTSA ODI 11496298

I received a notice several years ago for the airbag to be replaced due to a recall. Mercedes-Benz has not been able to remedy this issue for years. I have called for several years, but the Mercedes dealer near me continues to state that the airbag part is not available. I called Mercedes hotline (877-496-3691) a month ago to report the issue. No one answered so I left a voicemail. I received no contact from them. I called last week 3 times in a row and finally someone answered. I opened a claim with them for the escalation team. They said I would receive a response in 48 hours. I received no response.

NHTSA ODI 11496301

With no prior warning indicator on braking issues with my 2014 C250, I travelled from Ormond Beach FL to Savannah GA, on I-95 with one stop in Kingsland GA. I still had no warning indicator on breaking issues as I took the off-ramp to Savannah. A failure occurred with the braking system as I exited I-95, with no vehicle warning indicator shown before or after I came to a stop. I had to exert maximum pressure on the brake to stop, requiring an expansion clear length of off-ramp to do so. An elderly, weaker person or even my wife wouldn’t have had the strength to stop over the distance I stopped it in. Luckily there was no vehicles stopping in front of me, otherwise I would have hit them at high speed. At Savannah Mercedes they found a Faulty Vacuum Pump, & like me were perplexed that no prior warning indicator showed up on my vehicle. This issue has obviously caused me great concern & indicates an inherent dangerous & life-threatening condition with my, & I assume other 2014 C-250’s, if not other years and models. If this dangerous failure had occurred on I-95 as traffic slowed to a stop, I would have run into the vehicle in front of me & my wife & could have been killed. More menacingly, it would most probably have been reported that I wasn’t paying attention & it was my fault rather that a catastrophic dangerous manufacturer failure with my vehicle. It sadly seems to me that this scenario may actually have happened with some MB vehicles and the driver/s are not around to say.

NHTSA ODI 11495900

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.

NHTSA ODI 11493178

I bought the car from a used car dealer and 4 days later I was going 70 miles a hour down a highway and the studs broke on my right rear tire and the tire fell off.

NHTSA ODI 11490511

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.

NHTSA ODI 11487294

Steering lock mechanism fails without warning and leaves vehicle and occupants stranded in potentially dangerous location. No onsite repair possible. Vehicle must be towed to authorized dealer for repair. > Safety of car occupants was at risk. > No warning prior to failure. > Repair cost ~!500. Unsure of reliability of replacement unit > My dealer says this is a frequent occurrence. 6+ repairs / month for this model car at this dealer, Expects same frequency at others > Dealer service agent stated he personally believes it should be covered by a recall or free repair. > Filed formal complaint with Company (Mercedes-Benz) but reimbursement was refused. > Similar stranding incident on same car occurred in 05/2021 and car require tow to same dealer who suspected same problem but was unable to duplicate and/or repair the failing component at that time

NHTSA ODI 11486036

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.

NHTSA ODI 11483657

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.

NHTSA ODI 11479919

INSIDE HANDLE DOOR left broke 2019 and right broke 8/10/2022, Senior people is hard to open a broken door and if an accident will happen they can not came out of the car. We took the car to Mercedes Benz dealer and they want to charge to fix it. We took to independent mechanic the 1st time on 2019 and they charge us like $1,000. Now the right handle door is broke 8/10/2022. We need Mercedes Benz to fix it ASAP. This issue is happen a lot to Mercedes Benz

NHTSA ODI 11479038

The Cam Shaft and the boost pressure need to be replaced immediately. I took my car to a Mercedes Benz dealership in Long Island, NY for a regular oil change (nothing was wrong with my car when it went in for the oil change). When they gave me back my car I literally got 1 and half blocks from the dealership and my car was jerking violently and the check engine light came on and has not gone off since that day. I took the car right back to the dealership and of course they are saying they did nothing to make this happen and are refusing to cover the repairs for the Cam Shaft and boost pressure to make my car run correctly again. This is a dangerous car to drive now because due to this same problem the car has random issues accelerating and has put me in dangerous situations while driving on the highway and on the street. The interesting part is Mercedes Benz knows that this is a serious issue with this car because I was told that by the people that work at the dealership that Mercedes is covering the full repairs for what my car is going through but they are only doing it for people who's cars are under 120,000 miles. My car is at 133,000 miles and they are refusing to cover the repairs for me. My complaint number with Mercedes Benz customer service is 2-29420067413. They are not being helpful because they told me that every Mercedes dealership in the United States is independently owned besides the one in Manhattan NY. They are telling me that even though they are the manufacturer each dealership makes their own decisions. This is absolutely absurd and my car is dangerous to drive at this point. They want $5,000 and counting from me to repair my car for something that they messed up on and that they know is a known issue. Please help me get this resolved. Thank You

NHTSA ODI 11476971

MANUFACTURER UNABLE TO REPAIR RECALLED PARTS DUE TO THERE ARE NO MERCEDES BENZ AUTHORIZED SERVICE SITE IN GUAM ACCORDING TO THEIR CUSTOMER-ADVOCACY OFFICE. I AM IN THE PROCESS IN SHIPPING MY CAR BACK TO CALIFORNIA, THROUGH THE MILITARY, BUT THIS MAY AFFECT IT UNLESS IT GETS RESOLVED. PLEASE ADVISE.

NHTSA ODI 11475808

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).

NHTSA ODI 11470521

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.

NHTSA ODI 11466656

While parked and locked the cars trunk will randomly open on its own. It has happened at home, work, other parking lots. I will check and make sure it’s closed and I will come bs k to the trunk open.

NHTSA ODI 11455470

My Mercedes started smoking from within the cabin. I traced it down to the speaker in the car. I contacted the Mercedes dealership and told them that my speaker was burning and smoking. The service advisor knew exactly the problem and said that the factory amplifier went bad and is causing an electrical issue in the car. He had seen this before. However, Mercedes is not considering a safety issue nor doing a recall. However, I was told I should not drive the car and have it towed. So, if my car can catch fire while driving from a faulty amplifier, that would be a safety issue. I was told this would be an out of pocket expense.

NHTSA ODI 11453544

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.

NHTSA ODI 11450424

The contact owns a 2014 Mercedes-Benz C250. The contact stated while driving approximately 75 - 80 MPH, the brakes failed, and the brake pedal was stiff while depressed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and diagnosed with brake vacuum pump failure. The brake vacuum pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and remained at the dealer. The brake vacuum pump was previously replaced by an independent mechanic for the recurring failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 85,535. The VIN was unavailable.

NHTSA ODI 11448024

Driving on the freeway I-5 Southbound in Orange County, California when my brakes failed. 1) There was no warning in advance of this episode, no squeaky brakes, no leaking of oil or fluid. 2) Car had been routinely repaired and maintained by the mercedes dealership. 3)An independent Mercedes mechanic

NHTSA ODI 11447924

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

NHTSA ODI 11445095