Owners filed 3 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the visibility › rearview mirrors/devices › exterior. It has been recalled 1 time.
| Component | Reports | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visibility › Rearview Mirrors/Devices › Exterior | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Seat Belts | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Engine | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Defect. VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES. CORROSION OF THE ELECTRICAL IGNITION FILAMENT OF THE AIR BAG GAS GENERATOR MODULE CAN OCCUR IF THE VEHICLE IS OPERATED IN AREAS OF FREQUENTLY HIGH HUMIDITY.
Risk. CORROSION OF THE IGNITION FILAMENT CAN RESULT IN THE DRIVER'S AIR BAG BEING DEPLOYED UNINTENTIONALLY.
Remedy. DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE DRIVER'S AIR BAG MODULE.
WE TOOK A ROAD TRIP TO SAN ANTONIO, TX, ON 10/15/2019, AND WERE RETURNING HOME ON 10/17/2019 WHEN THE INCIDENT OCCURRED. SAN ANTONIO IS ABOUT 2 HOURS AWAY FROM LLANO, TX, WHERE WE LIVE. WE HAD DRIVEN IN SAN ANTONIO TRAFFIC FOR ABOUT 45 MINUTES AND STOPPED FOR BREAKFAST AT IHOP AROUND 10:30 AM. AFTER LEAVING IHOP, WE HEADED NORTH ON THE FRONTAGE ROAD OF HIGHWAY 281. ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, WE STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT IN THE MIDDLE LANE. AS SOON AS WE PULLED AWAY, WE HEARD A LOUD BANG THAT SOUNDED LIKE A GUN SHOT. MY HUSBAND, GLEN, WAS DRIVING AND I WAS IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. MY SEATBELT RETRACTED AND I SAW AND SMELLED SMOKE COMING FROM THE HARNESS AREA BY MY RIGHT SHOULDER. GLEN MERGED OVER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND WE PULLED OVER ON A SIDE ROAD. WE TALKED ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AND I GOOGLED "MERCEDES SEATBELT EXPLOSION" AND FOUND THAT IT HAD HAPPENED TO OTHERS IN THE PAST WHICH ACTUALLY MADE ME FEEL BETTER ABOUT CONTINUING ON WITH OUR DRIVE HOME. I COULD NOT WEAR MY SEATBELT. I THOUGHT GLEN'S HAD ALSO LOCKED UP BECAUSE I CHECKED IT WHEN WE STOPPED BUT LATER IN THE TRIP HE TRIED IT AND HE WAS ABLE TO WEAR HIS. ONE THING WE NOTICED: THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT HAD COME ON THAT MORNING FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE DECEMBER 2017 WHEN WE HAD THE CAR SERVICED. IT WENT OFF IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE EXPLOSION BUT THE SRS LIGHT CAME ON.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1993 (NA) MERCEDES BENZ SL600. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS LEAKING OIL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC. THE TECHNICIAN DIAGNOSED THAT THE CYLINDER HEAD GASKET NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 113,000.
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1997 MERCEDES BENZ SL600. THE DRIVER SIDE AND REARVIEW SELF DIMMING MIRRORS FAILED. THE MIRRORS APPEARED TO HAVE AN OILY SURFACE. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE WIRES FAILED, BUT WAS UNSURE WHICH WIRE FAILED AND WHAT REPAIRS WERE NEEDED. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 112,000.
3 of 3 complaints, reproduced as filed.
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.
Recall repairs are free for as long as the recall stands. Check whether a specific car still has open work at NHTSA's VIN lookup.
Most recent recall on file: Nov 22, 1999. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.