← NHTSA complaints

2009 MERCEDES BENZ C300 — EXTERIOR LIGHTING

fire · 1049029 · 2014-03-24

Vehicle

Make
MERCEDES BENZ
Model
C300
Year
2009
Manufacturer
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC
Component
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Miles at failure
102,000
Speed
25 mph

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
0
Fire
Yes
Crash
No
Police report
No
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY AND SMELLED AN INTENSE BURNING. I HAD BEEN GETTING THE TAILLIGHT ERROR CODES AND THOUGHT MAYBE IT WAS A FUSE. DECIDED TO FINALLY RESEARCH ONLINE AND DISCOVERED THAT IT IS A VERY COMMON OCCURRENCE THAT MERCEDES TAILLIGHTS/WIRING SPONTANEOUSLY CATCH ON FIRE. I REMOVED THE HARNESSES FROM THE TAILLIGHTS AND NOTICED THE PLUG HAD ALMOST BEEN ENTIRELY DESTROYED/BURNED ON THE RIGHT REAR, AND WAS STARTING TO BURN ON THE LEFT REAR. I LOST ALL POWER TO MY TAILLIGHTS AT APPROXIMATELY 11:30 AT NIGHT, AND THE HEADLIGHTS STARTED SHUTTING OFF AND ON RANDOMLY. THE HEADLIGHTS ARE STILL TURNING OFF AND ON RANDOMLY, APPARENTLY THIS IS A KNOWN DEFECT WITH THE AUTO DIM SETTING. I HAVE PICTURES OF EVERYTHING, EVEN THOUGH I HAVE NOW PAID TO FIX THE TAILLIGHT HARNESSES (A COST OF OVER $240 IN PARTS) BECAUSE MERCEDES HAS NOT WILLINGLY RECALLED THIS FIRE HAZARD AND KNOWN DEFECT. TO BE HONEST, I AM PISSED. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHERE I CAN SEND THE DEFECTIVE PARTS AND/OR PICTURES TO. *TR

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
10574374
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown