Recall · 20V449000
Mercedes-Benz USA recalled 7 models over electrical system
56
Vehicles covered
7
Models
10
Model years
July 31, 2020
Filed with NHTSA
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:SOFTWARE
- The defect
- Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. (MBUSA) is recalling certain 2019 C300, C300 Coupe, CLS450, E450 Coupe and S450, 2017-2019 E300, 2018 E400 Coupe, E400 Stationwagon, and 2018-2019 S560 vehicles that have previously had the instrument cluster replaced. The software in the replaced instrument cluster may cause the seat belt warning system to not operate properly, only displaying a solid warning light if either the driver or passenger seat belt is unfastened, instead of a blinking light with an audible tone.
- What it can cause
- Without the audible tone and blinking warning light to remind the front seat occupants that their seat belts are not buckled, they may forget to buckle their seat belt, increasing their risk of injury in the event of a crash.
- What the dealer does
- MBUSA will notify owners, and dealers will update the instrument cluster software, free of charge. The recall began September 8, 2020. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372. MBUSA's number for this recall is 2020080015.
- NHTSA's note
- Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
The repair is free, whatever the age or mileage of the vehicle, and whether or not you are the original owner.
Which vehicles
A recall reaches a range of VINs inside these model years, not every car built in them. Yours may not be covered even if it is listed here, and the only way to find out is NHTSA's own VIN lookup .
How this campaign compares
At 56 vehicles this is a small campaign: 77% of the 19,818 vehicle recalls filed since 1995 whose size NHTSA published are as large or larger. The middle campaign on file covers 472. It covers model years 2017 to 2019, so the oldest vehicles on it were 3 model years old when the defect was reported to NHTSA.
Mercedes-Benz vehicles have been recalled over the electrical system 22 times before this, most recently in July 2020 as 20V416000. That is not evidence the earlier repair failed.
This site holds the complaint record for 9 of the 10 model years the campaign names. Their owners have filed 328 complaints with NHTSA, 74 of them before this campaign was filed. 56 of those name the electrical system, the system this recall is about — a count of complaints, not of this defect. The earliest of them reached NHTSA in January 2017, 3 years before this filing.
The vehicles on this campaign carry 13 other recalls published here, the newest being: 25V023000 (tires), 23V854000 (structure), 22V733000 (electrical system), 22V365000 (electrical system).
Check your own car
A VIN check is the only answer for a specific vehicle, and it also shows every other open recall on it, which is usually the reason it is worth doing rather than reading one campaign.
Filed by Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. with NHTSA on July 31, 2020 as campaign 20V449000. Every word of the defect, consequence and remedy above is NHTSA's published record of that filing, not a summary of it.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2020-07-31.
Independent developer and analyst