This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2002 Mercedes ML320. While driving at speeds of less than 50 mph, the steering locked without warning causing the wheel to become tremendously hard to turn. She almost lost control of the vehicle, however she was able to eventually maneuver the vehicle off of he highway safely. The dealer was contacted and she was advised that there was an open recall campaign on the vehicle (NHTSA campaign id number: 03V121000; steering, hydraulic power assist hose, piping, and connections) and advised coming in for repairs. No repairs were made to date. The failure and current mileages were approximately 85,000.
2002 Mercedes Benz ML320. Safety recall for power steering pump. Consumer states that she had the repair done prior to the recall notice. The consumer encountered problems with the power steering pump back in 2007, but didn't receive the recall until 2009.
The contact owns a 2002 Mercedes Benz ML320. The contact received a recall notice and took the vehicle to the dealer for repair. The dealer stated that the O-ring between the power steering pump and reservoir failed. As a result, the recall repairs would be ineffective without also replacing the O-ring. The dealer further stated that the O-ring would not be covered by the recall; therefore, the contact would have to pay an estimated cost of $162 for this repair. The NHTSA campaign id number was unknown. The failure and current mileages were less than 70,000. Updated 03/23/09. Updated 03/23/09.
Lower power steering hose clamp had released and allowed the power steering fluid to discharge to the ground. This loss of fluid disabled the power steering rendering the car almost impossible to control without strong steering input. My wife had to call for me to drive the car home. The hose failed upon startup, thus preventing an accident. The unit was repaired at no cost under bulletin #T-B.46.30/13A. This bulletin extended the warranty to 100,000 miles for this part. However, this type of failure mode could result in loss of control and a crash.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Coral Springs, FL, USA