2004 Mercedes Benz 230

Routine

Owners filed 6 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the air bags › side/window. No safety recall has been issued.

What fails
ComponentReportsCrashesFiresInjuries
Power Train › Automatic Transmission1
000
Equipment › Appliance › Air Conditioner1
000
Engine and Engine Cooling › Exhaust System1
000
Engine and Engine Cooling1
001
Electrical System1
000
Air Bags › Side/Window1
101

What owners reported

Newest filings
Electrical System
Filed Jun 3, 201286,314 milesTX

CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. REPAIR DONE TO FIX ISSUE FOUND AS STATED BY MERCEDES PARK PLACE TECH IN DALLAS TX - 'FOUND ENGINE CONTROL MODULE SENDING INCORRECT SIGNALS DUE TO OIL DAMAGE. ALSO FOUND AIR INTAKE TEMP SENSOR WITH OIL DAMAGE. NECESSARY TO REPLACE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE AND INTAKE TEMP SENSOR. REPLACED ENGINE WIRING HARNESS, CAMSHAFT POSITION SENSORS AND BOTH O2 SENSORS. THE TOTAL CHARGE WAS $3432.12. THIS WAS A KNOWN PROBLEM DUE TO MANUFACTURE DEFECT THAT HAD SUBSEQUENT RECALL 2009100001. THIS RECALL WAS PERFORMED ON MY CAR ON 7/25/2011. BY THIS TIME I HAD ALREADY PAID FOR THE REPAIR AND THEREFORE NO ISSUE WAS FOUND OR REPAIR REQUIRED.. I BELIEVE THAT I SHOULD BE REFUNDED FOR THE THIS REPAIR SINCE IT WAS A RECALL. *TR

Engine and Engine Cooling1 injured
Filed Feb 27, 2012124,000 milesOH

WAS DRIVING ON EXPRESSWAY TODAY 2/27/1980 WHEN MY 2004 MERCEDES 230 WENT FROM 65 TO 35MPH ALMOST WAS KILLED BY A SEMI TRUCK BEHIND ME!!!! LOOKED ONLINE TODAY TO SEE IF ANYONE ELSE HAD SIMILAR PROBLEMS WELL I WENT TO ONE SITE OVER 200 COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE SAME PROBLEM. THEIR IS ALSO A PENDING CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT ABOUT THIS PROBLEM IT IS VERY VERY DANGEROUS AND I WAS ALMOST KILLED TODAY BY MY OWN CAR!!!!! 2/27/1980 130PM THIS HAPPENED ON MY BIRTHDAY NOW IAM HAVING IT TOWED AND REPAIRED AND I HAVE SORE NECK ALSO. PLEASE CHECK INTO THIS PLEASE. I SEE ONE SITE ALONE HAD OVER 200 COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM AND THEIR IS CLASSACTION LAWSUIT ALREADY PENDING FROM OCT 2010 ABOUT THIS ISSUE. I WAS ALMOST KILLED TODAY AND INJURED MY NECK!!!!!!! PLEASE CHECK INTO THIS THEIR HAD TO BE NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM. THIS PROBLEM COULD HAVE GOTTEN ME KILLED TODAY AND OTHERS INJURED 65-70 MPH TO 35 MPH IN A SECOND ON THE HIGHWAY ISN'T SAFE. *TR

Engine and Engine Cooling › Exhaust System
Filed Feb 5, 200726,555 milesLA

TL*- CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING HER 2004 MERCEDES BENZ C230 THERE WERE EXHAUST FUMES ENTERING THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT OF FROM AN UNKNOWN AREA. THE FUMES CAUSED THE CONTACT TO HAVE A HEADACHE. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER FOR SERVICE AT 25,000 MILES ,AND SHE WANTED THE DEALER TO CHANGE THE AIR RECIRCULATION, BUT THE DEALER STATED THAT THEY COULDN'T CHANGE IT DUE TO CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING. INFORMATION WAS GIVEN TO THE DEALER BY THE MANUFACTURER. *AK

Power Train › Automatic Transmission
Filed Dec 5, 200524,705 milesCA

DT; THE CONTACT STATED TRANSMISSION WAS DEFECTIVE. ON THREE OCCASIONS THE CAR REVVED WITHOUT GEARING DOWN BEFORE COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP. ON THE SECOND OCCURRENCE THE CAR WOULD NOT GO INTO REVERSE. ON ALL OCCASIONS, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. THE VEHICLE IS CURRENTLY AT THE DEALERSHIP, WHERE THEY ARE ATTEMPTING TO FIND THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM. *AK

Equipment › Appliance › Air Conditioner
Filed Jun 24, 2005CA

DT: CONTACT STATES THERE IS A CHEMICAL SMELL COMING FROM THE VENTS. THE SERVICE DEALER REPLACED THE HEATER BOX TWICE AFTER A WEEK THE ODOR RETURNED. THE FOURTH TIME THIS HAPPENED THE SERVICE DEALER FINALLY STATED IT WAS CORROSION IN THE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM. THE PADDING UNDERNEATH THE AIR CONDITIONER WAS REPLACED.*AK *SB *NM

Air Bags › Side/WindowCrash1 injured
Filed May 10, 2005NY

DT: THE CONTACT VEHICLE WAS INVOLVED IN A ACCIDENT LAST NIGHT LIKE IN THE CENTER OF VEHICLE. CONSUMER'S VEHICLE WAS EQUIPPED WITH SIDE AIR BAGS, AND NEITHER ONE OF THE SIDE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED. HE SAID THE VEHICLE WAS HIT PRETTY HARD AND THEY SHOULD HAVE DEPLOYED. THE DEALER TOLD HIM THAT THE AIR BAGS COULD DEPLOY IF HIT IN DIFFERENT POSITIONS, AND THAT MAYBE WAS THE REASON WHY THEY DID NOT DEPLOY. MANUFACTURER SAID PRETTY MUCH THE SAME THING, AND THAT THEY WOULD LOOK INTO IT. ALSO, MANUFACTURER SAID THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN THE AIR BAGS MESSED UP, AND THEY WERE GOING TO DO AN INVESTIGATION. THE CONTACT DOES NOT FEEL SAFE IN THE VEHICLE SINCE THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY.*AK

6 of 6 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 1999
YearComplaintsRecallsFiresDeathsAssessment
2004 — this page6000Routine
20035001Fatalities reported
20024000Routine
20013010Routine
19998000Routine

Compare every 230 year →

Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.