2012 MERCEDES-BENZ GL350 — Complaint #1962803
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:SEAT HEATER/COOLER filed January 30, 2024
NHTSA complaint #1962803 (ODI reference 11568732) concerns a 2012 MERCEDES-BENZ GL350 and was filed on January 30, 2024. The owner reports the failure occurred on June 16, 2020. The vehicle had 99,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Pennsylvania based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as seats:front assembly:seat heater/cooler, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 1, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same MERCEDES-BENZ GL350 cohort independently describe similar seats:front assembly:seat heater/cooler failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2012 MERCEDES-BENZ GL350 shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2012 Mercedes-Benz GLK350. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the front driver's seat was excessively hot while using the heated seat feature. The contact was burned by the excessive heat while using the heated seat. The contact stated there was no medical attention needed; however, the contact placed a pad on the seat for protection. In addition, while using the heated seat feature, the contact became aware of a burning odor. The contact contacted the dealer, and the dealer was made aware of the failure. The contact was informed that the feature was not covered for repair under recall. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and the contact was advised to report the failure to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 99,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1962803 |
| ODI Number | 11568732 |
| Date Filed | January 30, 2024 |
| Failure Date | June 16, 2020 |
| VIN | WDCGG8HB1CF |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.