On Sunday, XXX at approximately 5:30 PM, I entered the parking lot of a Staples store at [XXX], in my 2025 Mercedes Benz AMG GLC 43 SUV. It was daylight and the weather was clear. There was no wind and the temperature was in the low 80s. I drove down a parking aisle and slowed down to make a right turn into an open parking space. After completing my turn into the parking space, I let my foot off the brake to allow the vehicle car to roll closer to the wheel stop. Once my foot was off the brake, the car suddenly accelerated on its own, and before I could react, the vehicle hit and jumped over the curb and continued accelerating into the wall of the Staples building before coming to a stop. There was no audible or visual warning message of any kind prior to, during, or after the vehicle’s sudden acceleration. The air bags did not deploy. The force of the collision severely damaged the exterior building wall and a palm tree. Store management personnel came out to see what had happened. The interior of the building was also purported to be damaged. In my opinion, the electronics that control acceleration and braking failed to operate correctly. The vehicle is available for inspection, testing, and analysis of black box. Other than a cursory inspection of damages by the police and subsequently, a body repair shop, the vehicle has not been subjected to formal testing. Not to mention the frightening experience of an out-of-control vehicle, if this happened on the open road or the freeway, I can only imagine the property damage, injuries, and possible deaths this vehicle would have caused. It should be noted that the vehicle has acted strange since first purchased, and it was formally recalled by Mercedes Benz for electronics issues, including software updates. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
- NHTSA ID
- 11765946
- Incident
- Sep 13, 2026