2008 Mercedes Benz C300: engine overheating

Filed Jun 29, 2022 · Electrical, Steering · RI

Pulled into parking space on side of street and turned off vehicle to pick up restaurant food. Returned to vehicle within 5 minutes, turned the key, and vehicle was dead. 93 year old mother was in car which was now stuck in parking space. We had to open the doors, due to vehicle windows not functioning, to try to prevent inside of car from overheating due to outside temperature. Called AAA, who arrived after about 45 minutes, tried to jump start car, indicated appeared battery was fine. Had to re-contact AAA to get car towed. Waited another 45 minutes for tow truck to arrive. Again checked battery and ignition, battery fine, car was locked in park and steering wheel was locked,. Towing technician had to lift up center console to reach underneath to switch to neutral. Technician had great difficulty getting car onto flatbed of tow truck because it kept slipping back into park. Adding to the difficulty was the location of the car in the parking space on the side of a busy street. Car was towed from Newport, RI to Tiverton, RI to Viti Mercedes dealer, who confirmed the problem. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. The final bill to repair this issue was $2,214.15. Upon review of other incidents that occurred with this make, model and year, there have been a myriad of accounts of this same issue going back many years. Based on the numerous incidents of this type and the potential safety devastation this could have caused, the $2,214.15 paid for repair in addition to $55 for towing should be reimbursed. This is a major safety issue that could be detrimental to the driver, occupants, towing company and other people around the disabled vehicle.

Filed Apr 27, 2014 · Electrical, Lights · 53,000 miles · FL

Tail light connectors overheat and melted the light holder assembly. Fire risk.

Filed Feb 18, 2014 · Electrical, Lights · 90,000 miles · CA

Randomly I started receiving check bulb messages for the rear lights on both sides of my car. I didn't think much of it as I don't think they had ever been changed so I changed them and all was fine and then a few weeks later the messages started to pop up again. I rechecked the bulbs to make sure they were securely in place and they were so I started doing a little research and discovered that this was a known issue. Presently the entire left rear side is out and it looks like the wiring has overheated and been singed (looks like it had burned).when calling all the local southern cali dealerships (orange county/long beach) none of them will admit to it being a widespread problem and fixing it for free because the parent company, mercedes benz, hasn't yet. I have no desire to pay for a problem that should have never occurred in the first place. My major concern is about potential fires in the trunk due to this. All it will take is one spark to catch on something in the trunk and then well car is on fire. As much a mercedes benz claims to be about safety, I'm shocked, one at the design flaw and two that they are going through the motions of pretending like the thousands of owners who have reported this are making it up. They need to get on this asap.

Filed Feb 8, 2014 · Lights · 120,800 miles · NY

Check right taillight indicator appeared on dash. Rear right lights out. Inspected to find all bulbs were operational but wire had overheated and melted into housing.

Filed Feb 3, 2014 · Lights · 63,000 miles · CA

From reviewing the site, this is the same complaint you have already had about these cars. It appears to already be under investigation. In our case, a number of the rear lights, including lights on both sides of the car, went out at once. This means turn signal lights, brake lights, side lights. The first clue was that multiple warnings came up on the dash. We stopped car, and on inspection, several lights also had stopped functioning. The was no obvious visual or olfactory sign of overheating or fire.

Filed Sep 18, 2012 · Lights · 52,800 miles · OH

On or around 8/30/12 I noticed I had no rear brake lights. Thinking a bad bulb I checked the rear taillight bulbs. I noticed an overheat condition on the bulb holder and connector. It is melted showing extreme heat and current draw. I contacted the dealer expecting it to be covered under warranty as it is a defect and unsafe. They would not cover it under warranty and gave me an estimate of over $400.00 or more. This is a safety issue and a design flaw and should be mercedes' responsibility. Who is liable if I get rear ended or if the vehicle catches fire? *tr updated 3/28/13 *cn updated 3/29/2013 *js...updated 05/08/13 *bf updated 05/20/13