After Dozens of Fires, Mercedes-Benz Recalls One Million Vehicles

Unexpected fires rank among the topmost fears of any automaker, and Mercedes-Benz is dealing with plenty of them.

After reports of 51 fires in late-model vehicles, 30 of them in the U.S., the German luxury automaker will recall roughly one million vehicles worldwide to prevent an electrical fault from causing even more.

The issue afflicts a number of different models and stems from a starting current limiter that can become overloaded during the starting procedure. No injuries have been reported from the fires, and the automaker has already installed a fix on new models coming off the production line.

However, Reuters reports that Mercedes-Benz has placed a stop-sale order on all unsold vehicles left on dealer lots. Those vehicles won’t budge until fixed.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the models include 2015-2017 C-Class vehicles, CLA models from the same time period, 2017 E-Class and GLA models, and 2016-2017 GLC vehicles.

The NHTSA recall report states:

In the event the starter is blocked due to engine/transmission damage (e.g. hydro locked engine), a very high electric current would flow through the starting current limiter during the subsequent start attempt. Should the driver attempt to start the engine repeatedly despite the engine not cranking, the very high electric current draw might lead to overheating of the starting current limiter. In a worst case, surrounding components might melt, and potentially ignite and lead to a fire.

Of the one million models recalled, 354,434 were sold in the U.S.

Parent company Daimler AG launched a preliminary investigation in June 2016 after receiving reports of fires. Over the following months, investigators zeroed in on the starting current limiter as the culprit.

“Owners will be notified with an interim letter in late March, and again when parts become available in July 2017, approximately one week after recall launch to the dealers,” the report reads.

So, if your Mercedes doesn’t start on the first try, consider going back inside and watching Netflix instead of cranking that sucker again.

[Image: Mercedes-Benz]