NHTSA Complaint #11084376 — 2016 MERCEDES-BENZ METRIS

ENGINE ON AND VEHICLE PARKED FOR 10 MINUTES WITH PARKING BRAKE APPLIED. LEAVING FROM A PARKED POSITION WITH ENGINE RUNNING, PARKING BRAKE RELEASED, I SHIFTED FROM PARK INTO DRIVE BUT THE VEHICLE SHOWED I WAS STILL IN PARK. COULD HEAR TRANSMISSION SHIFTING FROM P TO D AND TO R BUT NO INFORMATION FEEDBACK. EVENTUALLY I FOUND THAT I COULD ENGAGE IN REVERSE, NEUTRAL, PARK, AND DRIVE BUT ONLY PARK WAS SHOWING ON DISPLAY. I TRIED RESTARTING THE VAN BUT IT DIDN'T CHANGE. RECEIVED ERRORS FOR TURNING CAR OFF WHILE IN DRIVE EVEN THOUGH I WAS IN PARK. I ENDED UP DRIVING WITH THE CAR IN "PARK" FOR ABOUT 100 MILES TO MY DESTINATION. DURING THE DRIVE, THERE WERE LOTS OF ERRORS MAINLY THE SPEEDOMETER WOULD NOT WORK ( HAD POWER BUT ONLY SAID 0 MPH). THE TACHOMETER REMAINED AT ~800RPM REGARDLESS OF ACTUAL RPM. THE GAS GAUGE WOULDN'T WORK. NUMEROUS ERRORS OCCURRED WITH THE ACTIVE BRAKING SYSTEM (ALARM ONLY). THE SRS DEFECTIVE INDICATOR REMAINED ON THE ENTIRE DRIVE. WHEN I REACHED MY DESTINATION (GAS STATION), SHIFTED TO PARK. I TURNED THE CAR OFF AGAIN AND COMPLETELY DISCONNECTED EVERYTHING ELECTRICAL AND LET THE VAN SIT FOR ~5 MINUTES. THE ERRORS CLEARED WHEN I RESTARTED AND THE SPEEDOMETER/TACHOMETER/GAS/SRS ALL WORKED BUT I HAD A NEW CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ACTIVATED. THE ONLY MESSAGE WAS STILL RELATED TO SRS BUT THE CEL STAYED ON EVEN AFTER ACKNOWLEDGING THE SERVICE MESSAGE. AFTER ABOUT ~200 MILES AND 3-4 RESTARTS THE CEL CLEARED AND EVERYTHING WORKED PROPERLY FOR THE REMAINDER OF OUR TRIP (ABOUT 1000 MILES ROUND TRIP). LATER, I WAS ABLE TO RECREATE A SIMILAR SYSTEM MALFUNCTION WHEN APPLYING THE PARKING BRAKE. I'VE SINCE BEEN ABLE TO CONJUR RANDOM ERRORS ALL RELATED WITH SAFETY SYSTEMS AND THE PARK/DRIVE/REVERSE SCENARIO 50% OF THE TIME AFTER APPLYING AND RELEASING THE PARKING BRAKE. THE ERRORS ONLY HAPPEN AFTER ACTIVATION AND RELEASE OF THE PARKING BRAKE (SO FAR TO THIS DAY).