Was pulled over by police who informed my taillight was not working on my passenger side. When pulled over, taillight illuminated but very dimly. Issue has been going on since roughly June 2012 when purchased. Was not disclosed that this was a possible issue at time of purchase and did not discover the issue with melting of wiring harness to light panel until checked 11-8-13. Took to local dealer who sold me the vehicle, and Mercedes is planning on charging me $305 for repair (parts roughly $50). This is unacceptable for a known deficiency with the vehicle. This should be a recall item without a doubt. I will be mentioning this ongoing investigation to the Mercedes service people (as if they don't already know) and attempt to get them to fix at no cost.

- Mission, KS, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Mercedes C300. The contact stated that the passenger's side tail light and turn signal failed to illuminate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis. The contact was unaware of the necessary repair. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 45,000.

- Walnut Creek, CA, USA

Rear tail lights malfunction. Ground wire in the tail light harness gets very hot to the point of melting the insulator on the wire and rear light connector (which provides power to the tail light). This resulted in the rear tail lights to stop working. This is a safety hazard and needs to be addressed. Mercedes will replace the parts if the car is under warranty but will not cover the repair out of warranty. Furthermore, the replacement parts are the same and this issue will reoccur.

- Everett, MA, USA

2008 Mercedes Benz C300 right rear lighting failures in the brake and/or turn signals of my vehicle. The failure can cause the lights to dim and or cause the lights to not illuminate at all.

- Ft. Worth, TX, USA

My right passenger side tail light connector board is melted. All my lights stopped working at once and dealer stated its a faulty connector board that needs to be replaced. Same issue so many others have reported. Mb needs to recall this issue bc it makes no since I have to pay $400 for a well known issue that is hazardous which the dealer advised.

- Elgin, SC, USA

As reported multiple times by others, tail light connector is insufficient to handle the heat emanating from the ground (brown) wire. Connector burns. Cable covering melts. All tail lights (including brakes, turning and reverse) stop functioning. - safety issue- (not to mention gas tank sitting not too far from source of fire) preliminary symptoms: Random warning messages in dashboard about lights malfunctioning. One tail light dimmer than the other. Repairs required: New connector/new pins plus regrounding to avoid certain recurrence authorized dealers know well about the problem. "recall should be issued" "recall is surely coming" but will not replace if out of warranty references: Prior report chain NHTSA id number: 10499828 pictures and multiple information mbworld.org/forums/C-class-W204/465331-tail-light-connector-melted.html.

- Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA

The wiring harness to the tail lamp on the right side was fried & filled with smoke and now the tail lamp goes very dim & almost off, but replacing with new bulb doesn't help.

- Alameda, CA, USA

Tail light message. Found harness melted on the passenger side tail light. Now I get a message from both sides.

- Orlando, FL, USA

Cars automated warning system indicated problems with right rear lighting system ("check right rear turn signal etc"). took car to mechanic. There had been a short in the right rear electrical system...plastic circuit box exhibited signs of a short and melted plastic. Mechanic replaced wiring, circuit box and lights. Could very easily have had a fire in the trunk of the car.

- Greenville, SC, USA

Burning smell and melted connectors on rear tail light assembly.

- Garland, TX, USA

The left rear light was noticed to be dimmer than the right one. Once the light cluster was open up, a burn /melting of the electrical socket was noticed.

- Mclean, VA, USA

The left tail light connector and the plate connection melted. Reported the issue to mb dealer and mb cac but they refused to accept it as a design flaw. The explanation given to me was it melted because of heat of light bulbs. The same flaw has been reported on many forum and I think it is a recall item.

- Lawrenceville, NJ, USA

The right rear bulb assembly and harness have melted and are only intermittently functional.

- Dallas, TX, USA

Left tail light out. Found melted negative connector on plug to left tail light. I repaired this by connecting to a different point on the tail light assembly. Found today, 14.Aug 2013 that reverse light will not work. Investigated and found no power to the plug for the reverse light bulb, which has been checked by voltmeter.

- Columbus, GA, USA

Driver information system showed that the rear right brake lamp was out. While checking the rear tail light to replace the bulbs we checked the harness and it was completely melted! then I knew why I had smelt a burning smell before. I called my nearest Mercedes dealer ship and they said it would cost around $475 to $700 to fix. I didn't have to explain he knew exactly what was talking about but im out of warranty. This should be fixed by Mercedes. Its absurd and needs to be brought to attention for our safety.

- Aguam, MA, USA

Both tail lights lamp carriers and contact bushings had melted around ground wires in my 2008 C300 Mercedes.

- San Jose, CA, USA

Driver information system showed that the rear right brake lamp was out. While checking the rear tail light to replace the bulbs we checked the harness and it was completely melted! then I knew why I had smelt a burning smell before. I called my nearest Mercedes dealer ship and they said it would cost around $500-$600 to fix. I didn't have to explain he knew exactly what was talking about but im out of warranty. This should be fixed by Mercedes. Its absurd and needs to be brought to attention for our safety.

- Channelview, TX, USA

Ground wire to rear right tail light melted at the connection point to the tail light board and harness. Smelled smoke and found damage shortly after.

- Santa Rosa Beach , FL, USA

Noticed for the first time that the left rear brake and tail light was much more dim than the corresponding lights on the right side. I also noticed that these same lamps also flickered from dim to slightly brighter and reported on the next service appointment. When it came back from the dealer the problem was marginally better; however, it still exists to this day. I see numerous complaints on Mercedes owners hotlines with various degrees of success at that dealers. I have also seen comments about a so-called fix that has been mentioned. My complaint was never printed out on my copy of the work order for that service date either. I've given up.on complaining to Mercedes as I had another complaint to the factory which ended up just being brushed off as normal. Once again no documentation of that visit was given even thought a factory rep was present. My belief is that the tail lamps should be fairly equally bright in order to provide vehicles behind you an accurate location of the rear of my vehicle. A proper fix that completely corrects this issue should be required to be performed on these vehicles at no charge to the owners. I am the original purchaser of this vehicle.

- Cape Coral, FL, USA

Wires on both headlights melted and burnt. Concerned about a possible fire and my headlights not working. Mercedes will not cover under warranty. Can provide photos.

- Plantation, FL, USA