Table 1 shows one common seat belt related problems of the 2008 Mercedes Benz CL550.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Seat Belt problems |
The contact owns a 2008 mercedes-benz Cl550. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, as she attempted to buckle the driver's seat belt, the belt was not able to be locked into the buckle. The contact attempted several times to latch the seat belt however, the contact stated that it felt like there was an obstruction in the buckle. The contact checked but saw no blockage. The contact stated that the seat belt warning light was not illuminated while seated in the driver seat with the vehicle turned on. The contact was unable to latch the seat belt. The contact had the vehicle towed to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the seat belt buckle and wiring harness needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.
I am writing to inform you of a very troubling incident that occurred recently. I own a 2008 Mercedes Benz Cl550 with 31,000 miles on the odometer. On June 16, 2014, the seatbelt on my vehicle would not release from the seat, leaving me unable to buckle my seat. On top of the obvious safety hazard, illegality of driving without a seat belt, constant dinging from the vehicle to remind me that I was not buckled, which did not allow me to speak with my clients by phone in the vehicle, I had to deal with very poor handling of this matter by mbusa. I immediately brought the car into fletcher jones Mercedes Benz in newport beach and had my service advisor take the car in to check out the seat belt malfunction and called me to tell me it needed to be replaced and that Mercedes Benz USA (mbusa) would be covering 75% of the cost of the part as a gesture of ¿goodwill�, leaving me with about $400 of costs for labor and 25% of the part. While I was appreciative of this gesture, I was not happy about having to pay anything due to the failure of a basic vehicle safety feature. He said that I would have to take this up with mbusa directly. I brought the issue to their attention of mbusa and they refused to do anything further. The fact that a company like mbusa would not stand behind their product and take full responsibility for a very important issue such as a seat belt failure is quite disturbing. Hiding behind a warranty when peoples lives are at stake is an irresponsible company line to take. I would like to bring this issue to the attention of the NHTSA in hopes that this failure is documented and readily verifiable, should any unfortunate consumer be injured or killed by this defective product in the future.