Mercedes Benz has discovered an issue with the braking system of some of their cars and is planning a worldwide recall. The company has advised customers not to drive the affected vehicles until they have been inspected.
The affected models are Mercedes-Benz ML, Mercedes-Benz GL and Mercedes-Benz R-Class. The 993,407 cars feared to have the braking issue were built between 2004 and 2015. Out of this, 70,000 cars are in Mercedes Benz home country of Germany and a notice issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said nearly 300,000 are in the US.
“Mercedes-Benz AG has determined that on certain vehicles of the ML, GL, and R-Class series from the production period 2004 – 2015, the function of the brake booster might be affected by advanced corrosion in the joint area of the housing.” said the company in a statement to Autocar.
A statement to BBC further explained the issue “It might be possible for a particularly strong or hard braking manoeuvre to cause mechanical damage to the brake booster. In such a very rare case, it would not be possible to decelerate the vehicle via the service brake. Thus the risk of a crash or injury would be increased.”
The company did not indicate if there are any crashes caused by the faulty brakes so far. The automaker said it issued the recall following “analysis of isolated reports for certain vehicles”.
Mercedes has started inspecting the affected cars immediately and just like in other recalls, the company said it will replace any necessary components.