Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 08/22/2009 | 137000 | 1 | |
| 2000 mercedes c230 defective brake light switch. the brake light switch has failed 4 times on this car, and there is no indication that the brake lights are not working. this could lead to a serious collision, as drivers behind are not aware that i'm slowing down/stopping. on previous occasions when the brake switch failed, it was also not possible to switch the transmission out of the park position. during the last failure, the transmission worked ok. *tr | |||
| 1 | 04/15/2000 | ||
| Consumer feels the design of the speedometer is unsafe because over 50% of the speedometer is not useable at legal speeds and the result of the compacted calibration is that the sppedometer is not readily readable at highway speeds resulting in a tendancy to accidentally speed. nlm | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 01/01/2011 | 1 | ||
| 2000 c230k mercedes. consumer states problem with transmission and expresses dissatisfaction with dealer *tgw the consumer stated there was smoke emitting from the exhaust. the transmission pan was distorted and bent. also, the low beam light was out on the dashboard. | |||
| 09/17/2003 | 20000 | 3 | |
| The transmission on the vehicle was defective. the vehicle has been serviced several times. when the defective occurred, the vehicle would not go over 10 mph. the gear box has been changed three times. *jb | |||
| 08/01/2001 | 7 | 07/01/2000 | |
| Engine light flashes on and off while driving. rings on the transmission had to be replaced. consumer was unable to identify the type of rings. *ak the dealer did not honor the vehicle's warranty. the speakers would intermittently change the radio sound, center console did not open properly, volume did not work, there was a wind noise coming from behind the driver while in motion, driver's seat heater was extremely hot, blower motor was inoperative and the fan speed control switch illumination was inoperative at times. *sc *jb | |||
| Transmission slips when the vehicle is cold , sticks in gear and shifts hard. dealer inspected the vehicle. *ak | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - LEVER AND LINKAGE - FLOOR SHIFT | |||
| 08/07/2006 | 66138 | 1 | |
| 2000 kompressor c230 would not accelerate. upon inspection mechanic changed the shifter. *kb | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - PARK/NEUTRAL START SWITCH | |||
| 08/09/2002 | 2 | 02/01/2000 | |
| I have had a number of electrical system failures with my 2000 model year c230k mercedes. these have mostly effected the cars safety systems which is a major concern to me. the first failure was a complete drain of the battery charge for no apparent reason and the battery was replaced. shortly afterwards the sensors of the abs system failed and the transmission was then automatically locked in parking position after the next stop as a safety feature. more recently failures in the srs system have resulted in mercedes replacing sections of my steering column and the whole wiring harness in the car. i have just moved from the usa to belgium for a 2-3 year work assignment and the car is now in transit to belgium. i purchased the car new in the usa. i was very upset with the way mercedes handled my case and i started researching on the web to see if others had similar experiences. i believe there are a significant number of issues with these cars electrical system being posted by owners in various web sites. i have read reports of other owners having their battery explode. another owner had a taillight assembly totally melt due to an electrical short. however the most significant and most recurring issues being posted are failures of the srs system similar to the failure my car suffered and these failures do not seem to be limited to a specific model. the most numerous failure being reported is a failure of an electric contact in the steering column which is part of the srs circuit. they are referred to as contact rings. on my car these were replaced first as based on the technicians experience that is where they believed the problem existed. that didn't fix the issue for my specific car and after a lot messing 4 weeks later the total harness was replaced. for background the srs light came on continuously right before i had planned to ship the car to belgium. i was in belgium and dealt with both a dealership in baltimore and mercedes usa to get the issue fixed.*ak | |||