37 of the
1,046 complaints filed about the Mercedes Benz GLK350
are about the braking system —
4% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2010.
I am reporting a safety issue involving my Mercedes-Benz GLK 350 following repairs performed by an authorized dealership, Critz Mercedes-Benz in Savannah, Georgia. I brought the vehicle in due to persistent noise when shifting gears and steering-related symptoms. I asked the dealership to fully investigate the cause of the issue and not limit the diagnosis or repair to any single system, as I am not a mechanic and relied on their expertise. I paid $5,674.90 for the repair. During the process, a service advisor contacted me regarding an additional charge of approximately $800, which I approved to ensure the vehicle was repaired correctly and to avoid any claim that I declined recommended work. After the first repair, the noise was still present. I contacted the service advisor and returned the vehicle. After the vehicle had already been released to me, the dealership’s own technician recorded a diagnostic video stating that a suspension arm was “about to break.” I have the video and the email containing the link. This confirms the vehicle was returned to me with a serious unresolved safety defect, and I returned it after learning of this issue. The dealership performed additional work and released the vehicle again, but the noise remained. I asked the service advisor to hear the noise in person, after which he verbally stated that “all GLK 350s do that.” I later sent a text expressing my concern, and he replied in writing stating the same. I also have a saved and transcribed voicemail repeating this statement. Since the repair, the condition has worsened. Steering noise continues and braking effectiveness has degraded, requiring longer stopping distance. Because steering and suspension directly affect braking and vehicle control, this presents a safety risk. Due to the expense of the failed repair, I have no immediate alternative transportation and have been forced to continue driving the vehicle. The vehicle is available for inspection.
NHTSA complaint #11705730 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
During a stop the car dives to the right. After removing the right rear tire the subframe is rusted and components are no longer connected to the sub frame
NHTSA complaint #11687221 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2011 Mercedes Benz GLK350. The contact stated that while depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle failed to immediately stop, causing the braking distance to be extended. Additionally, the brake pedal was spongy while depressed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and was diagnosed that the brake lines had failed due to severe rust and corrosion. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted regarding the failure. The failure mileage was 120,000.
NHTSA complaint #11649184 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2014 Mercedes-Benz GLK350. The contact stated that the parking brake failed to engage as needed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer for an inspection, and it was determined that the parking brake release had failed to snap upwards. The contact stated that the pedal was releasing slowly. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but no additional assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was 58,000.
NHTSA complaint #11622865 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
RUPTURE OF LEFT REAR AND LEFT FRONT BRAKE LINES 1/26/24,8/30/24. BOTH TIMES THE FAILURE WAS UNANNOUNCED WHILE DRIVING THE CAR AND PUT MY LIFE IN DANGER.
NHTSA complaint #11612830 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My rear subframe is rotted out but won't be replaced under warranty because there are no rust holes in the metal. The rust is very extensive, and the car isn't safe to drive. The rear metal brake lines are also rotten and need to be replaced. I've owned many cars older than this one with more miles, and I've never had rusted-out brake lines. This is a safety issue.
NHTSA complaint #11607686 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
There were two incidents, one when my daughter was driving and one when I was driving. We were on a highway going 65 mph and had to brake as we came upon traffic. The car fishtailed/swerved back and forth out of control several times until we could bring the car to a stop. I had to pull onto the shoulder so I didn’t hit any of the cars near me. It was terrifying and I felt lucky that I didn’t have a serious accident. When I got home, I took my car to my local mechanic who inspected the car and said my rear subframe was cracked and rusted out!! After doing some research and talking to the Mercedes dealership where I bought the car, this is a widespread problem with several different models over many years, but they have not issued a recall. Apparently the frames were not rustproofed properly so they are rusting/corroding from the inside out. These frames should last the lifetime of the vehicle with no issues!! There are thousands of people driving their cars out there with this problem and they have no idea that their cars are UNSAFE to drive!!! Someone is going to get killed if Mercedes does not issue a recall for this problem. They recently sent an internal memo to all of their sales and service managers in the US saying they will offer an extended offer on the rear subframes. This does NOT help because many people are unaware of the problem and haven’t received notification that something could be terribly wrong. Mercedes has know about this problem for years and Canada and Europe issued recalls on the rear subframes 2 years ago!!! How can Mercedes USA allow their customers to continue to drive UNSAFE vehicles?!? A class action has been proposed for this problem because Mercedes has been so remiss in their responsibility in protecting their customers. Please please please bring this to light before someone gets injured or killed!!!!
NHTSA complaint #11518495 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2014 Mercedes-Benz GLK350. The contact stated that the ABS, check engine, and traction control warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who informed the contact that they could not diagnose the vehicle as the diagnostic link connector was missing from the vehicle. The contact stated that she verified that the diagnostic link connector was not in the location indicated in the Owner’s Manual. The contact stated that the vehicle was purchased used. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 76,200.
NHTSA complaint #11517127 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
After breaking hard the vehicle started to pull left and the rear felt like it had locked up. I took it immediately to my local mechanic who diagnosed a prematurely rotted out subframe. I am in the process of having MB review and quote for the repair.
NHTSA complaint #11506087 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I had my 2010 Mercedes GLK in for B service today (Jan. 3, 2023), and the repair team inspected the vehicle and informed me that I have a RUST HOLE approximately 1" x 2" in size located adjacent to an attachment point for the wheels in the REAR SUBFRAME. If it breaks, it could cause the vehicle to become difficult to control. Additionally, they informed me that the BRAKE LINES are also RUSTING/WEAKENING. If the brakes fail while driving it could cause loss of control of the vehicle. Since these are hidden parts that I typically can't see, I had no warning that there was anything wrong until I had it in for routine maintenance. I have the invoice for the oil change, with a notation from the repair team regarding these parts. The vehicle is available for inspection should it be necessary.
NHTSA complaint #11499957 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2013 Mercedes-Benz GLK350. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the brake fluid and brake warning lights illuminated, and shortly after adding brake fluid the warning lights remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the rear brake lines were corroded, causing brake fluid to leak and the brake lines needed to be replaced. In addition, the vehicle there was rusting of the rear subframe. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 94,000. The consumer stated the repair for this vehicle was very expensive being as though it was purchased only 1 year ago.
NHTSA complaint #11494133 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
On 10/5/22, my wife was driving her 2010 GLK 350 to work, suddenly she felt the break pedal was going deep inside easily and noticed break fluid light warning sign in dashboard. She was scared to drive and slowly drove car to Mercedes authorized technician. After diagnosis, MB technician said the issue in not just on break fluid leaks but the entire breaking system is failing due to rear subframe rust which holds the entire suspension and body. He said car is not safe to drive will cost $4K to $10k to repair. Called another dealer near by said the same as this is common issue with Mercedes due to snow the subframe rust during winter. It is ironic that even with frequent servicing with dealer they never found these rust issue early because rusting process started early on any metals. Went online to dig deeper on this issue and surprised this issue is widespread check https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w204/805501-rotted-rear-subframe-2.html#post8650716 Apparently Mercedes recalled all C class cars to replace subframe as they realized it is their design issue in Europe, UK and Canada. Here in USA dealers give excuses saying it due to winter snow it rust even though they did not catch such dangerous safety issue in the car. Imagine if how severe this break safety issue. Please take action on Mercedes Benz to address this safety issue US, specially it has been addressed in UK, EU, and Canada.
NHTSA complaint #11489463 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I took my MB in for service to have alternator replaced. After it was finished service did a multipoint inspection on vehicle and keep in mind I have had my car in for service before and if there had been a multi inspection wouldn't this have been seen before now? This report includes Rear sub Frame rusted & broke, rear brake lines rusted, fault code for intake manifold flap malfuntion, actuator arms broke, engine misfire on cylinders 3-5. Recommended Services is to replace transmission mounts, left engine mount, right engine mount, rear sub frame, rear brake llines, intake manifold. diagnose misfires. All of this and I was never notified of any issues before now and its only been a year since my car was in before. I was also told I didn't need an oil change and my brakes were only making noise because of wear!? And due to the issue I was also told to be very careful when I do drive! Total cost for this is $11,996.85 So I feel that MB is liable for this as there has not been any recommendation s before now. I had $2,081. worth of work done February 5th 2019 and the underbody of vehicle was inspected so why was this not caught then?
NHTSA complaint #11488648 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Dealer reported to me that the brake lines are rusted. Dealer reported the lines are painted rather than coated as they were in the past. Vehicle is less than 10 years old so brake line rusting seems unusual.
NHTSA complaint #11478881 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My concern is the repeated failure of the front wheel speed sensors rendering the ABS system and Traction Control System inoperable. The Speed Sensors failed as follows: 1.) 2015 at 9,474 Miles 2.) 2020 at 26,293 Miles 3.) 2022 at 30,281 Miles The vehicle has extremely low miles for the repeated failures to have occurred. If you research various Mercedes Benz Blogs online, you will see a trend of repeated speed sensors failures in all models of Mercedes cars & Mercedes Vans.
NHTSA complaint #11470939 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2010 Mercedes-Benz GLK350. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle in front of her stopped suddenly and the contact depressed the brake pedal and the vehicle jumped. The contact stated that the brake warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 119,973.
NHTSA complaint #11468029 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My Mercedes GLK350 2010 (90K miles) has the same issue as mentioned in https://media.mbusa.com/releases/mercedes-benz-usa-announces-voluntary-stop-drive-recall-campaign-for-certain-model-year-2006-2012-ml-gl-and-r-class-vehicles but not included in the list of vehicles being recalled. This vehicle was taken to 'Ray Catena of Freehold, NJ' for checking and they identified the same issue - brake lines are corroded and leaking and brake pedal goes to floor and not effective at stopping (soft brake pedal). So I have exactly the same symptoms as mentioned in the recall notice for ML-, GL- and R-Class vehicles produced for the 2006-2012 model but my 2010 GLK is not included - hence requesting that GLK 350 to be included in the recall and this brake issue fixed by Mercedes Benz.
NHTSA complaint #11464971 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The component or system failed or malfunctioned: Brake pedal -does not brake effectively Engine :Alternator/ignition-the car would not start on me Cigarette lighter: front cigarette lighter does not work (greater fuse or electrical problem Inspection: Car was returned to Hawthorne Auto Square for repair and ultimately returned and sale of the used car was cancelled due to these issues. Please inspect car at Hawthorne Auto Square 11646 Prairie Ave, Hawthorne, CA 90250. Please do not allow Hawthorne Auto Square to resell this car it is a hazard to all Safety of myself and others were put at risk: - when attempting to brake, the car does not stop in a safe distance (dangerous can cause car crash) ( this happens to many GLK 250s) -the car is not starting after being started(dangerous if driving and cuts off in traffic and causes accident) air bag disabled -light coming on in car( if airbags that dont work someone could die) -electrical wire-there is a loose electrical wire in the trunk of the car that could shock someone cigarette lighter- front cigarette lighter does not work ( this happens to many GLK 250s) axle- appeared faulty -causing the car to wobble( this happens to many GLK 250s) -Car has problem and has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center -Car has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. No warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure I noticed the problems around 3/30/2022 In addition: Mercedes Benz all GLK 250s need; Advanced driver assistance systems , lane departure and Advanced emergency braking system (AEBS)
NHTSA complaint #11459870 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.