This latest recall from Mercedes-Benz affects cars and SUVs between the 2020 and 2026 model years.
Mercedes-Benz issued a new recall campaign covering more than 300,000 vehicles to address a potential rollaway issue. While this issue usually crops up from a transmission-related issue like the parking pawl or a problem with the e-brake itself, this one is a bit unusual. According to what the automaker told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the housing material for the door lock’s microswitch may not be up to spec to prevent water ingress. If water does permeate that switch, affected cars won’t be able to detect when the door is opened, and the electronic parking brake (also called the “auto-park” feature) may not engage automatically.
The issue broadly impacts Mercedes’ smaller vehicles, including the 2019-2022 A-Class and 2020-2021 CLA, as well as the 2023-2023 C-Class, 2024 CLE, 2020-2026 GLA-Class and GLB-Class, and finally the 2023-2024 GLC-Class. In total, Mercedes tells safety regulators the recall covers 310,667 vehicles. That said, the GLB is the most significantly affected single model line included, as it accounts for 132,907 of the total population (about 43% of that 310K total).
If the microswitch fails, the door locks will still function normally. However, the automaker says owners may notice certain other features don’t function as they normally should. For example, the radio will remain on after exiting the vehicle, instead of turning off when the driver opens their door. And, of course, the parking brake will fail to engage on its own (though manually activating it through pulling the switch will still work).
What’s the fix?
At the moment, Mercedes-Benz told the NHTSA it is not aware of any rollaways from a damaged microswitch. The defect does nevertheless create a potential safety issue, so Mercedes dealers will replace the driver door lock on affected vehicles, free of charge. The company cited a procedure issue at its supplier for the microswitches being out of spec, and says that supplier corrected the problem for vehicles produced from May 20 onward.
Mercedes-Benz says it will mail notices out to owners on September 18, then those owners will be able to take their vehicles into the dealership for repairs. You can search whether your specific vehicle is affected now through Mercedes’ recall website, or through the NHTSA’s portal (recall number 26V-481).
