2006 Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class owner complaints

While driving vehicle power can be lost & vehicle can be stuck in 1st gear or no gear at all causing blockage to traffic and possibly causing an accident. Once you turn car off it appears the car resets itself as if nothing ever happen. When reported to dealership it was stated no codes pop up so I must be hitting the shift. Not knowing any better & not being a mechanic, who am I to continue to question the Mercedes dealership? No code no action. (1st reported with 8446 mileage never showed a code). At 63,000 miles the engine light finally comes on indicating a problem. 63038 found code in system for speed sensor not reading correctly. Test drove car & stuck in limp home. The odd thing is the code kicked in at 61400 miles & the light came on 2000 miles later. The extended warranty

3 issues--camshaft selenoid; defective gear in the balance shafts of the engine; transmission valve body defect. All three of these issues have been documented by Mercedes internal documents and there is a class action suit on going for the defective gear in the balance shafts of the engine right now. These are critical issues as the car can lose power. With regard to the balance shaft issues, metal from the shaft deteriorates and that infiltrates the other engine parts causing the engine to prematurely fail. Almost all of the reports on this issue are for slk350's with less than 80,000 miles.

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 Mercedes benz slk350. While driving at 45 MPH, the vehicle began to decelerate independently. The contact stated that the vehicle was turned off and restarted when suddenly the vehicle jumped into first gear. The contact also stated that the vehicle would not shift from the first gear. The vehicle was restarted again and the vehicle functioned as normal. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission vehicle speed sensor failed and the transmission control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 66,000.

While performing u-turn in light traffic, transmission would not shift into reverse, then would also not shift into drive, leaving vehicle immobilized in the middle of traffic. *tt

Severe jerk as vehicle decelerated around 10-12 MPH. Took vehicle to dealership and test drove with technician who verified the problem. There were no warning lights or codes found. I was notified by the dealership that there was a snap ring failure within the gear box. Invoice indicates "retaining clip failure inside transmission, verified severe 3-2 down shift, short test no codes.check of adaptation data found 3-2 down shift at negative limit. Removed transmission and inspected, found b1 retaining clip failure. Replace b1 and b3 tensioning springs and retaining clips". Mb corporate was notified with no assistance. I was appalled at the statements made by customer complaint manager who stated "the car hasn't been in for service since 2009", I responded by saying the vehicle wasn't due fo

I was traveling on I20 going about 60mph. Car suddenly started fish tailing and thought I had a flat tire. Pulled over, no flats but back driver's side wheel was crooked. Had car towed to service center. Back frame is extremely rusted. My whole wheel could have come off which would have been extremely serious. My car only has 46000 miles and garage kept. No warning signs. I don't drive in wintry conditions. My car has only been inspected by the service mechanic and myself.

Went to change a flat and the trunk came down on my head and had to get several stitches. It seems like the trunk on the slk55 amg will stay up for a few seconds then collapse right when you lean into the trunk to get the spare making things go from bad to worse a flat and in need of medical attention. *tr

2006 slk 280 wind noise on passenger side and top leaking, first event july 06 three months after purchasing car. Car has been in for repair of top leaking four times, dealer unable to repair. Last time car was in Mercedes since their tech rep in to repair leak, top still leaks. *jb

Trunk failure. The trunk, when open, may suddenly fall very fast at any time. When you open the trunk it stays open but without warning may suddenly drop hitting you in the head. The trunk is actually quit heavy and can cause serious trauma to a person or damage to the vehicle as it slams down with force.

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 Mercedes benz slk250. When attempting to approach a complete stop, the vehicle abnormally accelerated. The contact depressed the brake pedal and heard a loud grinding noise. There was a sudden increase in RPM's and the vehicle continued to accelerate, which caused him to crash. There were no warning indicators illuminated prior to the failure. The contact sustained severe injuries from the crash and was transported to the hospital. The vehicle was completely destroyed. The cause of the failure was unknown. He has access to obtaining a copy of the police report and pictures. The manufacturer did not assist. The failure and current mileages were 14,000. Updated 3/3/09 *cn updated 03/04/09. *jb

While driving on a 50 MPH expressway, my car suddenly went into a low gear, rev'ing very high. I had to decelerate quickly and I was unable to speed up to keep up with the flow of traffic. The dealer said a conductor plate had to be replaced. But this is a real safety issue.

The SRS light came on and stayed on. *tr

I own a 2006 Mercedes slk280 and my SRS light came on about a month ago. Since my original warranty expired in june, I had purchased a new one for close to $2,500 for a new 4yr/40,000 miles. I looked up on google to see if this is a common problem and found a number of similar problems. I am sure there are a lot more as I did not even post one. Seeing that the SRS is the air bag deployment and a safety issue, I figured this would be covered under the warranty. I was surprised that for such a huge safety issue, Mercedes did not replace the defective part. The total came to $446.37. I am more concerned about the safety issue and I wonder how many of these go unreported. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 Mercedes benz slk280. The contact stated that the check engine warning indicator illuminated continuously. The dealer stated that the intake manifold needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 48,000.

Driving on freeway... All of sudden car goes in low gear no warning has done this about 4 times. Twice almost rear ended. Took to shop was told it was valve body/ conductor plate issue that would have to be fixed at dealer due to a defective part mb used on this transmission. Car went into limp mode and would not go into gear. Valve body / conductor plate replacement

The rear marker lights are going on and off for the last few months, now they are off for good. The wires to the lights look fine, the bulbs look fine. I have even replaced the bulbs but they still dont work on one side. Earlier models are having same issue as this model. This car is unsafe.

On october 19th 2015 , purchased this car form Mercedes benz of walnut creek california . The car was delivered to me on 27th october 2015 by the dealership stating that the car is checked according to the safety standards and is good to drive. But as soon as I reached home with the car there was a check engine light . My house is 140miles from the dealer ship . I called them the very next day , they called me in the next week , kept the car for 4 days . Again when I took the car from them they say everything works fine . A week after that again I have a check engine light . I try calling them they just give me a runaround , even the front wind screen of the car is chipped majorly . I still can't figure how did my car pass the california inspection for used car . I need someone to help m

Had the car in personal garage went to jack vehicle up with the Mercedes benz jack and the plastic or rubber connector to the vehicle of the jack came off causing under vehicle damage and endangering my personal safety. *tr

Electrical system faulty. Front lowbeam headlight warning light on. Mechanic changed headlight bulb but it still did not work. After about a week the warning indicator went off and headlight worked. A few days went by and the indicator came on again. The low beam did not work. This time the left side marker lamp indicator came on and the bulb wasn't working. Before I could take it in for repair the side marker was working again. It goes off and on about every other month. Also, the indicator for one of the bulbs above my license plate goes on and off, but it says bulb malfunction. Now joining is the passenger side ABS light. Sometimes when I start the car the warning indicator on the instrument panel is illuminated but then goes off after I start the car several times, about a day o