The contact owns a 2005 Mercedes SL500. The contact stated that the ignition switch was faulty and caused multiple malfunctions in the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the battery needed to be replaced. The battery was replaced however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 9,000 and the current mileage was 25,000. Updated 6/10/14 updated 06/17/14 the consumer stated the ignition switch was faulty, and was eventually replaced, which resolved the problem. Also, the windshield wipers were inoperative. Updated 07/23/14 updated 7/29/17

- Columbia, MD, USA

My Mercedes Benz has a faulty electrical wiring in the command navigation unit in my SL500. The vehicle has only 16,385 miles on it, though it is a 2005 model, and has been housed in a high-end garage with no trauma, no damage, and very little wear and tear. I purchased the car used about 6 weeks ago. Within the last 3 weeks the unit has gone from working intermittently to not working at all, simply providing a screen message: System unavailable. On March 5, 2012 I took my sl 500 the authorized dealer here, and contacted the service manager. After having my vehicle out of commission for two days, I read the diagnosis/repair report and was told this was not an error by me or the previous owner but something that happened somewhere in the manufacturing process, probably on the assembly line, as the sound amplifier had an internal electrical fault. Additionally, I have been to two independent Mercedes Benz dealers and they could not fix the problem. I've also learned that I cannot simply replace the stereo with a working model from any electrical store (like best buy or car stereo guys). It is my understanding that to replace the command unit would cost several thousand dollars. It is my belief that while the car is not within a typical five or six year warranty period (I just missed that period) it is clearly a car that has been well taken care of, barely driven, properly housed, and maintained. Given the findings from your authorized technicians, it seems that this is a problem that came with the car that would have surfaced at some point. Lucky me that it is surfacing now. I am hoping that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will contact Mercedes about this faulty command unit. There are many other Mercedes owners who have and are experiencing this electrical nightmare.

- Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Airbag light came on in 2005 smart car. Maintenance book says get to dealer immediately, so we did. This is a common problem that should be a recall. The wiring harness needed replaced.

- Vernon, Bc Canada, 00, USA

Mercedes-Benz SL500 (2005), 4000 miles. Brakes failed. It would seem to be an electrical or computer failure of some kind. Auto was serviced a week ago. Have had trouble with electrical and/orl features from first day of purchase. The most dangerous was today's brake failure. Had to place car in neutral and then in park to make it stop.

- Mclean, VA, USA