2011 MERCEDES-BENZ SL550

The contact owns a 2011 Mercedes-Benz SL550. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the dashboard suddenly illuminated red indicating that the tire air pressure was alarming. The contact also felt an imbalance with the weight of the vehicle as if one side of the vehicle was lower than the other. The contact discovered that the rims had fractured. The failure had occurred while driving on roads with rough surfaces. The contact had taken vehicle to a body shop to repair the rims by welding the fractures a total of 4 times. The contact was told that the fractures occurred due to the factory rims being fragile, causing the rims to fracture easily. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 39,000.

ON JULY 10, 2015 DURING 5 PM TRAFFIC MY WIFE WAS MAKING A LEFT TURN FROM THE TURNING LANE INTO OUR COMPLEX WHERE WE LIVE, UPON MAKING HER LEFT TURN, SHE HAD TO CROSS TWO LANES OF TRAFFIC, BOTH LANES HAD STOPPED TO ALLOW HER THROUGH SAFELY, AS SHE WAS CLEARING THE SECOND LANE LOOKING AS SHE PROGRESSED, NO ONE WAS IN THE OUTER LANE TURNING INTO OUR COMPLEX, A MAN PULLED OUT OF LINE AND ATTEMPTED TO ALLUDE TRAFFIC BY GOING AROUND IT AND STRUCK HER CAR IN THE PASSENGER DOOR, HE NEVER HIT HIS BRAKES TO STOP AND WAS ATTEMPTING TO DRIVE THROUGH A TURNING LANE WHICH ENTERS OUR COMPLEX ONLY, THERE IS A SIGN STATING THAT THIS LANE IS FOR ENTERING THE COMPLEX AND HAS MARKINGS ON THE ROAD THAT SHOWS WHERE THE LANE BEGINS FURTHER PAST OUR TURN IN ENTRANCE, INSTEAD HE WAS GOING TO DRIVE OVER THE MARKINGS TO AVOID WAITING IN TRAFFIC. MY WIFE'S CAR WAS HIT HARD ENOUGH TO BREAK BOTH MOTOR MOUNTS AND CAUSE THE ROLL BARS TO POP UP, BUT THE AIRBAG NEVER DEPLOYED, THE OTHER DRIVER'S BAGS ALL DEPLOYED UP FRONT IN HIS VEHICLE.