Mercedes-Benz Equipment: Owners/Service/Other Manual

Mercedes-Benz is recalling about 1,478 vehicles over a problem with the equipment. Improperly adjusted head restraints increase the risk of injury to the third row seat passengers in the event of a crash.

Campaign
19V648000
Manufacturer
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC.
Reported
9 September 2019
Vehicles
1,478
Built between
Jul 2018 – Aug 2019
Models
2
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
22 November 2019
Repaired
92%
Unrepaired
121

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between July 2018 and August 2019. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLE 350Built July 2018 to August 2019
  • 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLE 450Built July 2018 to August 2019

Repair progress

121 of 1,478 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q1 2021.

92% repaired — 1,357 of 1,478 reported

Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.

What the defect is

Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. (MBUSA) is recalling certain 2020 GLE 350 4MATIC and GLE 450 4MATIC vehicles. The owner's manuals do not include information regarding the adjustment of the head restraints of the third row seats. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 202a, "Head Restraints."

What could happen

Improperly adjusted head restraints increase the risk of injury to the third row seat passengers in the event of a crash.

What gets fixed

MBUSA will notify owners, and dealer's will provide a supplementary owner's manual booklet with the necessary information, free of charge. The recall began November 22, 2019.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtJuly 2018 to August 2019
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA9 September 2019
  3. Owners notified22 November 2019
  4. Latest repair reportQ1 2021 — 92% repaired

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 9 September 2019.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372. MBUSA's number for this recall is 2019090005.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
2019090005
Recalling manufacturer
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC.
Safety standard
FMVSS 202
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand