Trunk Wiring Problems of Mercedes Benz C280

My neighbor woke me up telling me my car was on fire smoke was coming out of the trunk and so I got the waterhose and started spraying water in the trunk but it wouldn't stop or put out the fire so I called 911 and the fire department came and had to spray some chemicals all over in the car to put the fire out and cut the wire to the battery cause the whole car was on fire they said it was an electrical fire that's why I couldn't put it out with water. My car was in the parking lot of the mobile home estate parking lot over night and in the morning I woke up to my car burned all inside by the time it was all done my car is totaly ruined and so is everything inside of it. The window shattered from getting so hot and the tire went flat . Why wasn't this car recalled and fixed if there is an issue with them catching on fire? this is unacceptable the car should of been recalled there must be some defect with the wiring or wire harness. How does a parked car catch on fire like this when its not even running. That's definetly dangerous and I feel I should be compensated by mercedes for a car the same or better for their failure to notify me of any safety recall on the vehicle.

See all problems of the 1996 Mercedes Benz C280 🔎.

Engine began to make a "buzzsaw" grinding sound that was not initially noticed while driving along on an 85 mile interstate highway trip. While traveling at 60 mph on a 6 lane highway, all the the dashboard lighting began to dim and malfunction, the electrical system then completely failed and shut down causing the engine to stall out, steering and brake function became significantly degraded due to engine failure (including complete stoppage of the windshield wipers during a heavy rain downpour) safely exited roadway by maneuvering around traffic and coasting to road side shoulder at which point smoke started pouring out from under hood and filling the passenger compartment. Car was subsequently towed to a mercedes dealership where they identified the cause of the failure and fire as a severely degraded engine wiring harness. The harness wiring insulation was found to be brittle, cracking and falling apart, leaving individual bare copper wires to make contact with each other. This condition caused an electrical short circuit which started the wires burning, forced the engine starter to be continually engaged which in turn, after 80+ miles of driving, caused the battery to completely drain ultimately resulting in failure of engine and all electrical systems.

Car started stalling and transmission refused to upshift. When car slowed it would not accelerate again. Turns out the engine wiring harness failed due to a biodegradable type of insulation used and is shorting out in multiple places. Car started to smoke at one point. This caused dangerous engine malfunction--and a fire-could have been started inside my engine compartment.