2011 Mercedes-Benz C300 Suspension Problems

“While driving, I hit my brakes and it were as if an invisible hand grabbed the steering wheel and turned sharply to the right. I nearly went over a mountain. I drove slowly home but each time I would hit my brakes the same would happen. Long story short, my 2011 C300 with 80k miles, bought from the showroom and garage kept has a rusted and broken subframe. My vehicle is not drivable. I would like to mention also that the air conditioner has a terrible moldy odor.”

“I was driving down the road when a deer ran out into the roadway ahead of me. I applied the brake firmly and hear a pop and the car suddenly changed lanes. I was able to recover without much of an incident but applying the brakes from that point on caused the car to steer into a new direction. I took the vehicle out to a friends farm and jacked it up to find that on this car with zero other corrosion issues that the mounting point for one of the rear suspension arms had rusted at the weld and broken off the sub frame. …”

“I was driving my 2011c-class on I-95 north of philadelphia when I had to slow down due to traffic. Without warning the rear of the car started fishtailing almost causing a multi-vehicle accident which would have resulted in injuries or worse. I exited the highway and took smaller streets to get to my mechanic who has serviced the car since the mercedes extended warranty expired. Upon inspection he noticed the rear subframe was rotted out completely and the toe arm was not attached. I have owned this cpo car since june 2012. …”

“Right rear trailing arm mount became detached from sub frame. Sheet metal on rear suspension sub frame ripped / tore so that rear trailing arm is only attached to lower part of mount, and not attached to vehicle. No accident, but vehicle is extremely unstable to drive when heavy braking could occur! Vehicle veers suddenly to the right! Concern besides instability is that loose trailing link could puncture fuel tank less than an inch away. First noticed while driving on I-4 when a vehicle changed into my lane abruptly, and I had to forcefully apply brakes.”

“Driving on highway, went to apply brakes and car swerved violently to the right, and car body felt like it was 'swimming' around on the frame. Car felt very unstable. Took car to mercedes dealership, and confirmed that the rear subframe was completely cracked. Technician noted what appeared to be rust proofing spray on the rusted area . Mercedes dealership quoted $4,000 for repair. There is a recall on this part in canada. Mercedes dealership claimed no knowledge of canadian recall. Am awaiting follow up call from mercedes benz corporate.”