What 122 owners told NHTSA about the 2020 Mercedes-benz GLE

My 2020 GLE350 met with an accident on 1/20/2023. My wife was driving this vehicle on the freeway at about 40-50mph and she rear ended a Toyota Camry that was ahead of her. Mt complaint is two fold - The airbags did not deploy - The Active Brake Assist system failed to work The collision is a major one. You can see from the pictures. The body shop, an approved vendor for my insurance Geico, has prepared an estimate for $25,487. My vehicle has been in the body shop since the day of the accident. On 1/27/23, the estimate was prepared. I have to approve it and they will start the work anytime this week. This high repair cost is an indicator of a major collision. In such a major collision, I'd expect - Airbags should have deployed. The Camry's airbag did deploy, so should have ours. My wife suffered a strong whiplash. She has severe neck, shoulder, elbow pain and headaches. She is scheduled to undergo physical therapy. If the airbags deployed, these injuries could have been avoided. - The Active Brake Assist system should have been activated during the rear end collision. It should have detected and avoided the collision. However, it failed to deploy too. Few times when I back up, this safety feature has been very useful. It will identify moving objects like pedestrians, vehicle crossing and automatically apply the brakes and prevent potential collision. However, when we needed it most, it failed to save us. The automatic braking didn't happen. There were no visual or acoustic warnings prior to the collision. One of the main reasons I bought GLE350 was for this safety feature. I am so disappointed by this catastrophic failure and questioning whether I should drive this Mercedes anymore. Because of these safety failures, I really worry about driving this vehicle and bringing to NHTSA's attention. Please investigate this safety failure. Year: 2020 Make: Mercedes Benz Model: GLE350W4 Mileage: 30K miles approximately

NHTSA ODI 11504347

The Brakes Failed - At Mercedes Dealership for Over a Month My Wife could have been killed on the highway going 70MPH with no brakes The car was towed by Mercedes over a month ago and never returned. No one will talk to me. Mercedes will not speak with me. Nor have they contacted the dealer - Letter Enclosed No warning - Just brake failure. Prior to that we got a "Your cameras are not working message" a week prior and the car would warn you another car was there. But there was no car.

NHTSA ODI 11479258

When my wife got into vehicle first thing in the morning after it sitting all night in the garage, she smelled a foul smell. As she was driving, she opened all the windows to dissipate the smell and turned in the heater because wit was cold that morning. After about ten to twelve minutes of driving, she noticed the check engine light came on and the car started shaking. She pulled over and exited vehicle. As soon as she got out the vehicle started smoking and caught fire. The vehicle is a total loss.

NHTSA ODI 11435476

WE WERE DRIVING OUR MERCEDES GLE 350 ON I 80 NEAR MILE MARKER 203.1, OHIO ON 7/11/2020 AT 7 AM. IT WAS RAINING A BIT IN MORNING. THE LANE DEPARTURE ASSIST WAS ON, AND IT WAS TURNING GREEN AND GRAY CONTINUOUSLY. I KEEP LANE ASSIST ON ALL THE TIME FOR SAFETY PURPOSE. I WAS DRIVING ON THE SLOW LANE ON RIGHT MOST LANE AT APPROXIMATELY 60 MILES. SUDDENLY THE VEHICLE LOST CONTROL AND STARTED SLIPPING ON THE ROAD. I TRIED TO CONTROL IT, HOWEVER IT WOULD NOT COME UNDER CONTROL. FINALLY THE CAR DRIFTED ALL THE WAY TO THE LEFT MOST LANE, AND RAMMED INTO THE CONCRETE DIVIDER ON DRIVER SIDE. THE DRIVER SIDE BAGS INFLATED AND LUCKLY NO ONE WAS HURT SERIOUSLY. I AM A MECHANICAL ENGINEER FROM CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY, AND HAVE WORKED IN AUTO INDUSTRY FOR A FEW YEARS BEFORE. IT ALMOST FELT THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS MECHANICALLY WRONG THAT CAUSED THE CAR TO SLIP AND LOOSE CONTROL. MERCEDES GLE 350, 2020 MODEL HAS A HARSH REACTION TO LANE DEPARTURE AND I HAVE A FEELING THAT IT CAUSED THE CAR TO HYDROPLANE BECAUSE THE REACTION IS SO SUDDEN. PLEASE LOOK INTO THE ISSUE, SO THAT NO ONE GET SERIOUSLY HURT. THIS IS MY FIRST ACCIDENT IN LIFE AND I AM 42 YEARS OLD. I THINK THE LANE DEPARTURE SYSTEM IN MERCEDES DOSEN'T WORK OR NEEDS TO BE FINE TUNED SO THAT IT DOSEN'T CAUSE ACCIDENTS IN SLIPPERY CONDITIONS. [XXX] REDACTED TO PROTECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA ODI 11340617