My Mercedes Benz GLE450e Hybrid SUV has had a persistent but sporadic safety issue that suddenly causes the vehicle to go into "turtle mode" with a "performance extremely limited" warning when trying to accelerate quickly or sometimes when breaking quickly. In turtle mode, the car quickly loses acceleration, drops in speed and …
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My Mercedes Benz GLE450e Hybrid SUV has had a persistent but sporadic safety issue that suddenly causes the vehicle to go into "turtle mode" with a "performance extremely limited" warning when trying to accelerate quickly or sometimes when breaking quickly. In turtle mode, the car quickly loses acceleration, drops in speed and is then unable to accelerate properly. The sudden drop in speed and inability to accelerate causes a major safety issue while driving - particularly on roads with other vehicles also travelling at high speeds. Last Friday, I was driving with my family on Interstate 95 when a tractor trailer truck did not see me beside it and started to switch into my lane. I tried to quickly accelerate to get out of the way before it hit us but my car went into "turtle mode" and the speed suddenly dropped by 15 or 20mph and would no longer drive correctly. Luckily, I was in the right lane and able to swerve onto the shoulder of the highway and narrowly avoid the large truck. Otherwise, if I had been in a middle lane, I would have either been hit by the truck or likely hit another car next to me. This issue has been sporadically occurring with my car for about 5 months now. I have had it into the Mercedes dealer three times and, each time, they say they think they fixed the issue. But, each time the same issue has returned. They said that Mercedes USA knows it is a big issue with their new hybrid SUVs but Mercedes doesn't yet know how to fix the problem and has been unwilling to publicly acknowledge the problem or offer it's customers any assistance. Doing a quick Google search online for "Mercedes hybrid performance extremely limited" also quickly brings up different online forums where other owners of this same car have had the exact same issue that Mercedes has been unable to fix or resolve. Driving a car that can suddenly lose the ability to accelerate is a major safety hazard and I would sincerely appreciate if the NHTSA would help to address it
NHTSA ODI #11726723
Mileage unknown · Jan 31, 2025
Electrical SystemEngine
At 3000K miles, vehicle spontaneously slowed from 60 mph to 10 mph with no warning. Message: PERFORMANCE EXTREMELY LIMITED, Engine light, turtle sign. Tractor trailer truck behind us swerved and narrowly avoided hitting our vehicle. Car towed to MB Dealership. Over 5 weeks, they were unable to replicate the problem, asked us t…
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At 3000K miles, vehicle spontaneously slowed from 60 mph to 10 mph with no warning. Message: PERFORMANCE EXTREMELY LIMITED, Engine light, turtle sign. Tractor trailer truck behind us swerved and narrowly avoided hitting our vehicle. Car towed to MB Dealership. Over 5 weeks, they were unable to replicate the problem, asked us to pick the vehicle up. (they claimed they consulted with MB engineers) One week after getting vehicle back, same incident occurred, also narrowly averting a MV accident. Vehicle towed to another dealership who finally after 2 months they stated that the vehicle is not reparable. MB is re-purchasing this vehicle, as there is a software issue they cannot repair. I have been made aware from Mercedes Benz dealership, that 100 or more of these vehicles have the exact same issue. There have been NO recalls. MB USA is not forthcoming with information. The problem is dangerous.
NHTSA ODI #11639956
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