NHTSA Complaint #11713295 — 2021 MERCEDES-BENZ GLA 250

The Gas Door did not open in order to pump gasoline. There is no mechanical device for the driver, passenger, owner of the vehicle to manually open the gas door from the inside. There was no electronic warning within the Mercedes Benz to alert driver about malfunction of gas door not working. Driver took vehicle to local Firestone mechanic who said the "gas door actuator" needed to be replaced. Accordingly, vehicle with the remaining gasoline was taken to local Mercedes Dealer who after the vehicle being looked at, "confirmed gas door to not opening due to internal mechanical fault" and replaced with new gas door actuator at a cost of $820.28. Vehicle owner mentioned to service rep, that he lives from parents about 150 miles away and had the vehicle owner stopped at gas station in between, the vehicle owner would have been stranded without any access to a dealer to fix this critical safety issue. Vehicle owner then advised service rep this issue should have been elevated as critical safety recall issue and that a complaint would be filed with NHTSA. Any vehicle owner, their family if being transported in a deserted place hoping to go to the next gas station for pumping gas would have faced a severe danger to their self and their families. Vehicle owner has sent a detailed letter to Mercedes Benz corporate office in USA detailing the incident and a copy of the letter will be attached as an attachment if it is permitted in this complaint. Requesting a recall of this issue with an order for reimbursement of service charges paid by vehicle owners to fix this "malfunction of gas door". There are multiple complaints to this effect on various message boards regarding the occurrences of "gas door not opening". This also needs to be looked at.