CHARLOTTE — A driver is calling for Mercedes-Benz to expand a vehicle recall after her 2017 SUV burst into flames, despite her model year being excluded from the company’s current fire-risk safety campaign.
While the automaker has recalled certain GLS 450 models from 2021 to 2024, federal safety records show dozens of similar complaints involving older vehicles.
Amy Henry, the owner of a 2017 Mercedes GLS 450, reported that her vehicle caught fire without warning while she was at a doctor’s appointment.
An investigation of federal safety records found two dozen similar fire-related complaints for pre-2020 models like Henry’s, including one instance where a vehicle fire resulted in the total loss of a driver’s home.
Henry was inside her doctor’s office when the vehicle ignited. She described the fire’s force as significant enough to shake the building.
According to Henry, people nearby compared the sound of the incident to a bomb detonating. Henry had been behind the wheel of the SUV only minutes before the fire began.
“I certainly think it’s something that Mercedes should take a deeper look at to figure out if they might have, you know, an ongoing problem here,” Henry said. She reported the fire to the automaker, which prompted an investigation into the cause of the blaze.
Mercedes-Benz maintains that a manufacturing flaw did not cause the incident. In a statement to a news station in Atlanta, the company said a thorough review showed no product defect.
Six months after the fire, the company wrote to Henry stating the fire was caused by a missing oil filter cap rather than a malfunction.
Henry disputed the company’s findings, noting that she had not taken the vehicle in for an oil change or any other maintenance near the time of the fire.
She said there was no reason for the cap to be missing and noted that no warning lights or engine indicators appeared while she was driving.
“They should do something about it instead of waiting for someone to get killed or injured,” Henry said. She is requesting that Mercedes-Benz add her model year to the existing recall list to prevent future incidents.
Henry expressed relief that the fire occurred while the car was unoccupied. “By the grace of God, I was not killed, my children weren’t killed,” Henry said. “No one was injured, my house didn’t explode, but the ‘what ifs’ were there.”
Drivers who experience safety issues or fires are encouraged to report the incidents to both the automaker and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
These reports alert federal regulators to potential patterns and can lead to the opening of recall investigations.
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