What 46 owners told NHTSA about the 2022 Mercedes-benz S-class Phev

On multiple occasions, after the vehicle had been parked and not driven for approximately five days or more, the automatic parking brake locked in place and would not release. I attempted standard methods to disengage the brake, including manual release procedures and lightly rocking the vehicle, without success. The only way to release the brake was to apply significant pressure to the accelerator while in reverse, which caused the brake to suddenly unlock. The first incident occurred while the vehicle was parked in my home garage. At the time, my grandson was playing nearby. The sudden release of the brake after applying the accelerator created a dangerous situation and was extremely alarming. A second incident occurred several days later while I was on vacation. In this instance, I made sure no one was near the vehicle before attempting to release the brake. Anticipating the issue, I had my left foot ready to push on the breaks when I accelerated using my right foot which releases the parking. I brought the vehicle to a Mercedes-Benz dealership on January 5, 2026, where the car remained for nearly ten days. The dealership was able to replicate the issue exactly as described. The service advisor also had to apply significant accelerator pressure to release the locked parking brake. A certified Mercedes-Benz technician inspected the vehicle thoroughly, including scanning for fault codes and checking for rust or mechanical issues, but ultimately advised that this behavior was considered “normal operation.” I find this explanation concerning. Having to apply forceful acceleration to release a locked parking brake presents a clear safety risk, particularly in confined spaces such as garages or parking structures, and could easily result in property damage or personal injury

NHTSA ODI 11712692

Was driving the car at 3:00 P.M. and all of a sudden thr dash display when total black out nothing on the display screen. Speed,fuel,turnning singles nothing total black out. Took it to the dealership to fix as this can and would be a life threathing at loss of life could and can happen in a traffic sistiution

NHTSA ODI 11709116

The following pictures will again show the issues that I'm having while driving my 2022 S Class Mercedes, while using the cruise control on the Belt Parkway. It shows me stuck in traffic and, although I can only go 11 miles an hour while I’m stuck in traffic, the cruise control wants to push it to 80 mph, which is indeed VERY VERY DANGEROUS!! as you can well imagine. Also, as you can see in the second picture, I have the cruise control set to 39 MPH. I have been writing for the past two months with no resolve as yet. The repair records speak for themselves and still Mercedes Benz offers no remedy. It would appear that it's going to take a severe accident or fatality to bring some type of action on your part to replace this vehicle, which is definitely a LEMON!!

NHTSA ODI 11651654

Here we go again, while driving on a side road with a 20 mph school speed limit, the cruise control wants to SPEED UP to 60 mph!! WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO REMEDY THIS BEFORE I’M INVOLVED IN A SERIOUS ACCIDENT!!

NHTSA ODI 11650963

I leased my 2022 S 500, Mercedes Benz. on September 28, 2022 and after about a year, I have had issues with the large screen/radio and cruise control in the vehicle. All events are documented at the Rockville Centre, Long Island service center. I have made numerous complaints beginning in January of this year through emails and was assigned a case number with Mercedes Benz corporate which is 12240831. On numerous occasions, while using the cruise control set to 50 MPH, the vehicle will accelerate to  80 MPH  on a highway with a  50 MPH speed limit. Then on other occasions,  while using the cruise control, the vehicle will accelerate to  80 MPH  on a highway with a  25 MPH speed limit. Then,  at other times, while using the cruise control set to 50 MPH, on a highway which has a 50 MPH speed limit, the car will reduce to 10 MPH .  All of these scenarios are  VERY  DANGEROUS  as you can well imagine. On many other occasions, the screen map will become blurry & distorted causing confusion as to my whereabouts. **The time has come for a replacement/repurchase of this vehicle and,  I believe, at this time, this vehicle should be considered for the  "LEMON LAW"  under all applicable State and Federal laws.   I can send a separate email with all of the pictures of the screen and cruise control issues. 

NHTSA ODI 11649962

as a loyal Mercedes Benz customer for the past 15 years, here I am writing to you for the fourth time since January 28th. of this year. My case number is [XXX]. I leased my 2022 S 500, VIN # [XXX] on [XXX] and after about a year, I have had issues with the large screen/radio in the vehicle. All events are documented with your Rockville Centre, Long Island service facility where the staff has been very helpful. On numerous occasions, while using the cruise control set to 50 MPH, the vehicle will accelerate to 80 MPH on a highway with a 50 MPH speed limit. Then on other occasions, while using the cruise control, the vehicle will accelerate to 80 MPH on a highway with a 25 MPH speed limit. Then, at other times, while using the cruise control set to 50 MPH, on a highway which has a 50 MPH speed limit, the car will reduce to 10 MPH . All of these scenarios are VERY DANGEROUS as you can well imagine. On many other occasions, the screen map will become blurry & distorted causing confusion as to my whereabouts. On a side note, we had an usually warm day [XXX]. here in New York City of about 55° and while riding around NY City, the air conditioner was not cooling properly and was brought in for service shortly afterwards for that issue as well as all of the screen issues. The same problem with the air conditioning occurred last week as the temperatures in New York City were about 55° and, frustrated again, I brought the vehicle in for the air conditioner and screen issues and they kept the vehicle for ten (10) days!!. **The time has come for a replacement/repurchase of this vehicle and, I believe, at this time, this vehicle should be considered for the "LEMON LAW" under all applicable State and Federal laws. I will be sending a separate email with a few pictures of the screen issues. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11648771

Check engine light came on few occasions. Took to the dealer and told it’s just a false alarm no problems. On the night of sept 12th 2024, I’m my way home I lost the ac cooling all of a sudden. I was only 5 mts from home. Once inside my garage I saw to my horror some smoke coming from under yhe hood. Upon opening saw some charred wires and some wire smoldering and smoke was coming out of it. Scared for my family I parked my car outside overnite and called the dealer. They had the car towed away the next day. Got my car back on 6 th of November 2024, with a laundry list of problems and issues, that they had supposedly fixed. Three or four various engine wiring harnesses were replaced, due to charring or melting, probably due to the heat. The engine and transmission were lifted off to fix all the wires and what not. I have all the invoices. And video and pictures of some wires and smoke. They don’t have an explanation for this. The recent recall about ecu maybe suggests the overheating of engine and causing the wires to burn out and some wires started burning almost causing fire if not caught in time. Called Mbusa and they didn’t show any concern. But one week after this incident they issued that ecu engine heating warning. Off course there is no repair for that. This is a fire hazard waiting to happen.

NHTSA ODI 11631897

The car slams on the brakes for no reason. phantom braking. i have been tailgated because cars behind me - particularly on tye highway - think i’ve brake checked them (but it was the care slamming on the brakes). the door handles don’t open/deploy reliably. sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. the touch screens are incredibly dangerous - especially when the system freezes or doesn’t work properly - which is often. there are almost no physical buttons. the system software & touchscreens are VERY glitchy and often doesn’t function properly. touch-sensitive buttons on the steering wheel get activated just from me driving. functions turn on and off just because my hands in on the steering wheel. it’s dangerous. the car had 7 flat tires in 1 year. it’s too heavy for the 21” low profile tires. MBUSA has been made aware of the multitude of problems. The car is constantly at the dealership for warranty repairs. It's a lemon, but MBUSA won’t do anything about it. not until someone gets killed. MBUSA blows me off with every interaction and complaint i make about the quality problems with this car. They don’t care.

NHTSA ODI 11614618

Camera which provides data to key ADAS features repeatedly malfunctions. Car reports “camera view restricted” rendering many safety features inoperable. It does so repeatedly. Dealer service department says camera cover is malfunctioning and part is on back order. This renders the car unsafe since the various safety features are inoperable and the warning message pops up,so often as to be distracting.

NHTSA ODI 11572673

While driving on highway car made a complete sudden full stop This has happened twice in last 60 days Thankful car behind was far enough away to avoid a rear ender Second problem is dealer still not addressing fuel pump recall

NHTSA ODI 11554973

I have had two separate incidents where the automatic braking system engaged causing vehicle to come to a complete stop almost causing me to get rear ended by another vehicle. The first time there was no sign of a vehicle in the front of me. It happened at about 55 miles an hour on the expressway. I took the vehicle back to the dealer and they claim they haven't had any issues so they download some new software and said that should take care of the problem. The second time happened today. I was entering a roundabout at 15 miles an hour (there was a vehicle about 15 feet ahead of me) my vehicle suddenly stopped (vehicle behind me hit their brakes almost hitting me). I emailed the dealer a video clip of the incident but have had no response at this point. I have lost confidence in the safety of the vehicle at this point. I have a dash cam video I can send if needed.

NHTSA ODI 11509769

Was driver the car at 35 mph when the automated emergency breaks activated and made the car into a full stop. No cars or anyone was in front of the car. This happed again two days later doing about 30mph with no one around the car. Car had proximity 3000 miles My heads-up display stopped working on the car twice. First time it stopped the dealer had to order a new one and replace it. Same problem happed again after 2 month. Car lock does open when the car is running. I had a dad sitting the car and I came out with the keys with engine was running. The car locked itself and when pressed the unlock button on the key it doesn’t open. Have this problem multiple time.

NHTSA ODI 11506308

The contact owns a 2022 Mercedes-Benz S580. The contact stated that while driving at 30 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated due to the cruise control feature failing to recognize the correct speed limit sign. The dealer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact to deactivate the cruise control feature. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 8,000.

NHTSA ODI 11493858

The contact owns a 2022 Mercedes-Benz S500. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed and making a left turn, the Adaptive Braking System inadvertently activated and the vehicle experienced hard braking. There were no objects in the roadway. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact called the local dealer who scheduled a service appointment however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 4,800. The VIN was not available.

NHTSA ODI 11486717

I was going at 70 miles without any car in the front and abruptly the break assistant activate , that happened twice , yesterday and today , and I am scare because instead of prevent an accident it will be causing one

NHTSA ODI 11484372

The contact owns a 2022 Mercedes-Benz S580. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle experienced phantom braking with the Active Brake Assist warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle operated normally after the failure. The dealer was contacted and the vehicle was picked up by a representative. The manufacturer was not contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 6,003.

NHTSA ODI 11477847