NHTSA Complaint #11301296 — 2012 MERCEDES-BENZ C300

ON A 4 LANE BOULEVARD CLOSE TO HOME I PULLED OUT TO PASS A SLOW CAR AND NOTICED A CAR COMING UP FROM BEHIND AT A HIGH RATE. I PUSHED THE ACCELERATOR TO THE FLOOR, THE CAR STARTED ACCELERATING THEN LOST ALL POWER. THE ENGINE HAD CUT OFF AND ALL THE DASH LIGHTS WERE ON. I ROLLED TO A STOP, AS FAR OFF THE ROAD AS I COULD. AFTER A FEW SECONDS I RESTARTED THE CAR AND DROVE HOME. SIMILAR INCIDENTS CAN BE FOUND ON YOU TUBE BUT NOT FOR A C300. THE ONES I FOUND WERE FOR A C240 MERCEDES. THEY SAY THE PROBLEM IS DUE TO THE COMPUTER SHUTTING DOWN THE ENGINE BECAUSE IT CAN'T PROPERLY BALANCE THE FUEL TO AIR RATIOS. THIS SEEMS LOGICAL BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER HAD TO ACCELERATE LIKE THIS BEFORE. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN CATASTROPHIC IF I WOULD HAVE BEEN PULLING OUT INTO FAST TRAFFIC ON A BUSY HIGHWAY AND THE ENGINE SHUTS DOWN. NOW I 'M AFRAID IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN. I JUST DON'T KNOW WHEN. ALL I CAN DO IS TRY NOT TO PRESS DOWN ON THE ACCELERATOR TOO FAR. THE DEALER SAID NOTHING WAS IN THE CAR'S COMPUTER MEMORY SO HE COULDN'T DO ANYTHING. I'M SUSPICIOUS OF THAT BECAUSE IF THEY ADMIT THERE IS A PROBLEM THEN THEY WOULD BE EXPECTED TO FIX IT. I THINK THEY KNOW THERE IS A PROBLEM BUT DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.