NHTSA Complaint #10467522 — 2004 MERCEDES BENZ E CLASS

I CAME OUT TO MY GARAGE ONE MORNING TO FIND A MY CAR WREAKING OF FUEL. I DECIDED TO DRIVE THE CAR AROUND FOR A FEW TO SEE IF IT THE PUNGENT ODOR WOULD GO DISSIPATE ALTOGETHER. DURING THIS TIME, I TOOK IT TO MY MECHANIC TO LET HIM DO A QUICK ONCE-OVER BEFORE HE LEFT FOR THE DAY. HE STATED THAT THERE WAS FUEL LEAKING ONTO MY EXHAUST. BEING THAT HE DIDN'T HAVE THE TOOLS AND WHATNOT TO REPLACE THE SENDING UNIT, I HAD IT TOWED TO MERCEDES BENZ. I WAS NOT GOING TO LET MY GIRLFRIEND DRIVE THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP. NO WAY, NO HOW. SKYLAND AUTOMOTIVE(MY LOCAL MECEDES BENZ DEALERSHIP) FOUND A PUDDLE OF FUEL UNDER MY BACK SEAT. THEY REPLACED THE FUEL SENDING UNIT PARTIALLY UNDER MY THIRD PARTY WARRANTY. I, HOWEVER, HAD TO PAY ROUGHLY $500 OUT OF POCKET. I HAVE HEARD OF THIS ISSUE HAPPENING ON MANY W211 E CLASS CARS, IT HAS HAPPENED TO SOME MORE THAN ONCE. I'M AT 7X,XXX MILES NOW AND DEFINITELY DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS AGAIN. FUEL LEAKING ONTO THE GROUND IS BAD ENOUGH, BUT LEAKING ONTO MY EXHAUST ISN'T TO BE TOLERATED. IT'S DOWNRIGHT DANGEROUS. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR