NHTSA Investigation PE21019

Vehicle Rolls Away While in Park

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened this PE after receiving 11 Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) alleging that Model Year (MY) 2019 Mercedes-Benz (MB) Sprinter vans, configured for use as Amazon delivery vehicles or ambulances, roll away shortly after being shifted to park using the Auto-P function. A rollaway vehicle with no operator behind the steering wheel could potentially strike pedestrians, moving or parked vehicles or buildings, resulting in injury, fatality and/or property damage. Analysis of data provided by MB in response to the ODI Information Request (IR) letter showed a high failure rate. Following discussions with ODI about the failures, MB decided to conduct a safety recall. On December 15, 2021, Daimler Vans USA, LLC filed recall 21V-972 covering 48,400 model year (MY) 2019-2020 Mercedes-Benz (MB) Sprinter vans. With recall 21V-972, this investigation is closed. The affected vehicle population determined by MB is Sprinter vehicles (VS30, Platform 907) produced between June 5, 2018 and November 30, 2020 with a manual parking brake and a 7-speed automatic transmission that was manufactured between May 1, 2018 and October 31, 2019, in the Hedelfingen transmission plant in Germany.Further use of Agency resources does not appear to be warranted. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist on other model or MY vehicles outside of the recall scope. The agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID using the following complaint identification numbers:11360500, 11404893, 11404894, 11360505, 11404417, 11405798, 11405804, 11404969, 11404838, 11404891, 11415509, 11428353, 11428296, 11298470, 11428219, 11405803, 11427068, 11428216, 11428296, 11429905, 11447877, 11452051

An investigation is a separate record from a recall and from a manufacturer communication. A manufacturer campaign to repair a safety defect or a failure to meet a federal safety standard.