2020 MERCEDES-BENZ GLC 300 — Complaint #2139523
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about EXTERIOR LIGHTING filed October 14, 2025
NHTSA complaint #2139523 (ODI reference 11693266) concerns a 2020 MERCEDES-BENZ GLC 300 and was filed on October 14, 2025. The owner reports the failure occurred on October 10, 2025. The report was geocoded to Florida based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as exterior lighting, 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: 0, 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 GLC 300 cohort independently describe similar exterior lighting 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 2020 MERCEDES-BENZ GLC 300 shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
Problem (repeat failure / prior warranty replacement): This vehicle has a recurring headlamp defect involving moisture ingress into the headlamp housing/connectors, causing electrical shorting and warning messages, with risk of headlight failure. Mercedes-Benz replaced this same headlamp under warranty in 2021 for the identical issue (moisture/shorting). The defect has recurred on the same vehicle.Recent verification: On Oct 13, 2025, the dealer (Mercedes-Benz of North Palm Beach) observed visible condensation/fogging in the lamp and confirmed it matches the prior failure that was repaired under warranty. Pattern affecting other owners: There are multiple consumer complaints in NHTSAâs database describing condensation, moisture intrusion, shorting, and headlamp malfunctions on GLC vehicles, including the 2020 model year. This indicates the issue is not isolated. Related recalls / known condition: NHTSA Recall 22V261 (GLC) identifies headlamp moisture/connector sealing problems lead
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2139523 |
| ODI Number | 11693266 |
| Date Filed | October 14, 2025 |
| Failure Date | October 10, 2025 |
| VIN | WDC0G8EB5LF |
Similar EXTERIOR LIGHTING Complaints for 2020 MERCEDES-BENZ GLC 300
There was a recall on headlight leaking and this happened to my left headlight no damage but leaking and this caused headlight to not work
Water condensation within the driver side headlight which caused the complete headlight unit, control unit, and module to fail. This is a huge safety issue due to unable to operate vehicle safely duri
Entire front right headlight assembly and module failed with no headlight, turn signal, park light etc. There is no visible external damage to the assembly although there is some moisture inside assem
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.