What 100 owners told NHTSA about the 2015 Mercedes-benz GLA

A driver in my household was driving at normal speeds and smelled smoke in the cabin. She pulled over immediately to the nearest gas station. In that short time, there were FLAMES coming from the center console area. She ran inside to get employees with fire extinguisher. The fire was put out and police/fire department were called. The car was un-drivable, and my insurance declared it as a total loss (it would cost more to repair than the current blue book value). I had a similar problem previously with a Mercedes 2014 CLA250. That was a smaller fire, but melted the console area. I will be submitting a report for that one as well, even though it happened several years ago. After that incident we went back and forth with MB corporate and ultimately took it to dealer and ended up trading in for this one. Both fires were electrical fires from wires underneath the center console.

NHTSA ODI 11492588

I WAS DRIVING TO MEET A FRIEND FOR LUNCH. I CAME UP UPON A STOP LIGHT THAT WAS ALREADY RED AND I WOULD HAVE BEEN THE THIRD CAR IN LINE. I CAME TO WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A STOP. I WAS ABOUT A CAR LENGTH OR MORE BEHIND THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME. NEXT THING I KNOW, I HEAR A LOUD BANG AS MY CAR HAD ACCELERATED INTO THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE. THAT CAR, IN TURN, HIT THE CAR IN FRONT OF THEM. I WAS VERY CONFUSED. I RECEIVED A TRAFFIC TICKET FOR UNCONTROLLED SPEED. THE POLICEMAN THOUGHT I WAS I WAS CRAZY WHEN I SAID THAT I HAD COME TO A STOP. THE CAR WAS DRIVABLE, SO I STILL WENT TO LUNCH WITH MY FRIEND. NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER WITH PARKING OR DRIVING THE CAR TO THE RESTAURANT, WHICH WAS ABOUT 1 MILE AWAY. AFTER LUNCH, I THEN NEEDED TO RUN AN ERRAND BEFORE I WENT HOME. I DROVE ABOUT 2 BLOCKS AWAY FROM THE RESTAURANT AND PULLED INTO A SHOPPING CENTER. I THEN SLOWLY PULLED INTO A PARKING SPOT BETWEEN TWO OTHER CARS. AS MY CAR HIT THE CURB, IT THEN WENT OVER THE CURB, ONTO THE SIDEWALK AND SLAMMED INTO THE CONCRETE WALL OF ONE OF THE SHOPS. I WAS ABLE TO GET HOME, VERY SHAKEN, AND RESEARCHED ON THE INTERNET. EVERYTHING I FOUND INDICATED IT WAS SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION (SUA). I TOLD MY INSURANCE COMPANY AND ALSO CALLED MERCEDES BENZ USA. I HAD MY CAR TOWED TO THE MERCEDES COLLISION REPAIR SHOP. MERCEDES DID A RECORDED CONVERSATION AND SAID NOT TO HAVE THE CAR REPAIRED AND THEY WOULD LOOK AT IT. THEY WERE DEFENSIVE WHEN I MENTION SUA, BUT MY MAT IS VELCROED ON AND IT HAPPENED TWICE IN ONE DAY. AFTER THE SECOND COLLISION, I SAW A MESSAGE ON MY DASH THAT SAID : ?COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST PLUS INOPERATIVE". MY AIRBAGS NEVER DEPLOYED. I CHECKED AT THE MERCEDES COLLISION CENTER TODAY AND WAS TOLD MERCEDES REMOVED A BLACK RECORDING BOX FROM MY CAR. I HAVE NOT HEARD ANYTHING BACK AS OF YET. I AM AFRAID TO DRIVE THIS CAR EVEN IF IT IS REPAIRED.*DT *DT *TR

NHTSA ODI 11234599

MERCEDES BENZ GVA 250. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO AIRBAGS BEING DEPLOYED UNEXPECTEDLY. *LD THE CONSUMER STATED THE AIR BAG DEPLOYED WHILE DRIVING CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO FLIP AND DRAGGED ON IT'S ROOF. THE CONSUMER SUFFERED MINOR SCRATCHES AND BRUISES, AS WELL AS A POSSIBLE MICRO CRACK IN A RIB. *JS

NHTSA ODI 11099748

TAKATA RECALL. I WAS IN AN ACCIDENT IN MY CAR IN MARCH OF 2017 WHERE DRIVER AND PASSANGER AIRBAGS WERE DEPLOYED. DRIVER'S FRONT TOOTH WAS KNOCKED OUT AND LEFT SIDE DAMAGED. PASSANGER SIDE AIRBAGS SIDE AIRBAG DEPLOYED BUT NOT SURE ABOUT REST. I DON'T KNOW IF THE AIRBAGS DID WHAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BUT THE CAR IS A TOTAL LOSS AND WITH MY INSURANCE AND TITLE HOLDER (CAR LOAN). THE DRIVER HAD SKIN LACERATIONS FROM AIRBAG AND I DN'T KNOW WHAT WENT OFF WHERE AND HAVE MEMORY LOSS SO THE INSURANCE COMPANY WOULD BE BETTER ABLE TO ASESS.

NHTSA ODI 11048126

I HAD TWO MVA ACCIDENTS (FEBRUARY 1 AND MARCH 16, 2016) IN THIS VEHICLE WITHIN~ 3 MONTHS OF OWNERSHIP. THE ACCIDENTS OCCURRED WHEN I SLOWED DOWN THIS VEHICLE UNDER 10-15MPH. UPON PURCHASE, I NOTICED UNLIKE OTHER CARS I HAVE OWNED, AT A STOP THIS MBGLA 250 VEHICLE ENGINE WOULD CUT OFF COMPLETELY AND START BACK WHEN THE GAS PEDAL WAS PRESSED. I WAS TOLD BY THE DEALERSHIP THIS WAS NORMAL. HOWEVER, I NOTICED WHEN I RECEIVED THE CAR BACK FROM PARK PLACE BODYWERKS IN MARCH, 2016, (AFTER ~ 5 WEEK REPAIR PERIOD FROM THE FIRST ACCIDENT THAT OCCURRED IN FEBRUARY 2016) THE ENGINE GEARS WOULD JUMP FROM 1ST TO 4TH AFTER SLOWING DOWN ON THE BRAKE FOLLOWED BY STEPPING ON THE GAS PEDAL, IT FELT LIKE THE CAR WAS JUMPING BETWEEN GEARS, I WAS NOT ABLE TO CONTROL THIS. THE CURRENT CAR ACCIDENT HAPPENED ON MARCH 16, 2016, WITHIN 1 WEEK POST REPAIR FROM PARK PLACE BODYWERKS, AFTER I STOPPED AT A STOPPED LIGHT I HIT THE LIGHT POLE, RESULTING IN FRONT END DAMAGE AND NO AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT. DURING THIS CONTINUOUS ADDITIONAL 3 MONTH REPAIR PERIOD, I WAS NOTIFIED IN MAY, 2016 BY MY GEICO ADJUSTER THAT THE TRANSMISSION HAD THE WRONG FLUID IN IT AND THE CLAIM WOULD BE ESCALATED. IN THE DAYS THAT FOLLOW, I WAS CONTACTED BY A PARK PLACE BODYWERKS AGENT AND ASKED "DID YOU CHANGE THE FLUIDS IN THE TRANSMISSION.." I WAS EXTREMELY OFFENDED AND INFORMED HIM "I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO OPEN THE HOOD..." AS OF TODAY, 6/13/16, GEICO HAS PAID PARK PLACE BODYWERKS ON BEHALF OF MY POLICY $28,831.30 FOR A VEHICLE I HAVE ONLY OWNED SINCE NOVEMBER 2015, DRIVEN LESS THAN 2 MONTHS, BOUGHT CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED FROM PARK PLACE BODYWERKS WITH LESS THAN 8000 MILES, CONTAINED THE WRONG TRANSMISSION FLUID FROM THE DEALERSHIP, HAD TWO LOW SPEED ACCIDENTS EACH WITH NO AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT, A HOSPITALIZATION FOR THE OWNER AND NEVER HAD A DRIVING HISTORY LIKE THIS OF MULTIPLE ACCIDENTS.

NHTSA ODI 10874019