What 43 owners told NHTSA about the 2024 Mercedes-benz Gle-class

Make & Model: 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE350 Complaint Details: My driver side and passenger side , both sun visor’s factory plastic pivot hinge snapped apart under regular operation. The plastic arm split into two fragments, rendering the sun visor unusable — it droops down constantly and blocks part of my forward driving vision, creating a safety hazard while driving. There was no accident, no heavy items hung on the visor, and no forced or rough manipulation to cause damage. The original OEM pivot component is made of low-strength thin plastic with no internal metal support. Prolonged exposure to high heat inside the car from outdoor parking accelerated plastic embrittlement, resulting in early failure within just 2 years of vehicle ownership. This is a clear design and material quality defect from the manufacturer. The weak plastic pivot structure cannot sustain normal repeated folding of the sun visor. Photos of the broken plastic parts and the failed sun visor assembly are uploaded as supporting evidence.

NHTSA ODI 11748190

Windshield Wiper Collision & Breakage Issue Vehicle: 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE350 While driving in heavy rain with the windshield wipers activated, the left and right wiper arms move at inconsistent speeds due to uneven friction on the windshield. The two wiper blades repeatedly crash into each other during every sweep cycle. Constant hard impact from the colliding wipers eventually snapped one of the wiper assemblies. This creates a severe safety hazard: broken wipers cannot clear rainwater from the windshield, leading to drastically reduced forward visibility while driving. This is not isolated damage from misuse, accident, or aftermarket wiper parts. Factory OEM wiper linkage, motor limit calibration and weak wiper arm springs are the root cause. Multiple other GLE owners have reported identical wiper collision problems on vehicle forums and dealer service records, confirming this is a widespread manufacturing/software calibration defect of the GLE platform. No collision or rough handling occurred prior to the failure; the issue started gradually with loud clattering noise during rain, then progressed to permanent breakage of the wiper arm.

NHTSA ODI 11748194

Panoramic sunroof suddenly broke on my Mercedes GLE53 coupe while on a major highway. There was nothing near my vehicle when this happened. My children were in a car and this was a very scary moment for us. Mercedes will not cover the costs of Replacing the glass, forcing me to make a claim with my insurance. This is the first claim I’ve had to make in years. This is unfortunate.

NHTSA ODI 11746293

Around 4pm 2/26/2026 my wife was driving southbound on I-65 around Middle River Bridge just north of Mobile AL. We were in the right lane when the car began to hydroplane; she immediately took her foot off of the accelerator and did not apply breaks. I was in the back seat due to a previous day surgery. The rear of the vehicle swayed back and forth a few times as the vehicle drifted. Then it was violently moved from one side of the lane to the other and eventually into a hard and distinct left hand 720 spin. We then collided into the concrete barrier next to the left hand lane. It was intense but a glancing blow mostly on the driver’s side. The spin ended with us pointing northbound in the left lane. Just as I thought the crash was over the car lunged in the forward direction like it was going to take off and quickly came to a stop. The weather was very hard rain and my wife was slowing for traffic ahead (which turned out to be another accident going up the General W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge. Incredibly the car was still running and I was able to slowly drive to safety and not cause any further accidents. Later in the evening (screen shot shows 6:42pm) after reporting to my insurance I looked on Google maps to find the approximate area our crash occurred I could see another accident happened with a significant backup of traffic. I believe the lane assist and brake assist tried to correct the drifting and over corrected the vehicle into a spin. Lane assist in the 2024 Mercedes-Benz 450GLE is difficult to turn off and comes back on with restarting the ignition. I could not turn off Ln Assist and stay off when I purchased the vehicle, so believed it would operated like my 2022 Ford F-150 which stays off. Neither Cruise control, or Self drive was engaged. I believed lane assist could not be turned off and there are no warnings issued by Mercedes-Benz of the potential hazard although I now find Lane Assist can definitely be linked to hydroplaning accidents

NHTSA ODI 11740606

I manually opened the power lift gate of my 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE 450. While loading items into the rear of the SUV, the power lift gate closed autonomously and without warning, striking me on the right side of my face and neck. No hands-free gesture was made. Key fob was secured in my purse (in shopping cart) at a distance and was not activated.The lift gate did not detect my presence and did not stop or reverse. The impact resulted in localized swelling and tenderness to my face/jaw area.

NHTSA ODI 11737948

I noticed that my front tires were showing abnormal wear on the outer edge of both driver and passenger side front tires. I would also hear a loud popping/thumping/grinding noise coming from front tires when I would back up and then have to turn my tires to move the car to leave a parking spot, etc. The tire pressure warning light will come on and off randomly. I have checked my tire pressure and it falls directly in line with recommended pressure listed on the inside door of the car. I made an appointment at Mercedes Sewell and basically was told over the phone that this would not be anything related to a recall and that the extra warranty I purchases for tires would not cover replacement of the front tires. Showed up at my appointment and my service advisor said that he had another client come in today with the same exact situation on the same exact car. He said he thinks that it could be something with the Toe. I bought my vehicle in 2023 and as of today it has only 10, 580 or so miles. I drive locally to pick up my children from school and run errands, never have a seen a tire look like these tires.

NHTSA ODI 11736114

285/40/R22 325/35/R22

NHTSA ODI 11735851

The contact owns a 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE 350. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the service brakes independently enabled. The contact stated that the vehicle stopped on a major interstate. In addition, several warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was driven to the contact's residence. The following day, the failure reoccurred. The contact stated that the vehicle displayed phantom braking. In addition, the contact noticed an unusual tapping sound, and several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, however the failure was not duplicated. The contact stated that the vehicle was at the dealer for twenty-one days. In addition, the contact was offered the option to trade in the vehicle. The contact stated In addition, the contact referenced an unknown recall which had a similar failure description, however the contact's VIN was not associated. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 32,300.

NHTSA ODI 11727908

this is for Mercedes Benz GLE S 63 AMG i was driving on [XXX] at [XXX] PH all of sudden i heard huge explosion like gunshot my car swerved and i look up to my sun roof the whole sun roof exploded in to pieces, all the glass shattered. scared the shit out ogf me. this is a ongoing issue with mercedes benz GLE S 63 AMG please help before som gets killed there so many complaints regarding the issue, how come NHTSA is not taking action? when i called merceds in [XXX] they made some bullshit story. please help. Thank you [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11727529

My Mercedes Benz GLE450e Hybrid SUV has had a persistent but sporadic safety issue that suddenly causes the vehicle to go into "turtle mode" with a "performance extremely limited" warning when trying to accelerate quickly or sometimes when breaking quickly. In turtle mode, the car quickly loses acceleration, drops in speed and is then unable to accelerate properly. The sudden drop in speed and inability to accelerate causes a major safety issue while driving - particularly on roads with other vehicles also travelling at high speeds. Last Friday, I was driving with my family on Interstate 95 when a tractor trailer truck did not see me beside it and started to switch into my lane. I tried to quickly accelerate to get out of the way before it hit us but my car went into "turtle mode" and the speed suddenly dropped by 15 or 20mph and would no longer drive correctly. Luckily, I was in the right lane and able to swerve onto the shoulder of the highway and narrowly avoid the large truck. Otherwise, if I had been in a middle lane, I would have either been hit by the truck or likely hit another car next to me. This issue has been sporadically occurring with my car for about 5 months now. I have had it into the Mercedes dealer three times and, each time, they say they think they fixed the issue. But, each time the same issue has returned. They said that Mercedes USA knows it is a big issue with their new hybrid SUVs but Mercedes doesn't yet know how to fix the problem and has been unwilling to publicly acknowledge the problem or offer it's customers any assistance. Doing a quick Google search online for "Mercedes hybrid performance extremely limited" also quickly brings up different online forums where other owners of this same car have had the exact same issue that Mercedes has been unable to fix or resolve. Driving a car that can suddenly lose the ability to accelerate is a major safety hazard and I would sincerely appreciate if the NHTSA would help to address it

NHTSA ODI 11726723

On multiple occasions, the vehicle has unexpectedly lost acceleration while driving. Specifically, while traveling on the highway, the vehicle will suddenly drop speed and fail to respond when pressing the accelerator. This creates a dangerous situation, as I am unable to maintain speed with surrounding traffic, increasing the risk of a collision. This issue appears to occur without warning and significantly impacts the safe operation of the vehicle. A sudden loss of power on a high-speed roadway is extremely hazardous and poses a risk to both myself and other drivers.

NHTSA ODI 11721248

Panoramic sunroof exploded when I was driving not external force was involved to make the sunroof explode the sound was like a gunshot small particles of glass fell to my face

NHTSA ODI 11718215

12 V battery completely drained while in operation resulting in me being stranded and requiring the vehicle to be towed.

NHTSA ODI 11716938

We've had this car on lease for 23 months, and it has had an escalating pattern of electronic, mechanical and brake issues. Earlier today, on January 5, the car started to slow down and started shaking on the highway today and when I used the brakes the full body of the car started rattling and the brakes were far less responsive than they should have been taking far longer to decelerate than safe. There was an alarm with a turtle warning me to move over. On January 4, We parked our car in a parking lot and went into a store, when we returned all of the windows were lowered and the moonroof's window was also retracted. The car was beeping and making loud noises and then had issues starting. Prior to both of these issues, the car has taken to Mercedes repeatedly for locking passengers into the vehicle and blaring alarms, not allowing passengers to leave and the seatbelts will not retract. The airbag system has also malfunctioned during these periods. Mercedes has repeatedly been informed of these issues and has claimed that there were bugs in the car's code that they had fixed; however, each time they have fixed the issue a new issue has arisen. In late November 2025, a representative from Mercedes corporate asked for us to take the vehicle back to dealer for further inspection after which the dealership said they had carried out major updates and returned the car in early December. After that the car had been hardly driven until this week. This was the first major drive of over 60 miles.

NHTSA ODI 11708972

The MPH Sign Recognition mistakes 30mph when the sign reads 70mph.When the Cruise Control is set for 70mph the car begins to brake by itself thinking it is 40mph over the posted limit.This may cause a rear end collision. As a result I have discontinued using the Cruise Control to avoid an accident. This problem may exist on other late model Mercedes-Benz with the Sign Recognition option.

NHTSA ODI 11704501

The panel between the windshield and the sunroof shattered with cracks going the full width of the roof at the top and bottom of the glass panel.

NHTSA ODI 11698792

WHILE DRIVING ON AN INSIDE ROAD AT 35 MPH WITH NO TRAFFIC, THE CAR APPLIED SUDDEN BRAKES. MANY MESSAGES/SYMBOLS POPPED UP ON THE SCREEN WHICH I WAS NOT ABLE TO SEE . CAR ALMOST CAME TO SUDDEN STOP AND IT CLEARED UP AGAIN WITHIN SECONDS AND CAR STARTED MOVING AGAIN. THERE WAS NO DAMAGE TO CAR OR THE DRIVER. AT HIGH OR IN TRAFFIC, IT MAY RESULT IN AN ACCIDENT. THE INSIDENT HAPPENED ON OCTOBER 28, 2025 BETWEEN 1:00 PM TO 1:10 PM.

NHTSA ODI 11696337

There is a safety recall on prior models of the GLE Front stationery sunroof panel Campaign# 2021070010 NHTSA ID 21V197 Campaign desc 21P7790003 This is exactly what occurred to me on a 2024GLE 450 The glass panel between the windshield and the panoramic sunroof spontaneously shattered… Nothing hit it… It just spontaneously shattered.. Spontaneously shattering glass in an automobile is a safety concern In my opinion… There was no warning … no sound no nothing., no evidence of anything hitting my car nor that section of the roof There was no police report as I noticed the damage when I got to my destination… I immediately drove home so that the impending rain would not further damage any components and brought it to the Mercedes dealer to keep in the garage The vehicle is now at the dealership and they are not claiming any responsibility and want to charge me $600 to diagnose the problem… Clearly they are not helping

NHTSA ODI 11694478

The contact owns a 2024 Mercedes-Benz AMG GLE53. The contact stated that while attempting to stop the vehicle, there was an abnormal squeaking sound coming from the brakes. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and occupied, the vehicle moved independently whenever the parking brake was not activated. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed; however, the diagnostic result was unknown. The contact stated that the ABS module was replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and was working with the contact to get into a newer vehicle. The approximate failure mileage was 28,852.

NHTSA ODI 11693640

The Mercedes GLE450 was stopped at a red light. When the light turned green, the driver entered the intersection. The automatic braking system engaged without reason (there was open road ahead), bringing the car to a sudden standstill. The driver accelerated again, but this time the car went backwards into the car behind him. The driver had not shifted into reverse. So the car both slammed on the brakes, and switched the transmission into reverse, without driver input. Mercedes-Benz USA conducted an investigation and produced data showing that the car shifted into reverse while it was driving forward; they claimed this was driver error. However, the dealer (and our own experience) says it is impossible to shift the car into reverse when it is driving forward; the car must be stopped before it can shift into reverse. We have asked them to explain this seeming incoherence in their explanation, but they have not responded. Our conclusion is that the car malfunctioned. We still have the dashcam footage recorded during the incident, if that is needed.

NHTSA ODI 11686212

On [XXX] the power lock system in my Mercedes auto locked itself with my key and phone inside the vehicle on a hot day with a baby secured in a rear car seat. I did not lock the vehicle or touch the door handle lock. This vehicle is designed to never lock with a key inside. Obviously, this was a life threatening situation as our area was experiencing record heat. Since my phone was also locked inside, I couldn't call for help & had to find a stranger to lend me a phone. Immediately after I took care of the baby & had help, I reported the incident immediately to the Mercedes Emergency Customer Care center via the SOS button in the vehicle. They told me I would hear from someone within 72 hours - it's now been 10+ days since the incident & no communication from Mercedes. The vehicle locked itself again without warning a few days ago but fortunately, there was an adult in the vehicle who was able to unlock it (and the driver had the key on hand outside the vehicle). We have owned 6 Mercedes vehicles - we are familiar with the auto lock system & this is not normal. Srvice is scheduled with the local dealer in Fredericksburg VA the week of July 16, 2025. There was no warning & no warning lights. Normally, the vehicle verbally alerts us when the key is left in the vehicle. In this case, the key was in my purse on the front passenger seat. All doors were unlocked when I placed the baby in her seat and closed the right passenger doors. I walked around to open the drivers side door when I discovered all doors were locked. The vehicle is designed to not be able to lock with a key inside. We have been unable to manually reproduce the incident which leads us to believe the problem is in the electronic coding and needs attention and service from the manufacturing level. This could have easily ended in a fatality. I do not want this to happen to anyone else. I submitted another complaint to Mercedes - this time via letter on their website. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11671574

The contact owns a 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE450. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle suddenly decelerated to 15 MPH. The contact became aware that the cruise control system had changed the set speed independently. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence, with the vehicle accelerating or decelerating independently. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to diagnose the failure. The contact was advised that the cruise control should not be activated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 1,500.

NHTSA ODI 11654957

The contact owns a 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE350. The contact stated while driving at various speeds in the rain after purchasing the vehicle brand new, the windshield wipers failed to clean the windshield as needed while moving downward, creating reduced visibility of the roadway. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on two occasions. The dealer informed the contact that during the windshield's downward movement, water was pulled back onto the windshield from the A-pillars. The dealer advised the contact that it was a windshield wiper factory design defect and no technical remedy had been provided by the manufacturer currently. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was filed. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 0.

NHTSA ODI 11643854

At 3000K miles, vehicle spontaneously slowed from 60 mph to 10 mph with no warning. Message: PERFORMANCE EXTREMELY LIMITED, Engine light, turtle sign. Tractor trailer truck behind us swerved and narrowly avoided hitting our vehicle. Car towed to MB Dealership. Over 5 weeks, they were unable to replicate the problem, asked us to pick the vehicle up. (they claimed they consulted with MB engineers) One week after getting vehicle back, same incident occurred, also narrowly averting a MV accident. Vehicle towed to another dealership who finally after 2 months they stated that the vehicle is not reparable. MB is re-purchasing this vehicle, as there is a software issue they cannot repair. I have been made aware from Mercedes Benz dealership, that 100 or more of these vehicles have the exact same issue. There have been NO recalls. MB USA is not forthcoming with information. The problem is dangerous.

NHTSA ODI 11639956

"While driving on the highway, my new Mercedes GLE450e, it suddenly stalled, and a 'turtle' symbol appeared on the dashboard. This indicated that the vehicle had entered 'limp mode.' At that point, I lost acceleration and had minimal power, making it difficult to maneuver safely. The dealership claims they have fixed the issue, but I am reporting this as a safety concern in case it affects other vehicles."

NHTSA ODI 11639487