Car wont start. Computer recognizes key in ignition but doesn't turn on any instruments or start the car. Tried a spare key - same issue. Remotes unlock and lock fine but ignition wont turn on.

- Wayne, NJ, USA

Electronic ignition switch and steering lock rendered us completely stranded in our car. Could not even put it in neutral without using the manual override. After researching in the internet it seems this is somewhat common in this vehicle, and unfortunately is costing me $1350!! only the dealership can do this. I had my car towed to my local mechanic only to have it towed again to Mercedes dealership.

- Hollywood, FL, USA

On September 24, 2013, my 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300 with 32,050 miles would not start despite multiple attempts. Each time I would try and start it everything came on in the cabin but there was a complete disconnect to the engine which would not even crank. Roadside assistance came out my home and determined the battery was fine, I then had to have the vehicle towed into the dealer. During this visit, they replaced the electrical control unit and it was there for a full week. In October 2014 and at 39,000 miles, the problem began again in that the car would not start intermittently and I had to go back to the dealer. They again replaced the electrical control unit which took another week. A few days later, the car would not start again for an entire day despite multiple attempts and I was stranded. Another tow and back to the dealer again, this time they stated it was also the electronic ignition switch (eis) and eletronic steering lock (esl) that were faulty and would need to be replaced at an approximate cost of $2000. I argued with them extensively on why all these parts were failing on a vehicle with such low mileage and they acknowledged this was a known problem on this model year. After two additional weeks in for service, the vehicle was just returned to me. Besides a known mechanical problem with these parts which mb has not addressed, this also represents potential safety hazards for drivers if you become stuck in a remote or dangerous area or in inclement weather when this happens and cannot call out for assistance. Based on this experience and the many similar reported at the mbworld.org forum, the NHTSA should coordinate a safety recall on these vehicles with mb. There has already been one recall on this model year related to electrical problems with the tailights which could catch fire, my vehicle also had this problem. Thank you.

- Bensalem, PA, USA

Car won't start. Key will turn but nothing happens. Tried jump starting the car but did not work. Brought to the dealership and was told that the steering lock is the problem and needs to be replaced.

- Milpitas, CA, USA

My car was parked in my garage when I turned the key in the ignition and tried to start the car. There was nothing. I tried several times, turning the key back and forth, taking it out, turning it. Still nothing. I called aaa. They tested the battery. It was functioning. The aaa technician noted that the door locks and audio locking signals were working. I called, bill, my service tech at the mbz dealership and left a message for him to phone me. In the meantime, I called a local mechanic that had repaired other family vehicles. He said he would take a look at it. So I had it towed to his shop. Bill called me back late afternoon and asked me to try the spare key to see if it would start. I had my neighbor drive me to the shop where my car was and tried the spare key. Still nothing. I spoke with the family mechanic. He was not able to start the vehicle, nor had he serviced it. He believed that it was a problem with the eis and said the dealer needed to do the repair. I called bill back. Let him know the spare did not work and arranged to have my car towed to the dealership the next day. Later the next day, bill called me and stated that the issue was with the electronic ignition system. I needed to replace the steering lock. He could order the part. The cost would be $1,100. I asked what would cause the part to fail. He said that electronic systems, like his tv, just fail over time. I authorized the repair. I have always taken my car into this dealership for its regularly scheduled maintenance and was surprised that it would need such a critical and costly repair. I checked online and noted that this is a common problem with the 2008 mbz C300. I am surprised that the manufacturer has not notified vehicles owners and taken responsibility for this apparent defect.

- Gold Canyon, AZ, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Mercedes C300. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated to start. The failure recurred multiple times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for a diagnosis. The technician diagnosed that the electronic ignition switch needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.

- Sayrezille, NJ, USA

I was driving listening to my music and all of a sudden smoke started coming from my monitor I then quickly turned my music off and pulled over and turned the car off. I now have a black screen and Mercedes said the whole unit will cost 2,000 dollars I said you are crazy this should be covered by Mercedes.

- Jamaica, NY, USA

Car year: 2008 model: C300 4matic sport mileage at time of failure: 30,893 warranty: Expire on due to age of car, not mileage estimate cause: Manufacturing defect part effected: Eis (electronic ignition switch), esl (electronic steering lock), ECU estimated effected vins based on extensive online research and customer complaints: Thousands estimate cost of individual repairs per incident due to defect: $1,200. To $1,990. Estimate profit for dealerships: $100mm+ research keywords: Mercedes Benz, eis, esl, C300 source of 99% of complaints: www.mbworld.com & independently owned and operated mb dealership. "service campaign bulletin" campaign no. 2008020003, March 2008 recall: Not issued this is regards to a consistent and repeated know manufacturer defect in several years Mercedes Benz models, that the company, Mercedes Benz (mb) is aware of and has issued a "service campaign bulletin" campaign no. 2008020003, March 2008. Unfortunately mb claims that this issue only affects "approximately 10 vehicles". a 08 Mercedes C300 that I bought on 6/12/2013 with 9,025 miles when I bought it and now has about 30,896 miles today 11/20/2014. On 11/19/2014 my car stopped working. \ after researching online I noticed hundreds upon thousands of people are having the same issue with the 08 C300 knowing as the eis, esl, or the ignition failure and repairs up to $2000 in some cases. I will need to have my car towed to a mb dealership to have this fix. Thank you for your assistance, your time and consideration.

- Southampton, NY, USA

Hello I am a owner of a 08 Mercedes C300 that I bought on 5/26/2014 with about 77700 miles when I bought it and now has about 80600 miles today 11/12/2014. On 11/8/2014 I was running my usual weekend errands ( buying groceries, paying bills, etc.) when I stopped to buying some things from a corner store and when I got back into my vehicle the car would not start when I put my key in. I notice there was not "clicking noise" from when I put my key in the ignition and I could not lower my windows but I still had power now knowing that it was not a power thing I know it had something to do with the ignition. After researching online I noticed hundreds upon thousands of people are having the same issue with the 08 C300 knowing as the eis, esl, or the ignition failure and repairs up to $2000 in some cases. I got my car towed to a mb dealership here where I live and they are not listening to what iam telling. I already told them what it wrong and they forced me basically to do the diagnostic ($130) and to get a key replacement ($300) so now I am in the whole by a total of $2000. I told then that these issues are happening with other customers and this is a common issue and they don't care at all. How is there not a recall for this? something has to be done about this customers cant be treated like this especially if you bought a car in great condition less than 6 months ago. Mercedes needs to own up to the mistake and do what is right for thousands of people for this issue hopefully there is a recall for this soon because right now I have to take a bus to work everyday instead of having a vehicle and O ya they didn't wanna give me a complementary vehicle for the meantime.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

I drove to the store and when I got in my car to leave the ignition would not start when I put the key in and tried to turn it on. The steering wheel was locked and I could not change the gears of the car to neutral or any other gear. I had my car towed to the nearest Mercedes Benz dealership and they performed a full inspection and found that the steering is locked.

- Moreno Valley, CA, USA

Electronic steering lock malfunctioned. I'm now out $1100 because of a problem so common, a guy who hadn't even seen my car was able to guess the make, model, and year of my car just by telling him the issue. How has a recall not been made on this problem? car worked fine just two hours before it wouldn't start... unbelievable.

- Union City, CA, USA

This vehicle has had a trend among many people with their steering randomly defaulting. To get it fixed they quoted me 1300 dollars. Many people seem to have this problem right after their warranty expires. The person who contacted me said "there was a faulty steering problem". please correct me if I am wrong, but to me faulty means working badly or unreliably because of imperfections. I feel that this is a ridiculous thing to pay for especially knowing that this car is only 6 years old and I bought the car 6 months ago.I have never experienced something so vile and crooked from a company like this in my life. The car seemed to be working perfectly fine minutes before it decided to give out, 3 minutes to be exact. If I were to have been driving and the steering wheel where to have locked up on me on an interstate like that it could have been fatal. Someone needs to do something about this because it is getting out of control for a company to be able to scam customers like this.

- Del Rio, TX, USA

Walk home scenario due to vehicle not starting. Parked the car at work in the morning and in the evening going back home the car would not start. The ignition key turns but there was no cranking. Has an 8 month old battery. All electricals -like head lamp etc work. Checked all the fuses and they were ok. Googled on the internet and found that eis (electronic ignition switch) problem is a very common one on the C300's. could be a potential safety issue if the ignition switch doesnt work while the vehicle is running and vehicle stalls.

- Northville, MI, USA

Parked car in the garage from the day before. Was leaving for work the next morning and it would not start. I called for a tow truck. When the driver arrived, he tested the battery and said that its not the problem. So I drove my other car to work. A co worker has the same model car stated that she had the same problem. Her car was towed to dealership and she was told it was an ignition issue. What a coincidence!! after work I went home to see if the car would not start. The first attempt...nothing...the second attempt it started right away. Someone has to look into this. Two same model cars with the same issues. Had it been a dire situation where I need to flee from injury, the car could possible not start. NHTSA could you please check into this more thoroughly.

- Las Vegas, NV, USA

I turned on the command video screen and heavy smoke stated coming out of it.

- Macungie, PA, USA

My wife parked the car to get gas in a not so good neighborhood, due to being a school teacher in that area, key would unlock and lock door, and would let you turn key, but will not unlock steering wheel, and will not start car, neither did the lights on the dash light up (check engine, ABS, TPMS, ABS, etc), called roadside, towed to dealer, diagnosed and came up with bad steering lock(esl), was quoted $1200 for the repair, told them to go ahead since we need the car, car is still there today, did google search on this issue and found hundreds of customers with this same complaint. Now, I thought I bought a dependable car being that its a Mercedes, gonna get rid of it now and not buy this brand again, there is even a campaign service bulletin on this issue, I do have a case, which they will contact me tomorrow about this, Mercedes should cover this cost being that it is a safety issue, what if my wife was robbed, or even rapped because of where this happened, or what if the component decided to lock up at highway speeds, then will they recall this?

- Tamarac, FL, USA

I parked & locked my car walked away from it for 10 mins, when I cam back I was able to unlock the car the side mirror folded out. When I placed the key in the ignition the key turned but the engine did not start nor could I take the gear out of park. The dash had a message stating remove key from ignition. Thinking that the battery was dead I had the battery replace. I took it to a mechanic and was told that the problem was with the ignition switch & steering lock assembly.

- Hayward, CA, USA

Mercedes electronic steering lock (esl) failed. Car would not start due to the key not being recognized. I was able to close and open the doors, lights came on, but would not start. Battery was tested was is fine. Starter was fine. All fuses were fine. Towed to Mercedes and the esl is being changed at the cost of $1200. The automobile is still at the dealership one week later. Heard a lot of similar complaints online about this particular failure with the same models. I have spoken to Mercedes Benz of America in montvale NJ, but they insist since the auto is past the warranty period they cannot help me financially with the repairs, there should be a recall as Mercedes is aware of this and is not owning up to their mistake. There are many similar experiences and complaints from other owners with the C300 2008, 2009, and 2010 models. I knew what the mechanical/electrical issue was from reading the varied stories online and experiences from other owners, before it was diagnosed and looked at from the Mercedes dealership.

- Stamford , CT, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Mercedes Benz C300. The contact stated that the doors failed to lock manually. The contact mentioned that the power door lock switch had to be used in order for the doors to lock. In addition, when the driver side door was open and the power lock switch was activated, all the doors, except for the driver side door, failed to lock. The failure occurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 48,000. Updated 10/24/14 updated 4/16/2015

- Wynnewood, OK, USA

Mercedes electronic steering lock (esl) failed. Car would not start due to the key not being recognized. Everything else in the car works electronically, radio, windows, lights, etc. Battery was tested was is fine. Starter was fine. All fuses were fine. Towed to Mercedes and had esl changed for more than a thousand dollars. Heard a lot of similar complaints online about this particular failure with same models. This should be a recall as Mercedes is aware of this and is not owning up to their mistake.

- Wichita, KS, USA