| Issue ID | 1561765 |
| Internal NHTSA # | 11205673 |
| Manufacurer | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| Brand | MERCEDES BENZ |
| Model | C250 |
| Model Year | 2014 |
| File date | 01/05/19 |
| Component | UNKNOWN OR OTHER |
| Product type code | VEHICLE |
| Description of the problem | Car was being driven at approximately 60 mph on the courtney campbell causeway highway, on a straightaway, that connects clearwater to tampa, florida. Suddenly the (closed) sunroof spontaneously exploded, causing a very loud noise and shattered glass to fall down into the passenger compartment. My wife, who was driving managed to maintain control of the car and pull to the side of the road. Given the car's speed and surrounding traffic (morning rush hour) it is unbelievable that the sunroof explosion did not cause an accident. The police were called and arrived on scene. No police report was filed, as there was no accident and no injury. The car was taken to mercedes benz of tampa bay. They took pictures and gave us a loaner car and said that they would make a determination as to who would be responsible for the repair. The incident occurred on 5/1/2019 at roughly 7:45 am. It was not until friday, 5/3/2019 that we heard from the service consultant, indicating that the car was out of warranty and therefore the repair was our responsibility. It took the dealership over 2. 5 days to make that determination ... Seems like that determination could have been made in about 5 minutes. Could it be that mercedes benz usa was involved in evaluating the resulting liability if they were to take responsibility? Given that there was no identifiable cause for the exploding sunroof, it is evident to me that it's a manufacturers defect that could easily have caused an accident and serious injury or death, and yet mercedes benz assumes no responsibility. A cost to repair/replace the sunroof glass was provided verbally (over $1,700. 00). This spontaneous explosion of a sunroof is apparently something that has occurred in the past with mercedes benz, as well as other car manufacturers. This could have a catastrophic outcome ... Any time it happens. |
| Vehicle Mileage at Failure | 29950 |
| Number of Occurences | |
| Source of the issue | NHTSA WEB SITE |
| City and State | BELLEAIR, FL |
| VIN pattern | WDDGF4HB9ERXXXXXX |
| Was vehicle invloved in a crash? | N |
| Was vehicle involved in a fire? | N |
| Was incedent reported to police? | N |
| Was medical attention required? | N |
| Was part original equipment? | |
| No. of injured persons | |
| No. of fatalities | |
| Date of purchase | 07/08/26 |
| Was original owner? | N |
| Anti-lock brakes | N |
| Cruise control | N |
| Number of cylinders | |
| Drive train type | |
| Transmission type | |
| Vehicle speed | 60 |
| DoT tire identifier | |
| Tire size | |
| Location of tire code | |
| Type of tire failure code | |
| Was defective tire repaired? | |
| Date of manufacture | |
| Type of child seat code | |
| Type of restraint | |
| Dealer's name | |
| Dealer's telephone number | |
| Dealer's city | |
| Dealer's state code | |
| Dealer's ZIP code |