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2005 Mercedes Benz C Class

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Limited comparison data

There is not enough comparable history to draw a useful model-year comparison.

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How this year compares

Owner complaints by model year

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Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.

What owners reported most

All reported categories

Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

Limited mileage data: 4 of 5 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Power Train. Review the 2 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Seats. Review the 2 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Air Bags. Review the 1 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

0 crash reports0 fire reports0 injury reports

What owners actually said

5 reports
81,000 miles · Feb 28, 2014
Seats

DRIVER'S SIDE SEAT BACK, LEFT BOLSTER, STARTED TO SMOKE AND BURNED A DIME SIZE HOLE IN THE LEATHER SEAT COVER. DRIVER'S SEAT HEAT WAS ON AT THE TIME. TURNING THE SEAT HEAT OFF SEEMS TO HAVE SOLVED THE PROBLEM TEMPORARILY. SUSPECT SHORT IN SEAT HEAT WIRING. POTENTIAL FIRE HAZARD! *TR

NHTSA ODI #10566433

72,280 miles · Jun 4, 2012
Power TrainVehicle Speed Control

WHILE DRIVING EXPERIENCED SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER. ENGINE WOULD REV NORMALLY BUT VEHICLE ACTED AS IF IN NEUTRAL. I WAS ABLE TO MOVE OVER TO SIDE OF FREEWAY SAFELY. PLACED CAR IN PARK AND THEN SHIFTED BACK INTO DRIVE, AND CAR BEHAVED NORMALLY. AFTER DOING RESEARCH, I HAVE DISCOVERED THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS MODEL. …

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WHILE DRIVING EXPERIENCED SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER. ENGINE WOULD REV NORMALLY BUT VEHICLE ACTED AS IF IN NEUTRAL. I WAS ABLE TO MOVE OVER TO SIDE OF FREEWAY SAFELY. PLACED CAR IN PARK AND THEN SHIFTED BACK INTO DRIVE, AND CAR BEHAVED NORMALLY. AFTER DOING RESEARCH, I HAVE DISCOVERED THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS MODEL. ACCORDING TO, HTTP://JAYAUTO.WORDPRESS.COM, MERCEDES IS IN A FIGHT WITH ITS OWN SUPPLIERS BECAUSE THEY PRODUCE A LOW-QUALITY PART. IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH YOUR 7-SPEED TRANSMISSIONS, PLEASE REPORT IT TO: NHTSA. ONLY THIS ORGANIZATION CAN ENFORCE MERCEDES TO DO A TRANSMISSION RECALL. IN 2011, MERCEDES MADE THEIR BIGGEST PROFIT IN THEIR HISTORY. HOWEVER, I DON'T THINK THEY WILL USE IT TO FIX THEIR ISSUES WITH TRANSMISSION. *TR

NHTSA ODI #10460509

105,000 miles · Jan 5, 2012
Electrical SystemEquipment Adaptive/mobilitySeats

SEAT CONTROL MODULE FAILURE. 2 MODULES PER CAR, 1 FOR PASSENGER SEAT, AND 1 FOR DRIVER SEAT FAIL. THE DEFECTIVE SEAT CONTROL MODULE UNIT WILL DEPLETE THE CARS BATTERY OVERNIGHT RESULTING IN A NO-START CONDITION THE FOLLOWING DAY. A NEW BATTERY, OR A JUMP START, WILL GET THE CAR GOING AGAIN. THE COMMON IMMEDIATE RESOLUTION …

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SEAT CONTROL MODULE FAILURE. 2 MODULES PER CAR, 1 FOR PASSENGER SEAT, AND 1 FOR DRIVER SEAT FAIL. THE DEFECTIVE SEAT CONTROL MODULE UNIT WILL DEPLETE THE CARS BATTERY OVERNIGHT RESULTING IN A NO-START CONDITION THE FOLLOWING DAY. A NEW BATTERY, OR A JUMP START, WILL GET THE CAR GOING AGAIN. THE COMMON IMMEDIATE RESOLUTION IS TO UNPLUG THE SEAT CONTROL MODULE WHICH WOULD IMPACT THE SEATS ABILITY TO RESPOND IN AN ACCIDENT. THE REPLACEMENT PART AND DIAGNOSIS FROM MB DEALER IS APPROX $700/ MODULE. THIS IS A HUGE LIABILITY FOR MERCEDES OWNERS AND THE REPAIR SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED FOR SEAT FUNCTION SAFETY. I UNDERSTAND THE PART NUMBER HAS BEEN UPDATED, WHICH I BELIEVE IS AN ADMISSION BY MERCEDES THAT THE ORIGINAL PART IS DEFECTIVE. *TR

NHTSA ODI #10442578

24,000 miles · Aug 27, 2010
Power Train

A O-RING CONNECTED TO THE TRANSMISSION STARTED LEAKING OUT TRANSMISSION FLUID AFTER MY WIFE DROVE THE CAR IN THE SNOW, THE BACK TIRES HAD SOME TRACTION PROBLEM DUE TO THE WET SNOW EARLIER. ONCE THE CAR REACHED HOME, TRANSMISSION OIL WAS DRIPPING ONTO THE GARAGE FLOOR. THE CAR HAS LESS THAN 25K ON IT, IN MINT CONDITION. SHE W…

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A O-RING CONNECTED TO THE TRANSMISSION STARTED LEAKING OUT TRANSMISSION FLUID AFTER MY WIFE DROVE THE CAR IN THE SNOW, THE BACK TIRES HAD SOME TRACTION PROBLEM DUE TO THE WET SNOW EARLIER. ONCE THE CAR REACHED HOME, TRANSMISSION OIL WAS DRIPPING ONTO THE GARAGE FLOOR. THE CAR HAS LESS THAN 25K ON IT, IN MINT CONDITION. SHE WAS TOLD BY OUR NEIGHBOR THAT SHE SHOULD NOT DRIVE IT UNTIL THE PROBLEM IS FIXED. THE WAS TAKEN TO THE SHOP AND FIXED IN JANUARY WHEN I RETURNED FROM MY OVERSEE MISSION. THE MERCEDES SHOP INDICATED IT WAS A DEFECT IN THE O-RING DESIGN AND THAT A BETTER REPLACEMENT O-RING WAS INSTALLED FOR A HEFTY PRICE SINCE THE WARRANTY ON THE CAR ENDED THE PRIOR MONTH. I DID SOME RESEARCH ON THE WEB TO SEE IF THIS PROBLEM WAS COMMON GIVEN IT WAS A DESIGN DEFECT IN THE O-RING. TO MY SURPRISE I FOUND THIS WAS A COMMON PROBLEM THAT MERCEDES BENZ REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE. HAD SHE BEEN DRIVING THE CAR SHE COULD HAVE ENDED UP DAMAGING THE TRANSMISSION AND WORSE GOTTEN STRANDED SOMEWHERE. I THINK THIS DEFECT NEEDS TO BE INVESTIGATED FURTHER TO ENSURE SAFETY OF THE DRIVERS OF THE VEHICLE GIVEN THIS WAS NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT. OTHERS ON THE WEB HAVE REPORTED SIMILAR PROBLEMS. *TR

NHTSA ODI #10352309

Mileage unknown · Jun 19, 2006
Air Bags

I RECEIVED A NOTICE IN APRIL THAT MY CAR WAS RECALLED BECAUSE OF AIR BAG SAFETY ISSUES. MERCEDES HAS NOT RECTIFIED THE SITUATION. *JB

NHTSA ODI #10160178

Official recalls

2

08V303000 · Electrical System

Jul 7, 2008

MERCEDES-BENZ IS RECALLING MY 2006-2008 M-CLASS, R-CLASS, MY 2005-2009 SLK-CLASS, MY 2005-2008 C-CLASS, MY 2003-2004 AND 2006-2008 CLK-CLASS, MY 2003-2008 E-CLASS, MY 2004 AND 2008 CL-CLASS, MY 2008 CLS-CLASS, MY 2004 AND 2007-2008 S-CLASS, MY 2003 G-CLASS, AND MY 2003-2004, 2006 AND 2009 SL-CLASS VEHICLES. A SOFTWARE CALIBRATION NUMBER (SCN) CODING RECEIVED ON THE AFFECTED VEHICLES DURING A RECENT WORKSHOP VISIT WAS INCORRECT. DEPENDING ON THE MODEL YEAR AND MODEL AFFECTED, THE RESULTS OF AN INCORRECT SCN CODING CAN AFFECT A NUMBER OF VEHICLE SAFETY AND EMISSION FUNCTIONS INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF FUNCTIONS: (1) THE FUEL GAUGE READINGS MAY BE INCORRECT; (2) A STUCK FUEL-LEVEL SENSOR MAY NOT BE DISPLAYED IN THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER; (3) THE OBD SYSTEM MAY CAUSE THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE INCORRECTLY; AND, (4) THE SPEEDOMETER MAY BE OUT OF TOLERANCE.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: IN THE EVENT OF A VEHICLE CRASH, THE ELECTRICAL FUEL PUMP MAY NOT RECEIVE A CRASH SIGNAL THAT IS REQUIRED FOR THE FUEL PUMP TO DISCONNECT AND PREVENT FUTURE FUEL DELIVERY AS DESIGNED.

Remedy: DEALERS WILL RECODE THE SCN FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON AUGUST 30, 2008. OWNERS MAY CONTACT MERCEDES-BENZ AT 1-800-367-6372.

05V560000 · Air Bags

Dec 20, 2005

CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH SPORT MODEL STEERING WHEELS FAIL TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 208, "OCCUPANT CRASH PROTECTION." IN CERTAIN LOW RISK AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT TESTS CONDUCTED BY NHTSA, USING AN OUT-OF-POSITION UNBELTED 5TH PERCENTILE FEMALE CRASH TEST DUMMY, IRREGULARITIES WERE DEMONSTRATED INDICATING THAT OCCUPANTS MAY NOT BE PROPERLY PROTECTED IN A CRASH.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH, AN OCCUPANT MAY NOT BE PROPERLY RESTRAINED WHICH COULD RESULT IN INJURIES.

Remedy: DEALERS WILL INSTALL A NEW AIR BAG INFLATOR MODULE FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON MARCH 15, 2006. OWNERS MAY CONTACT MERCEDES-BENZ AT 1-800-367-6372.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.