NHTSA complaint: 2009 MERCEDES BENZ C300 — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
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
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — Office of Defects Investigation